John Connolly is a blogger who gained international attention after publicising the statutory rape conviction of

Ezra Nawi Ezra Yitzhak Nawi (; 1951 – 9 January 2021) was an Israeli Jew, left-wing, human rights activist and pacifist. He was particularly active among the Bedouin herders and farmers of the South Hebron Hills and against the establishment of Israeli ...

, the former partner of Senator David Norris, who was at the time of Connolly's intervention the front-runner in the 2011 Irish presidential race. Connolly also highlighted the assistance Norris had provided to Ezra Nawi and his associates with their legal difficulties in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Connolly's intervention drew both scorn (due to an alleged political agenda) and praise (for bringing about "the first major victory of the Irish blogosphere", as described by the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'').

Blogging activities

Connolly had a blog promoting conservative

libertarianism Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according t ...

and

pro-Israel Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly cor ...

positions, under the title "Cranky Notions" (formerly "The System Works"). He later renounced libertarianism and became an early promoter of the US. Presidential candidate Donald Trump. While some commentators claimed the Connolly revelations upset the "often too cosy relationship between the political and media classes in Ireland", the blogger was still the subject of much criticism after critically damaging Norris's campaign. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (a paper Connolly refers to as "''Al Guardian''") claimed he showed a strong "political motive to attack Norris and, by extension, Ezra Yizhak", while ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'' and Connolly himself wrote of anti-Semitic slurs and conspiracy theories directed at him, some claiming he was an agent of

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

Confrontations with Christian groups

Connolly is an advisor to Anglican Friends of Israel. He has criticised the General Synod of the Church of England for endorsing the

Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel is an international, ecumenical programme that recruits and despatches observers (known as Ecumenical Accompaniers - EAs) to several Palestinian towns and villages to monitor the inter ...

, a group he claims has an anti-Israel bias and a history of misleading the public about its own activities. He has also accused the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland,

Trócaire Trócaire (, meaning "compassion") is an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) which is based in Ireland. It was founded, in 1973, as the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Trócaire is involved ...

, of being dominated by pro-Palestinian activists and stirring up Antisemitism.

Chris Andrews–Assad photo

On 6 November 2011, Connolly published a picture of the Irish politician Chris Andrews smiling and shaking hands with

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

of Syria. He claimed his was the first website to do so. Days later, the journalist

Eoghan Harris Eoghan Harris (born 13 March 1943) is an Irish journalist, columnist, director, and former politician. He has held posts in various and diverse political parties. He was a leading theoretician in the Marxist-Leninist Workers' Party (previously ...

spoke about the picture in response to criticism from Andrews on

Newstalk 106 Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Autho ...

, and said he wished to see it printed in his newspaper. Connolly has been very critical of Andrews and closely followed his activities on Twitter, claiming some of Andrews's tweets bordered on anti-Semitism. Andrews was eventually forced to leave his party,

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

, after an elaborate sting operation exposed him as the man behind a fake Twitter profile attacking rival members of the party. The controversy led to renewed interest in the photo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, John 2011 in Irish politics Irish male bloggers 21st-century Irish Jews Irish Zionists Irish libertarians Living people Writers on Zionism Year of birth missing (living people)

Blogging activities

Confrontations with Christian groups

Chris Andrews–Assad photo

See also

References