An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-16
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Sharon Keogan (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I rise today with a heavy heart to express my deepest condolences and solidarity with the victims of the abhorrent attack at Bondi Beach. On the first evening of Hanukkah, a night that was meant to illuminate hope and unity, two individuals inspired by Islamist ideology opened fire, killing at least 15 innocent people, including a child, a Holocaust survivor and two rabbis. This grievous act has rightly been condemned as antisemitic terrorism. In offering our thoughts and prayers, we must also reflect, seek moral clarity and be watchful of antisemitism emerging in our country. All too often, we see extreme Israeli and Zionist voices conflate the Palestinian people with terrorism and extremist groups such as Hamas. We rightly reject this rhetoric, which conflates an entire people with the actions and beliefs of a few, as the language of oppression and genocide.
Likewise, we must rise above such rhetoric if we are to lead as a moral voice on Gaza. At the moment, we are failing. I refer to the push to rename Herzog Park in Dublin. It would be one thing if the park wore the name of Benjamin Netanyahu, but this park in our historic Jewish neighbourhood honours Chaim Herzog - a man from that community, a former president of Israel, a progressive politician and the son of Yitzhak Herzog, a former Chief Rabbi of Ireland. Yitzhak Herzog was a fluent Irish speaker and a supporter of our independence.
The proposal to strip Chaim Herzog's name from the park is a deplorable act of erasure against Jewish-Irish history. It reflects a simplistic, black and white attitude that undermines Israel's right to exist, challenges a two-state solution and conflates the Jewish people with the sanctions of the current Israeli Government. This is amateurish, fanatical thinking. If we want our voice as a nation to have moral authority, we must do better.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-16