This is a tweet for the Irish. Most Irishmen I speak with on Twitter claim that they support the Palestinians because the Palestinian struggle reminds them of their own struggle against the British. Let’s assume they’re arguing in good faith and not just using this story as a fig leaf to cover their prejudice. This analogy is still deeply flawed and profoundly unflattering for the Irish. Here’s why: First of all, the Irish people were a tiny nation fighting for freedom against the largest empire in human history. The Palestinians are Arabs, part of a huge colonizing entity, who fight against a tiny Jewish minority in its midst. Even if you look just at the region called Palestine, Arabs are still the majority in it. While the Irish fought the British alone, the Palestinians were always part of a huge Muslim coalition that attempted to destroy the state of Israel. For example, during the current war, Israel has been attacked by at least five other nations, all fighting to destroy it. When were the Irish supported by such a wide international coalition? Who but the Irish fought for the Irish? When you’re siding with the Arabs, you’re siding with the majority, not the minority. You’re supporting the empire, not the rebels. Secondly, the Irish fought for a state beside Britain, not instead of Britain. The creation of an Irish state didn’t require the destruction of any existing state, nor the killing or expulsions of millions of people. Imagine that the Irish didn’t claim just their island, but also demanded that all non-Celts "went back" to Europe? The British would have obliterated the Irish people then. The Irish would have left them with no other choice. This is exactly the position that Israel is in. Finally, even though the Irish engaged in armed struggle against the British that sometimes hurt civilians, they never came anywhere near the absolute barbarity of the Palestinian Arabs. The Irish never massacred entire classrooms full of children, didn’t send suicide bombers to blow up youth clubs, didn’t shatter the skulls of babies with rocks, or paraded around with mutilated human bodies. At no point in modern history, did the Irish launch anything even remotely resembling the atrocities of October 7. To equate your struggle with the Palestinian struggle is to equate yourself with a barbaric, genocidal horde in the service of an empire of dark age fanaticism. Is this really who you are?