Mid East

NPR-  Ireland is one of the most pro-Palestinian nations in the world. Public support for Palestinians is higher in Ireland than even some majority-Muslim countries, according to polling data. Ireland was the first European Union member to call for Palestinian statehood in 1980 and the last to grant Israel permission to open an embassy in 1993. A little under a century ago, the Irish and Palestinians were both under British rule. Britain called the Palestinian territory British Mandate Palestine, or Mandatory Palestine. Many Irish people see similarities between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the decadeslong Catholic-Protestant fighting in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Ireland's Sinn Fein party is leading the polls ahead of elections later this year or early 2025. Sinn Fein has historic ties to Irish Republican Army militants, who themselves had a decades-long alliance with the Palestine Liberation Organization. In the early 20th century, Ireland was very pro-Israel. Many identified with the Jewish history of being a displaced people and wanted Jews to have a safe place to go. Public opinion flipped with Israel annexing and occupied more Arab land. Read more about Ireland's history with Israel and Palestinians, including a darker chapter during World War II, here.