
Reverend Canon David Oxley delivered a sermon at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin in honor of a Remembrance Sunday event, with President Michael Higgins, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and many other public figures in attendance.
Reverend Oxley chose to use his sermon to deliver an anti-Israel diatribe, during which he also suggested that Israelis regarded themselves as a “master race” that was more valuable than “other” groups.
He added that Israel had committed the “horrible blasphemy of the master race, eliminating elimination others as a matter of course because they don’t count.”
While Oxley agreed that the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel was “a deliberate cruelty”, he questioned: “Is it inevitable that the abused should become abusers in their turn?”
“Repeatedly bombing people who have already been deprived of home and happiness and everything else – is such cruelty necessary?” he asked.
The Jewish community in Ireland responded with outrage and dismay, reported the Jewish Chronicle.
Israeli embassy in Ireland spokesperson said Oxley’s words were a “libel against the state of Israel” and accused him of “hijacking” the solemn memorial service. He said that the rant was not based on reality and he chose to “ignore the complexities of the Middle East”.
Oxley told the JC: “I speak only for myself. I do not speak on behalf of the Church of Ireland. It is quite conceivable that I am mistaken. No one is forced to agree with me. However, I stand by my remarks.”
A spokesperson from St Patrick’s Cathedral added, “In our cathedral we pray daily for peace in all countries of the Middle East. We pray fervently for an end to all wars and the ensuing human suffering.”