By Brian Hanley
Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, January 2026.
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Abstract

The belief in a ‘natural’ Irish sympathy with the Palestinian people, based on a shared history of colonisation, is a very widespread one. Indeed, many suggest that the legacy of resistance to British rule in Ireland produces an automatic solidarity with other oppressed peoples. Current Ulster Unionist support for Israel seems to confirm this trope, but Unionist attitudes towards this issue have also been fluid. Irish republicans have not always identified with the Palestinian cause and indeed at times some even embraced militant Zionism. Irish support for the Palestinians is real but has diverse roots and is much more recent than many assume.