Victory for Irish students’ action on Gaza

A student protest camp on the grounds of Trinity College in Dublin has forced the college to break ties to the genocidal Israeli regime after just five days.

The direct action took place in front of the Old Library, home to the Long Room and the Book of Kells, cutting off access to the money-spinning tourist attraction in the process.

As a result of the agreement to end the protest, which has been accepted by students and staff, Trinity College is to divest itself from Israeli companies operated in occupied Palestinian territories by June.

The college will also be enlisting a taskforce to complete the divestments which will will operate within the formal structures of the college,.

The taskforce process will also review Trinity’s exchanges with Israel and issue recommendations to the relevant principal committees of the university, among other tasks.

In a statement, the university agreed that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the dehumanisation of its people is “obscene”.

It also said that it supports the International Court of Justice’s position that Israel “must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide” in the region.

It added that there is a need for a “real and lasting solution” to be found for the conflict.

Speaking at the gates of the campus, Students Union President László Molnárfi Molnárfi described the decision as “unprecedented and historic”.

“They’ve already divested a substantial amount,” he said.

“So they’ve done everything they could do in the short term, and long term the task force will be set up to look into the mechanisms of how we can cut all of our remaining ties.

“And it just shows the grassroots power of students and staff and hopefully this movement can spread worldwide, and each university cuts its ties.”

Molnárfi added that he hopes Trinity’s decision will create a “domino effect” and result in international divestment and later formal sanctions on Israel for its actions in Gaza.

The union president said the protestors were looking forward to taking a shower and sleeping in a comfortable bed this evening, after they dismantle the camp. “We all deserve a rest,” he added.

Similar protests to the encampment seen in Trinity College had been taking place in recent weeks across the United States. More than 2,100 students have been arrested after taking part in pro-Palestine protests at a number of colleges in recent weeks.

Asked what was different in Trinity’s case, Molnárfi said it was the dialogue and discussions with the university administration and hopes their campaign’s success become a source of inspiration to the American students.

“The students in Colombia [University] and in the United States have shown immense resilience and bravery in the face of brutal police crackdown,” he said.

“In the United States, right-wing Zionist politicians have exerted immense amounts of pressure on university management to resort to forceful means rather than dialogue to the student protests. But I believe that they will absolutely win and our movement will win.”

However, Anti Imperialist Action said its support for the Palestine protests had caused the Gardaí to mount a dawn raid on the home of one of its activists in Dublin.

It is understood all electronic equipment and phones in the home, even those unrelated to the activist, were seized.

“The raid, carried out under the catch-all, so-called offences against the state act, was focused on the ongoing commitment of Revolutionary Socialist Republicans to engage in pro-Palestinian activism, to support the Palestinian Resistance and to make clear the link between the struggle for National Liberation in Palestine and our own struggle for freedom in Ireland,” they said.

They demanded that all confiscated property is returned.

“The Free State knows by now that such raids will never deter Republicans from pursuing a free Ireland. They are designed instead as an overt form of political harassment and as a petty attempt to inconvenience by removing phones and electronics.

“Even before being made chief administrator of the Free State, Simon Harris made clear he intended to use the state apparatus against Republicans and just a few weeks into the role, along with his MI5 agent Drew Harris, he is already increasing the harassment of Republicans in the 26 counties.

“Engaging in political activism in support of Irish and Palestinian freedom is not a crime and such acts of repression will never stop the mass movement that has been built in Ireland since October 7 from raising our voices against Zionism and Imperialism in support of the Palestinian People.”

Urgent Appeal