Blogging Adventures in Advocating for Israel

1978 photo of blog author – taken by his brother, Guy Hemmings

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonour’s 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?

As part of 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. Those organisations stalled, initially  promised follow up, then ghosted me. A strange non-response to a free and willing philo-Semitic advocate…

So, I then I decided to apply to The Irish Independent, a broadsheet newspaper. I also emailed the editor of The Dublin Inquirer, an investigative journalism community newspaper. The former didn’t reply, the latter promised a follow-up but that vaporized.

Was possible ageism responsible? Perhaps my nuanced pro-Israel position on socials was seen and noted? Maybe harsh, judgmental assessments were made of me.

Still feeling energised and not one to quit easily, I next applied to the Jewish media abroad. (There is no Jewish media in Ireland). I emailed The Jewish Chronicle, in London and Haaretz (a left wing newspaper) in Tel Aviv. No dice with either of those very diverse newspapers.

I thought I might strike gold with The Times of Israel in Jerusalem. They kindly responded to my query, suggesting that I try applying for an internship again “after the war”. However, they invited me to apply to be a blogger. I passed their test and wrote the first of fifty blogs, starting in November 2023 with ‘Why I am a Friend of Israel’.

After a number of personal observations about Jewish life and culture, I pivoted my writing themes to “critiquing Ireland’s “anti-Zionist” mindset”. My blogs covered the pro-Israel and anti-semitic protests on Ireland’s streets; investigating the politicians who vented their near-fascist spleen in government “debates”; and exposing media impartiality that contradicted the NUJ “code of practice”. (1)

    _________________________________________________________________

“The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks,

and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.”

• Don Quixote by Cervantes _________________________________________________________________

My blog titles reflected Ireland’s pungent political scene: President Higgins many anti-Israel speeches; left-wing pro-Palestinian politicians; an anti-semitic Anglican”sermon”. Some of my subject matter had telling titles:- ‘Judenfrei Trinity College Dublin?‘; ‘Blueshirt not Brownshirt – Irish neo-Nazis‘; ‘Why are the Irish so bigoted against Israel and the Jewish people?‘

As a late-life learner, I started academic study in my early 60s – sitting for diplomas in creative writing and then podcasting. I later revelled in my journalism diploma and almost started to believe in possible “fourth estate” capabilities. I became a student member of the NUJ.

The journalism diploma results yielded good marks and I learned many good practices. I thought an Arts & Humanities diploma would bolster my research and thinking further. I loved learning about political systems and sociology etc, but it was academically very tough.

                   An encouraging presentation from my son and daughter-in-lawThat Arts & Humanities diploma also had a mandatory work-experience module. I (slightly skeptically) applied to a number of Irish and Israeli Jewish organizations as potential researcher. Surprisingly, both The Irish Jewish Museum and Knesset internship applications drew a blank. I tried the Campaign Against Antisemitism but that came to nothing also.

Back to writing blogs, I surmised. Ireland gave me much toxic material to work with. I wanted to try and present the balanced Ground News approach, drawing from many diverse sources. (2)

I researched Jewish, Christian & Muslim sources, including the Bible and Koran. I also gave links to Arabic and secular sources. It was very educational, stimulating and challenging. I attempted to discern facts from opinions and falsehoods, to challenge the anti-Israel western media bias, and to also present some biblical angle about the Middle East.

Getting traction for my pieces was an uphill battle though. I posted my blog-links to the Irish government, leading politicians on X. I also posted to many Jewish / Israeli websites, and even to some anti-semitic social media. Very few either reposted or responded. It’s not that I thought I could make a huge difference to public opinion – but I wasn’t expecting such a muted response. Brickbats or plaudits would have been welcome!

My attempts to advocate for Israel went beyond mere “preaching to the choir” – so I bought an expensive banner advert for my blog in The Irish Catholic newspaper. Ireland’s Catholic culture would not be sympathetic to Israel, in the main.

Being such a nuanced pro-Semitic blogger was a lonely, thankless task. I expected little to no support from the mainline churches. What shocked me was that most Irish evangelical Christian leaders kept timidly silent about October 7th, and its tumultuous angry aftermath.

Do evangelicals no longer see scripture prophecy as being prescient, in these fraught and febrile times? Perhaps Irish Christian leaders don’t question the mainstream media narrative enough? I vainly hoped that my blogs might provide a critique to some of that siloed mindset.

Two sources of kind-minded support sustained me over the past two years of blogging. A loyal, enthusiastic Christian friend forwarded blog links to her Pentecostal Christian Whatsapp circle. There was also a Jewish Community group which allowed reposting of my blogs on their Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishcommunityy

With my blog vision, I’d hoped to mediate between an angry, anti-semitic Ireland and an embattled, slightly autistic Israel. I lost a few friends and experienced significant friction. But one insightful person cheered me by summing up my quixotic balancing act, by saying – that I’d always known how to stand out in a crowd – and was good at it.

None of my persistent blogging advocacy for Israel would have happened without the academic guidance and long-suffering patience of my journalism teacher at Dun Laoire Further Education.

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

“When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility that (Jesus) plowed 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