Last year, former Irish football player Robbie Keane became the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv and actually won the Israeli Premier League and Toto Cup, before leaving in June of this year – but not before earning the vitriol of antisemites and Israel-haters for taking on the role to begin with, not to mention staying on after October 7.
Robbie was recently invited by the Irish Football Association to present commemorative shields to players making their debut on youth national teams and to speak with senior team members.
The post generated even more hate and antisemitic comments, leading to his wife Claudine to tweet how members of the Israel-hating/antisemite crowd have put her family at risk:
I would just like to remind a certain small group of individuals my family, my children and I live Ireland, this is our home. I feel extremely uncomfortable and sometimes intimidated by some messages again from a small group that are hurtful, threatening and dangerous.
They not only put genuinely our safety and wellbeing as a family at risk they are using a sportsperson as a political pawn and in doing so inciting hated by making absolutely outrageous accusations. I always felt safe in Ireland until now. I always wanted to move home being my kids up here and enjoy the Ireland that both me and my husband love. They are taking every bit of enjoyment and safety away from me and my family.
We love our country, we are not politician’s we have never done any wrong. My husband spent the majority of his adult life committed to the Ireland team missing, total and utter commitment. To see a politician say he should not be welcomed because he went to work in a country he does not like before the war began and resigned from a job he loved and did well to protect us his family in Ireland & because none of us signed up to this situation that happened months into his role, it was a nightmare! Please stop this absolute witch hunt and consider that politicians should not get to tell you where you can and cannot work. Is the uk America Saudi ok. We all want peace!!
Also, it seems to be trendy in media in Ireland to absolutely try to assassinate my husbands character very maliciously there is a certain sports radio channel that have openly spoken of their dislike from petty things like his cartwheel because apparently it’s overindulgent or maybe is it because he’s refused a number of requests for interviews over the years… you can’t hide the absolute bias, malice and defamation over the years it’s nothing short of a disgrace.
I apologise this is so long winded. This is what years of what feels like a bully campaign and witch hunt feels like, it almost breaks you. To the logical people thank you and to the others you are picking on wrong person/family enough is enough.
I would also say my children were in the Irish hotel during cap presentation they are Irish citizens and play schoolboys & league of Ireland football are they too not welcome because of a managers job their father resigned from? It’s all totally hypocritical to say the least.
Claudine also retweeted this:
Meanwhile, Claudine has not just learned that many of these Israel-haters are truly nasty people, but they are antisemitic to boot.
