The Guardian has been accused of sharing "antisemitic" content after publishing a comment about the Jewish population in Ireland.
The national newspaper has now removed the comment made by retired diplomat Niall Holohan and included in an anlaysis piece on the West's response to the Israel-Hamas war.
The article, entitled "‘It’s part of our psyche’: why Ireland sides with ‘underdog’ Palestine" featured a reference to the Jewish population in Ireland.
The comment, which has since been subtracted from the analysis piece claimed on the smaller number of Jewish people in Ireland compared to Britain and France has given Ireland "a freer hand to take what we consider a more principled collection".
The newspaper has now corrected the article
PA
The article cited that a factor in Ireland's outlook on the Gaza and Israel conflict was "the relative lack of influence by its tiny community of approximately 2,500 Jews".
The article was criticsed on social media, with some calling the section antisemitic.
Conservative leader at Three Rivers Council Councillor Oliver Cooper said: "The Guardian positively quotes an Irish diplomat saying Ireland is better off without Jews, because it means Jews have a “lack of influence”. Explicitly antisemitic."
The Jewish Chronicle's Alex Hearn said: "An ex-diplomat given free rein in the Guardian to say Ireland is more principled because it has less Jews. Ideology which used to be on the far-right fringes has gone mainstream."
The newspaper has come under fire
PA
Author Dave Rich added: "This is staggering.
"If you have too many Jews in your country, they prevent your government from acting with principles - according to a retired Irish diplomat, quoted without comment in the Guardian.
The Guardian has since removed the quote, with a correction in the article.
The correction reads: "This article was amended on November 23 2023 to remove part of a quote for editorial reasons.
"An earlier footnote was wrong to state that the Jewish population in Ireland was roughly similar, proportionately, to the Jewish population in the UK.
"The percentage figures are in fact different by a factor of 10 (about 0.05per cent in Ireland, and roughly 0.5per cent in the UK).
"An earlier amendment to the text made on November 21 2023 has been removed and the original text restored."
A spokesperson from The Guardian said: "The article was already under consideration by our readers' editor and has been amended."
