“The fact that the state thought it was a good idea to have a football game in a place that supports Muslim terror shows the depth of the problem”
Florida State Rep Randy Fine, who has been fiercely critical of Ireland since its recognition of Palestine, was speaking after Governor Ron DeSantis’s recent trip to Ireland.
DeSantis was in Dublin over the weekend for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, where he met business leaders ahead of the American college football game.
On social media, DeSantis said he and a team from the Florida Department of Commerce said their trip was a positive experience with a number of Irish businesses expressing their interest in coming to Florida “or expanding their Florida footprint”.
However, Representative Fine said he was “certainly disappointed to see not only folks go to what is clearly an antisemitic country that supports Muslim terror, but I was also disappointed that the game wasn’t cancelled, which it should have been”.
Fine told the USA Today Network, who noted that he is the Legislature’s only Jewish Republican that “fighting antisemitism often as a lone ranger is like Whac-A-Mole”.
“Every day I have to tackle some new issue in state government, local government or private industry and there’s unfortunately more to be done.
“The fact that the state thought it was a good idea to have a football game in a place that supports Muslim terror shows the depth of the problem.”
According to USA Today, DeSantis responded to Fine’s recent comments by saying: “I think just about every lobbyist in Tallahassee made that trip, so is Rep. Fine going to stop taking the money from all the lobbyists like he’s been doing?
“I’d like to see his answer to that.”
In May, Fine spoke out after Taoiseach Simon Harris announced the country would be joining Spain and Norway in formally recognising the State of Palestine.
Reacting to Ireland’s announcement, Fine posted on X that day how he and his family were in Ireland last summer and “marvelled” at how welcoming it was.
“This morning, I wonder how we would have been treated if they knew we were Jews,” he said in his post. “Very sad to see Ireland embrace Muslim terror.”
Later that day, Fine posted again: “In Florida, if you support Muslim terror, you will be treated like a Muslim terrorist.
“Next session, I will introduce legislation that adds any country that recognizes ‘Palestine’ to Florida’s list of scrutinized countries, with severe limitations on entities from those countries doing business with and in Florida.
“Spain, Ireland, and Norway will join Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Syria, among others, on that list.
“Govern yourselves accordingly.”
Fine told USA Today on Tuesday that he still intends to introduce such legislation.
Irish Central refereed to an Ireland Thinks poll for the Sunday Independent I November that found 51% of respondents sided with Palestine. The same poll found that 65% of respondents supported Ireland proscribing Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Later, in February, another Ireland Thinks poll for the Sunday Independent found that 79% of respondents believed Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
In March, Ireland’s then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar explained while in Washington, DC: “Leaders often ask me why the Irish have such empathy for the Palestinian people. And the answer is simple: We see our history in their eyes.
“A story of displacement, of dispossession, national identity questioned or denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now, hunger.”
Fine’s most recent comments about Ireland being “antisemitic” came the same day the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) published an article about Jewish people in Ireland, which ultimately portrayed the community’s attitudes as rather nuanced, Irish Central reports.
“Ireland’s Jews feel safe but concerned,” the article’s headline reads. It notes that Ireland’s Jewish community only numbers 2,200.
Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, told JNS: “We have a very close relationship with the police force. We have access to senior politicians. But our concerns are not always heard with regard, for instance, to antisemitism in education.
“Still, going around wearing a kippah is relatively safe. We had no incidents of physical violence, and every single politician I met at the top level said that they won’t stand for that,” he continued.
“They say that the Jewish community here is very valuable and as much a part of Ireland as any race or religion, but then in the same speech criticize the war in Gaza. They just connect the two,” he added.