Dublin’s National Concert Hall scraps fundraiser for Israeli emergency service, igniting outcry

JTA – The National Concert Hall in Dublin has drawn condemnation from the head of Israel’s emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, after it cancelled a planned fundraiser for the organisation. 

The event, which was slated for 11 May, was set to include a play featuring testimonies from survivors and first responders of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. It was organised by charity Magen David Adom Ireland (MDA Ireland) as a fundraiser for Israel’s national emergency medical service. 

Arrangements for the event were made in early February and were cancelled and reinstated once before, according to MDA Ireland. 

After initially cancelling the event last month, the National Concert Hall told Irish outlet Hot Press it had been dropped because the venue “does not host political events”, but that it was later reinstated following what it described as a misunderstanding. 

The National Concert Hall said in response to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency inquiry that “the proposed event with MDA Ireland on 11 May will not proceed.” The organisers did not respond to a request for comment on the reasoning behind the cancellation. 

Irish pro-Palestinian groups had urged their followers to protest against the reinstatement, alleging that Magen David Adom was “complicit in genocide”. 

Magen David Adom, recognised as the International Red Cross’s affiliate in Israel, is staffed by and serves Israeli Arabs as well as Jews. In 2023, Ireland’s National Ambulance Service sent a delegation to Israel to study the organisation’s operations. 

In November, the non-profit hosted another fundraiser at the Chabad in Dublin, which focused on “positive relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel, including examples of cooperation and solidarity following the 7 October attacks”, according to Nadav Matzner, a spokesperson for Magen David Adom. 

The cancellation drew swift condemnation from Gilad Erdan, the global President of Magen David Adom and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, who called it “antisemitic” and an example of “censorship tainted by bad faith and ignorance”. He called on the venue to reverse the decision again. 

“By cancelling and censoring the event, the National Concert Hall has made a political decision to stop a presentation of a factual depiction of the atrocities of 7 October in the words of survivors and responders, and is also depriving Israelis of all backgrounds of the benefit of vital aid for humanitarian life-saving services,” Erdan said in a statement. 

The cancellation was also decried by Alan Shatter, the Chairperson of MDA Ireland, who wrote in a post on X that the decision was “truly disgraceful and shocking”. 

“A private fundraising event for an independent humanitarian organisation dedicated to life-saving and emergency medical response connected to the Jewish community should not be a cause of difficulty or controversy,” Shatter wrote. “I am calling on the board of the National Concert Hall to reinstate our event and for the resignation of those who saw fit to cancel it. The lack of insight and understanding is truly shocking.” 

Shatter said the decision added to an “escalating global perception of Ireland as one of the most antisemitic countries in Europe”. 

Ireland has historically supported Palestinians in their conflict with Israel, a stance that can be traced to the country’s own history of British imperial rule. Last month, Ireland’s Jewish community, which numbers roughly 2 200, reported that there had been 143 antisemitic incidents within six months of launching a new communal reporting system. 

Ann McElhinney, the co-writer of the play October 7, which was slated to be performed during the event, also criticised the decision, writing in a post on X, “It seems there is no room in Ireland for the truth about Israel.” 

“This is hugely damaging to Ireland’s reputation as a home for art and artists,” McElhinney continued. “What a statement this makes! October 7 has Jewish and Arab voices. The National Concert Hall has told them: we don’t want to hear your stories. It’s shameful but will not be allowed to stand. We will bring the October 7 play to Ireland.” 

The cancellation of the event comes months after Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall called off a planned Chanukkah concert featuring Shai Abramson, chief cantor of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in November. The venue initially cancelled the performance, citing the “IDF’s active involvement in a controversial war”, before later reversing course and allowing Abramson to perform in separate private concerts. 

In October, Irish voters elected Catherine Connolly, a left-wing politician who has sharply criticised Israel in Parliament and faced backlash for comments defending Hamas, as president. 

In May 2023, Connolly questioned Ireland’s minister of health about the decision for Ireland’s National Ambulance Service to visit Israel to meet with Magen David Adom, asking “whether such a visit was appropriate” in the context of reports of “repeated attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinian emergency relief rescuers and health personnel as well as numerous attacks by illegal Israeli settlers on Palestinian ambulance cars with the acquiescence and support of Israeli security forces”. 

The Irish minister of health at the time defended the meeting, writing in response that it “does not in any way run contrary to Ireland’s principled position on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory”.