The term is intended to devalue Ireland’s unity with Palestine, but is adopted as a badge of honor and is now decorated with T-shirts, hoodies, pins and social media BIOS: Welcome to Paddystine, the homeland of Paddystinians.
Irish activists view neotheists as propaganda term against Israel’s war in Gaza and put pressure on the Irish government to do more to end the conflict.
It was believed that it was initially insulted by Israeli supporters, which promoted its spread on Tiktok and other platforms where the Irish claimed to be “paddystinians” and also reiterated the old-fashioned female name Biddy, “Biddystinians”.
“It's used as a negative,” Ross McGann, who has nearly 40,000 followers this week, said this week. “Once I heard me think, 'No, we can flip it.' It's a very Irish thing – you insulted and flip it back.”
The 35-year-old content creator lives on a farm in Offaly County and incorporates Paddystinian into his Tiktok Bio and his videos and is widely shared. “The word Paddy is used in a derogatory sense, but in my family we have a lot of Patricks, so for us Paddy is a positive word. Given what happened in Gaza, I think it's fair for us to have it.”
The spread of the term adds another stream of Irish activism in Gaza, a controversy about outspoken statements by rap group Kneecap. There is a question mark on the invitation to perform in Glastonbury next month as one of its members faces terror charges.
The origin of the term Padistine is not clear, but many people first heard in December after Israel closed its embassy in Dublin to protest what was said of anti-Semitism and extreme hostility of the Irish government. The pro-Israel online voice is combined with Palestinians, highlighting the tougher route Ireland has brought on by knowing the national status of Palestinians and lobbying the EU for its harder route on Israel, which is the terrorism brought on by Hamas.
Jewish News Corp columnist Ben Cohen wrote that he initially regretted the Paddystinians because Paddy's stereotype of drunkenness and other Ireland was an aging derogatory term.
“It turns out that I don't have to worry,” he wrote. “I found the #paddystinian hashtag is being eagerly adopted by Hamas supporters on social media. The accompanying posts are annoying or downright stupid, and many people laugh at their country as anti-Semitism.”
Zoëlawlor, chairman of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement in Ireland, welcomed the adoption of the term. “It was used as an insult. People here thought it was fun, so we really hugged it and turned it around. We started having fun on Cynants. Many people changed their Twitter name and social media handle to reflect that.”
Clothing, badges, pins and other accessories containing “Paddystinian” have become popular merchandise. Some producers, such as Progress Sports Group, donated their proceeds to Gaza.
Palestinian Izzeddeen Alkarajeh serves Palestinian cuisine at Izz Cafe in Cork, where he sells Paddystinian Pins. “This quickly became one of our best-selling items. It's a great example of how a term can be recycled and redefined by the community,” he said via email.
Alkarajeh said the word could amplify the awareness of Palestine among young people in Irish, as did the Kneecap trio who visited the cafe in February. “Ireland has been showing solidarity with the oppressed, which is particularly evident in the face of the ongoing crisis in Gaza.”
Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid praised Ireland's unity. “Any connection between the Irish people and the Palestinian people is positive. I want the Irish people to feel the same. We have the same colonial history and are very aware of the importance of freedom, justice and human rights.”
The activists say their goal is to use online solidarity to put pressure on the Irish nation to match Israel’s difficult statements with actions, such as the enactment of a bill to ban illegal settlements in Israel to end the Irish Central Bank’s authorization of Israeli national bonds to sell Israeli national bonds in Europe and orchestrate the Israeli space to collect goods from Israeli freight cargo cargo cargo.
“Our pressure point is the Irish government,” Lawler said. “The rhetoric is very strong, but they have to support it with action. If they do, we can start the snowball effect within the EU.”
