This paper examines the construction of Irish-Jewish identity, through the prism of the Ireland–Israel soccer match in 2005. While, under the terms of ‘celebratory multiculturalism’ Irish Jews were able to use joke-work to bat away the implied loyalty test of ‘which side are you on’, the pro-Palestinian political mobilisation on the day of the match was more problematic. Within the narrative of Irish Zionism, these pro-Palestinian activities were linked to antisemitism, an interpretation which alienates Jews from those left-liberal elements in Irish society most open to a reading of Jewishness as part of a multicultural Ireland and re-inscribes Jews as ‘a people apart’.
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