Blogging Adventures in Advocating for Israel

[1978 photo of the blog author, taken by Guy Hemmings]

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

What did I think I would achieve when I started blogging about Israel from an Irish perspective?

I hoped to mediate between an angry, anti-semitic Ireland and an embattled, slightly autistic Israel. It was a quixotic ambition, and I didn’t see that at the start.

It began with rejection. During the journalism diploma I took in 2023/24, all students were encouraged to pitch internships for the work-experience module. I emailed a few Irish Jewish organisations with great expectations. They stalled, promised follow-up, then ghosted me. It was a strange non-response to a free and willing philo-Semitic advocate.

I tried The Irish Independent, and the editor of The Dublin Inquirer promised a follow-up that vaporised. There is no Jewish media in Ireland, so I looked abroad: The Jewish Chronicle in London and Haaretz in Tel Aviv. No dice with either of those very diverse newspapers. For a second diploma’s work-experience module, I tried the Irish Jewish Museum, a Knesset internship and the Campaign Against Antisemitism. Each drew a blank. I never learned why. I was in my mid-60s, and my nuanced pro-Israel position was visible on social media. Perhaps it was one, or both, or neither.

Then The Times of Israel in Jerusalem replied. They suggested I try again for an internship “after the war”, but soon invited me to apply as a blogger. I passed their test and, in November 2023, wrote the first of fifty blogs: “Why I am a Friend of Israel”.

After a few personal observations on Jewish life and culture, I turned to critiquing Ireland’s “anti-Zionist” mindset. I covered the pro-Israel and anti-semitic protests on Ireland’s streets, the politicians who vented their spleen in government “debates”, and media coverage that contradicted the NUJ code of practice.[1]

Ireland gave me plenty of toxic material. Some of the titles tell the story: “Judenfrei Trinity College Dublin?”, “Blueshirt not Brownshirt – Irish neo-Nazis” and “Why are the Irish so bigoted against Israel and the Jewish people?”

“The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.” (Cervantes, Don Quixote)

I wanted to offer a balanced, Ground News-style approach drawn from many diverse sources.[2] I researched Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources and historical documents, including the Bible and the Koran. I linked to Arabic and secular sources, tried to separate fact from opinion and falsehood, and offered a biblical angle on the Middle East.

I posted my blog links on X to the Irish government and to leading left and centrist politicians. I also posted them to many Jewish and Israeli websites, and even to some anti-semitic social media. I bought an expensive banner advert in The Irish Catholic with links to my Times of Israel blog. I wasn’t trying to preach to the choir.

The response was almost silence. Very few likes, reposts or replies came back. I never thought I could swing public opinion, but I hadn’t expected such a muted reception. Brickbats or plaudits, either would have been welcome. I expected little from Ireland’s mainline churches, but I was shocked that most biblical-minded Irish evangelical leaders kept timidly silent about October 7th.

It cost me. I lost a few friends and had significant family friction. One insightful friend cheered me on by saying I’d always known how to stand out in a crowd, and was good at it.

In closing, I hope the “Author of my faith” might possibly have approved my adventurous attempts at batting for the Promised Land and its people. My aspirations and intentions are now quite exhausted.

But I’m not finished. I’m now reusing those blogs as I take my Daniel-like mission into the lion’s den of X/Twitter (https://x.com/LouisHemmings2), and I take comfort in the words of the New Testament:

“When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility that (Jesus) ploughed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12:3)

Sources

1. https://www.nuj.org.uk/about-us/rules-and-guidance/code-of-conduct.html
2. https://ground.news/media-bias