Author Sally Rooney has blamed Israel and the US for the rise of “fascism” in Europe during a speech in Dublin.
Speaking at a public gathering in the Irish capital on Tuesday evening, Rooney, 35, claimed European governments are adopting methods learnt from the two countries, contributing to the rise of fascist movements and authoritarianism on the continent.
She said: “Israeli settler colonialist techniques have been inherited and refined from the practices of British and European imperialism, so the political classes in Europe today are cooperating with and learning from the US and Israeli regimes.
“Not only are far-right, fascist movements rising to power as a result, but mainstream political parties are increasingly adopting authoritarian and fascist techniques to suppress protest and protect colonial interests.”
She additionally claimed that the “liberation of Palestine really does represent the liberation of the world” and referred to Israel’s conduct as “the darkest [moment] that we have witnessed in our lifetimes”.
During the event, which took place at the Teachers’ Club in central Dublin, the Normal People author also introduced Abubaker Abed, whom she described as an “extraordinary journalist” and a “survivor of genocide”.
Last year, Abed argued that Hamas should be viewed as an elected government in Gaza and suggested that membership of the proscribed terrorist organisation was comparable to belonging to mainstream political parties such as Labour or the Conservatives in the UK.
He made the comments while speaking at the Gaza Tribunal, an unofficial inquiry established by Jeremy Corbyn.
He said: “No journalist in Gaza has anything to do with Hamas. Hamas in an elected government in the end, so it’s a government we should work. [sic]
"Here, we wouldn’t kill journalists for belonging to the Labour Party, we wouldn’t kill journalists for belonging to the Tory party or whatever, so it’s the same.”
Abed has also repeatedly compared the Gaza war to the Holocaust on social media.
It is not clear whether Rooney was aware of Abed’s comments before the event on Tuesday.
During the talk, she said of him: “His work, bearing witness to the truth, in the most difficult and dangerous conditions imaginable, is a testament to the very highest ideals of journalism.”
Irish author Sally Rooney gave a speech last night blaming Israel for the rise of fascism and the far right in Europe and concluding that the “liberation of Palestine represents the liberation of the world”. How very 1930s Europe of her to blame the Jews for everything. pic.twitter.com/TSJzTjbu4u
— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) June 17, 2026
According to The Irish Times, Rooney also said during the same event: “The truth of the world we live in, the logic of our civilisation today, is there in the rubble of Gaza, and as we know all too well, the state of Israel has not and could not have conducted this campaign of genocide alone.
“The last three years have revealed more clearly than ever the extent to which the Israeli state functions as a projection of US power. Foreign aid, weaponry, and military intelligence have flowed from wealthy Western nations into Israel, facilitating and supporting the mass killings of Palestinians.
“Why? Certainly not for legal or institutional reasons, considering the perhaps irreversible damage the Israeli state has by now inflicted on the foundations of international law and the multilateral world system.”
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.