INTERNACIONAL
Irish PM rejects antisemitism concerns in Ireland amid dramatic vote over boycotting Israel game
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin rejected claims that Ireland’s sharp criticism of Israel has crossed into antisemitism as tensions flared around a politically charged soccer match between the countries Sunday, with Irish players holding a last-minute vote over whether to boycott the game.
Martin, in an exclusive interview with Digital this week in New York, outlined why Ireland has taken such a staunch position against the Israeli government’s conduct of the war in Gaza, calling its military response «absolutely disproportionate» while pressing Israel to «change strategy» and calling for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Martin argued that Ireland’s own history — particularly its experience ending decades of conflict in Northern Ireland — gives the country a role to play as a voice for peace on the international stage, a theme he returned to while discussing Ukraine and the ongoing debate over Irish reunification.
«I think for the vast majority of people it does not,» Martin said when asked directly whether anti-Israel sentiment in Ireland had crossed the line into antisemitism.
«We have no toleration for antisemitism, none,» Martin added.
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The extraordinary player vote came after months of pressure surrounding the UEFA Nations League fixture on Sunday, with more than 160 Irish sports figures calling for a boycott and players themselves publicly questioning whether the match should go ahead.
A «significant majority» of players ultimately voted on Saturday to play the game, while one player left the squad after expressing his wish not to take part.
In the interview, Martin strongly condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack and defended Israel’s right to exist in security.
«First of all, we condemned, absolutely, the outrageous terrorist attack by Hamas in October,» Martin told Digital.
«We believe in a two-state solution,» Martin said. «We believe that Israel, of course, has a right to exist in security and its people need to be guaranteed of security. But likewise, Palestinians should have a right to live in their homeland in a peaceful way.»
«There are many peaceful voices in Palestine that I’ve met who want peaceful coexistence with Israel.»
Martin said Ireland’s strongly pro-Palestinian position was rooted partly in its own history.
«There’s a very strong pro-Palestinian position in Ireland,» Martin said. «Ireland, the Irish government and the Irish people, probably because of our own history, but also because of a sense of right and justice and fairness.»
Thousands have taken to the streets across Ireland since the war began, while national broadcaster RTÉ refused to air this year’s Eurovision Song Contest after Israel’s participation was confirmed.
Ireland spent centuries under British rule before most of the island gained independence a little more than a century ago, while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom.
He said Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 attack had resonated deeply in Ireland and called for increased humanitarian aid into Gaza.
«We want humanitarian aid going into Gaza. There’s not enough humanitarian aid going in,» Martin said, pointing to the conditions facing roughly 2 million people there, including shortages of food and shelter and children without access to education.
Martin said Ireland wanted Israel to reconsider its conduct of the war, asking whether it would «change strategy» and «change its approach to the whole issue.»
«So that’s the background to the Irish position,» he said. «People are angry in terms of what’s going on in the Middle East and that’s the manifestation of it.»
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Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson said his players were uncomfortable with the games, declaring: «We’re not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide.» The Israeli Football Association accused him of «stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy,» prompting Martin to call the remarks «unacceptable.»
The FAI previously sought Israel’s suspension from international competition. Separately, Irish soccer officials later voted to fulfill the Israel fixtures after being warned a boycott could cost the association at least $6.3 million and trigger UEFA sanctions.
Sunday’s game will be played in Hungary, while Ireland’s Oct. 4 home fixture has been moved to Serbia and will be played behind closed doors. Irish supporters will not have access to either game.
An organized campaign dubbed #StopTheGame has, meanwhile, spent months pressuring Irish soccer officials and players not to fulfill the Israel fixtures, staging protests and urging the national team to refuse to play.
The campaign has also spilled onto the field. During a friendly against Qatar in May, protesters threw tennis balls bearing «Stop The Game» messages onto the pitch in opposition to the Israel fixtures.
Martin has resisted calls for Ireland to boycott Israel, arguing that unilateral action could be «self-defeating» and may hurt Irish soccer without having any effect on Israel.
The dispute over the games reflects a broader debate over whether Ireland’s criticism of Israel has crossed a line.
The American Jewish Committee raised concerns directly with Martin in Washington in March 2025 about antisemitism and what it called the «vilification of Israel in Ireland.» An Anti-Defamation League official also participated in the meeting. The AJC alleged that antisemitism had become «pervasive» in Ireland.
Martin pointed to Ireland’s annual Holocaust commemorations and the historic contribution of Jewish communities in Dublin, Cork and elsewhere in rejecting the suggestion that antisemitism was broadly tolerated in Ireland. He also pointed to Ireland’s participation in international efforts against antisemitism and said the country campaigns against it globally.
«We cherish that contribution that the Jewish community has made to Ireland,» Martin said.
Martin’s defense of Ireland’s position came before he addressed world leaders at the United Nations on Thursday, where he delivered a sharply critical assessment of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, declaring that the international community had «failed Palestine.»
«When the full truth of what has happened, what is still happening in Gaza, is finally known, when the evidence is gathered, when the testimonies are heard, when the true horrors are finally and fully revealed, it will shame the world,» he said. «Nobody will be able to say that we did not know.»
Martin accused violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank of acting with «near-total impunity» and said Palestinian communities faced displacement and destruction «amounting to ethnic cleansing.»
He reiterated his support for a two-state solution, saying the only viable outcome was for «a State of Palestine and a State of Israel» to live side by side «in peace, security and dignity.»
During his Digital interview, Martin connected Ireland’s position on the Middle East to its experience ending decades of violence in Northern Ireland, saying «we feel we can make a contribution to that conflict resolution pathway.»
That role has taken on added significance as Ireland holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, giving it an elevated diplomatic role at a time of multiple international conflicts.
Martin also pointed to a personal experience that shaped his thinking, recalling meeting Israeli Rami Elhanan and Palestinian Bassam Aramin in Israel, two fathers who each lost a daughter in the conflict and later worked together for peace. Their stories are told in Colum McCann’s novel «Apeirogon.»
«That’s an inspiration to me,» Martin said, adding that he had met both men in Israel. He said their work reflected Ireland’s own efforts to reconcile communities divided by generations of conflict.
Beyond the Middle East, Martin addressed Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying a ceasefire along existing battle lines could provide a starting point for negotiations while rejecting territorial gains by force.
«Ukraine can’t cede territory that Russia hasn’t even conquered, despite four years of war,» Martin said. «From our perspective, no one has the right to go into another country and take its territory.»
Ireland has maintained its military neutrality while providing humanitarian and non-lethal assistance to Ukraine and taking in more than 120,000 Ukrainians since Russia’s invasion. Martin rejected suggestions that such support compromised Ireland’s neutrality, noting that Dublin has not supplied lethal weapons. «We want the war to end,» he said.
Martin’s focus on ending long-running conflicts also extends to Ireland’s own divided island. He and his Fianna Fáil party support reunification with Northern Ireland, but he said greater trust between the two communities must come first.
«I believe in unity and my party believes in unity, but we have to work on it,» Martin said. «We have to build reconciliation amongst the different traditions on the island of Ireland.»
Under the Good Friday Agreement, a referendum would be called if it appeared likely that a majority in Northern Ireland supported reunification — an issue that gained fresh attention when Trump said during his recent visit to the country that he would «love» to see a united Ireland.
Martin also pointed to Ireland’s unique relationship with the United States, crediting Washington with playing a «critical» role in the Northern Ireland peace process in the 1990s.
Asked whether Washington could play a role again in a future reunification process, he replied: «To a degree maybe, potentially, yeah.»
israel, anti semitism, ireland, politics, geopolitics, ukraine, sports
INTERNACIONAL
Quién es Leonardo Bertulazzi, el integrante de las Brigadas Rojas italianas que se fugó en San Telmo
Leonardo Bertulazzi tiene 74 años, es italiano y formó parte de las Brigadas Rojas, una organización armada de extrema izquierda que protagonizó una serie de secuestros, atentados y asesinatos durante las décadas de 1970 y 1980. Este martes, su nombre volvió a quedar en el centro de la escena después de que escapara del arresto domiciliario que cumplía en un departamento del barrio porteño de San Telmo, mientras esperaba ser extraditado a su país.
El exintegrante de la organización tenía una condena de 27 años de prisión dictada por la Justicia italiana. Uno de los principales hechos por los que fue sentenciado fue el secuestro del ingeniero naval Pietro Costa, ocurrido en enero de 1977.
Además, las investigaciones lo vincularon con tareas logísticas relacionadas con el secuestro del ex primer ministro italiano Aldo Moro, uno de los episodios más resonantes de la historia política de Italia.
Su participación en las Brigadas Rojas
Bertulazzi integró la columna de Génova de las Brigadas Rojas, una de las estructuras territoriales de la organización. El grupo armado desarrolló buena parte de su actividad durante los llamados años de plomo, un período marcado por la violencia política, los atentados y los enfrentamientos entre organizaciones extremistas en Italia.
El 12 de enero de 1977, el ingeniero naval Pietro Costa fue secuestrado por integrantes de la organización. Costa pertenecía a una familia vinculada con la industria de los astilleros y permaneció cautivo hasta fines de marzo de ese año, cuando fue liberado después del pago de un rescate.
Por ese episodio y su pertenencia a la organización armada, Bertulazzi recibió una condena de 27 años de prisión. La sentencia quedó firme en Italia. Su nombre también apareció relacionado con el secuestro de Aldo Moro, quien había sido primer ministro italiano y era una de las figuras más importantes de la Democracia Cristiana.
El secuestro y asesinato de Aldo Moro
El 16 de marzo de 1978, un comando de las Brigadas Rojas interceptó el vehículo en el que viajaba Moro, asesinó a sus cinco custodios y secuestró al dirigente político en Roma.
El ex primer ministro permaneció cautivo durante 55 días. Finalmente, el 9 de mayo de ese año, su cuerpo fue encontrado dentro de un automóvil abandonado en el centro de la capital italiana.
Bertulazzi fue señalado por su participación en tareas logísticas de la organización durante ese período. Si bien su condena de 27 años estuvo vinculada principalmente con el secuestro de Pietro Costa, su trayectoria dentro de las Brigadas Rojas también quedó asociada a uno de los crímenes más impactantes de la historia contemporánea italiana.
Sus primeros años prófugo y su llegada a la Argentina
Bertulazzi permaneció prófugo durante décadas. Llegó a la Argentina en 2002 y ese mismo año fue detenido por primera vez, aunque recuperó la libertad meses después.
En 2004 obtuvo el reconocimiento como refugiado político, una condición que impidió que avanzara su extradición a Italia. De esa manera, pudo permanecer en el país durante años pese a los requerimientos de la Justicia italiana.
La situación cambió en agosto de 2024, cuando el Gobierno argentino le retiró esa condición y volvió a detenerlo en Buenos Aires, después de un operativo de inteligencia en el que participaron distintas áreas del Estado.
Desde entonces, permanecía bajo arresto domiciliario mientras se resolvía el proceso de extradición. La Corte Suprema de Justicia había declarado procedente el pedido de Italia, aunque todavía quedaban cuestiones judiciales pendientes vinculadas con su anterior condición de refugiado.
Tras la fuga, el Gobierno nacional oficializó una recompensa de $20 millones para quienes aporten información que permita localizar y detener a Bertulazzi.
La medida quedó establecida mediante la Resolución 1168/2026, publicada en el Boletín Oficial, en el marco del Programa Nacional de Recompensas. Quienes tengan información sobre su paradero pueden comunicarse de manera gratuita con la línea 134.
Italia, Terrorismo, secuestro
INTERNACIONAL
Dakota Meyer survived a battle he thought would kill him. 15 years after leaving the Marines, he went back
Fifteen years after Dakota Meyer left the Marine Corps, the Medal of Honor recipient decided to put the uniform back on — becoming the first with the award to ever reenlist.
Meyer was 36. He had fought in Afghanistan, struggled with the transition home from war and spent years building a life outside the military. But he said the desire to serve never went away.
«Every day after I took that uniform off, that desire to serve didn’t just end because my commitment to the country did,» Meyer told Digital in an interview ahead of Veterans Day.
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Meyer rejects the idea that receiving the Medal of Honor meant he had already done enough.
«I think sometimes it’s looked at as you’ve done your part, and I am wholeheartedly against that,» he said. «I believe that the only time you’ve done your part is when you’ve done all that you can.»
For Meyer, Veterans Day is a reminder that service does not necessarily end when someone leaves the military.
«Sometimes we look at the veteran title as it is something that represents something we’ve done,» Meyer said. «And it’s not. It’s something that we are doing, and it is something that we can continue to do.»
Meyer re-enlisted in 2025 and later entered the training pipeline to become a reconnaissance Marine, completing the grueling course in his late 30s.
«To be able to do that at 38, it was definitely one of the — hands down — probably the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do,» Meyer said.
His first stint in the Marines had taken him to Afghanistan, where at 21 he fought in the 2009 Battle of Ganjgal in Kunar Province.
Meyer had been assigned to remain with the vehicles at a rally point while other members of his team accompanied Afghan troops toward the village roughly a mile away. The patrol was ambushed by more than 50 insurgents firing from fortified positions on the surrounding slopes.
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Meyer and Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez could hear the battle unfolding over the radio. Four members of Meyer’s team were trapped inside the ambush.
After repeatedly asking for permission to go in, Meyer and Rodriguez-Chavez drove toward the fighting, with Meyer manning the gun turret.
«I think often we try to make these decisions as if it’s some heroic decision, and it’s really not,» Meyer said. «It’s just about following through on what my promise that I had made to them.»
The pair made repeated trips into the ambush, helping evacuate wounded troops as Meyer continued searching for his teammates.
«I think it was at that point that I did realize that I just accepted that I was going to die,» Meyer recalled. «But I was gonna make sure that I would do everything I could up until that last breath.»
His four teammates were ultimately found dead. Meyer would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.
Leaving the Marines the following year brought a different battle.
«I struggled. I mean, I struggled,» Meyer said. «The horrors of war definitely haunted me when I got out.»
Meyer said one of the hardest parts of returning to civilian life was figuring out what could replace the sense of purpose he had found in the military.
«The hardest part was finding purpose,» he said. «It wasn’t about being successful in anything.»
Eventually, he said, he realized that neither money nor professional success was what he was looking for. He wanted to feel that his work had an impact.
Years later, while speaking to a group of Marines at Camp Pendleton, that question of purpose came back to him in a different way.
A Marine attending a leadership course told Meyer he was deciding whether to reenlist. He had a family and could make more money outside the military, but he loved serving.
«Do you think it’s still worth serving?» he asked.
Meyer said yes, but the answer bothered him.
«I felt it was one of the most unbecoming things that I had ever said back to that crowd,» Meyer said, explaining that he was telling someone else to accept the sacrifices of continued service while he was free to return to civilian life.
«I told them that I would walk out of there and I would go about reenlisting or I would never say that to anybody again.»
It ultimately took Meyer about two years to return to the Marines.
Once back, he pursued a goal he had held since first seeing a Recon Marine poster in a recruiting office as a young man.
«They were the people that we were all trying to be inside of the Marine Corps,» Meyer said.
At 37 and 38, keeping up physically wasn’t necessarily the problem, but recovering felt different.
«What got me was the cumulative fatigue at my age,» Meyer said. «These kids can recover like nothing else.»
The experience also gave Meyer a close look at a generation of Marines nearly two decades younger than the one he had served alongside in Afghanistan.
He came away impressed.
«When we talk about service members or this next generation being weaker, it’s absolutely not the case,» Meyer said. «These kids are hands down, they will rise to the level of expectation that is set for them.»
Meyer said the Marine Corps itself has changed since he left in 2010, but he viewed much of that change as necessary. He recalled younger Marines giving him an hour-long lesson on their «new language» during a break in training and said he often found himself learning from them.
«They do things a lot smarter,» Meyer said. «I found myself learning a lot more from them than I did them probably learning from me.»
He said today’s young service members don’t have a «generational problem,» and said they still want the challenge, purpose and sense of belonging that drew those to serve before them.
politics, veterans, us marines, military, heroism, pentagon
Una nueva caravana integrada por aproximadamente 2,000 migrantes de Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala y Nicaraguasalió este martes de Tapachula, en el estado mexicano de Chiapas, con la intención de avanzar hacia la frontera de Estados Unidos, en medio de las expectativas de un posible cambio en las políticas migratorias de Washington.
La movilización, que comenzó el pasado sábado desde San Pedro Sula, Honduras, continuó su recorrido desde el sur de México, donde los participantes esperan avanzar de manera pacífica y conseguir mejores oportunidades para sus familias.
El desplazamiento ocurre una semana después de las elecciones de medio mandato en Estados Unidos, cuyos resultados modificaron el escenario político para el presidente Donald Trump, luego de que los demócratas recuperaran el control legislativo, un resultado que despertó expectativas entre los migrantes sobre un posible freno a las políticas migratorias restrictivas.
Sin embargo, aunque los integrantes de la caravana mantienen la esperanza de encontrar oportunidades en territorio estadounidense, organizaciones que acompañan a la población migrante consideran que los resultados electorales no necesariamente provocarán cambios inmediatos en las medidas migratorias.
De acuerdo con información proporcionada a la agencia EFE, uno de los participantes es Álvaro José Vanegas Estrada, migrante de Nicaragua, quien emprendió el recorrido con apenas 20 dólares, dejando atrás sus actividades agrícolas, a su esposa y a sus dos hijos.
El hombre explicó que decidió salir de su país con la expectativa de encontrar una oportunidad laboral que le permita mejorar las condiciones económicas de su familia.
Vanegas considera que la participación de la comunidad latina en diferentes sectores productivos de Estados Unidos podría representar una oportunidad para quienes buscan ingresar al mercado laboral.
«El gobierno estadounidense sabe que el 19 % de la comunidad latina es la que hace el trabajo pesado, lo que es la construcción y la hotelería. Entonces en este momento ha visto que ha bajado ese punto de trabajo y creo que tal vez, nos dé la oportunidad de entrar», expresó a EFE.
No obstante, el migrante explicó que su intención inicial no necesariamente es cruzar de inmediato hacia Estados Unidos, sino llegar al norte de México, permanecer allí durante un tiempo y conseguir trabajo para enviar dinero a su familia mientras espera posibles cambios en las decisiones migratorias estadounidenses.
Entre los participantes de la caravana también se encuentra el hondureño Bili Noe Martínez Colindres, quien hizo un llamado al Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) de México para que permita el desplazamiento de los migrantes sin obstáculos y de manera pacífica.
El compatriota manifestó que las personas que integran la movilización buscan oportunidades para mejorar la vida de sus familiares y pidió respeto durante el recorrido por territorio mexicano.
«Nosotros solo queremos un sueño para nuestras familias, respeto a nosotros, respetamos a México y Guatemala. Es el llamado que le hacemos como hondureños a usted señora presidenta (Claudia Sheinbaum), que nos apoye con ese permiso», manifestó.
La petición está dirigida a las autoridades mexicanas, particularmente a la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum, para que los integrantes de la caravana puedan continuar su desplazamiento sin enfrentar dificultades relacionadas con su condición migratoria.
El recorrido hasta la frontera mexicana con Estados Unidos representa un trayecto de aproximadamente 3,000 kilómetros, una distancia que los migrantes deberán cubrir en diferentes etapas y bajo condiciones que pueden complicar su avance.
Entre los migrantes existe la percepción de que el cambio en la composición del Congreso estadounidense podría abrir espacios para revisar algunas de las medidas migratorias impulsadas por el mandatario republicano.
Sin embargo, Luis García Villagrán, representante del Centro de Dignificación Humana A.C., organización que trabaja en la frontera sur de México, consideró que no se esperan modificaciones importantes en la política migratoria estadounidense como consecuencia inmediata de los resultados electorales.
«No creo que vaya a cambiar mucho, pero en ánimo de la gente sí ayudó mucho, para que la gente se anime a salir caminando y tratar de llegar lo más cerca de la frontera norte», señaló el activista.
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