After their spectacular own goal over Eurovision, surely sulking Irish activists would think twice before launching yet another attempt to exclude Israel from apolitical spaces? Irish politicians and broadcasters boycotted the contest last month over Israel’s participation – only for the public vote to propel the Jewish state into a very respectable second place.
The message beaming back to Dublin was unequivocal: fans of the world’s largest (and loopiest) music competition weren’t interested in importing anti-Israel animus into the ditzy absurdity of Eurovision.
When it comes to Ireland’s near-hysterical obsession with ostracising Israel no platform is considered off limits
Yet here we go, here we go, here we go again. Ireland is attempting another act of exclusion, this time through football. Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats are pressuring the government to cancel the Republic’s upcoming Uefa Nations League fixture against Israel in Dublin this September. Sinn Féin will table a motion today, with the Social Democrats following on Wednesday.
Obviously, when it comes to Ireland’s near-hysterical obsession with ostracising Israel no platform is considered off limits. And this is why the boycott is absurd: international sport, like music, is supposed to exist outside day-to-day geopolitics.
