Third-level campus staff and students are planning to come together for a unified Day of Action for Palestine across the island of Ireland from 9 am and continuing throughout the day on Wednesday, April 17.
#TLC4P (Third Level Campuses for Palestine), the group that has organized Wednesday's Day of Action, says it is "standing in solidarity with the devastated higher education system in Gaza."
The group said that for the past six months, Gaza's educational institutions have been systematically targeted and destroyed by Israel, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives and the destruction of all 12 universities in the Gaza Strip.
📢 Join us one & all for the National Day of Action across Irish campuses on Wed 17th April, some details to follow below over the new few days https://t.co/dXGACqJ1nu pic.twitter.com/UxmFURdpNR
— Academics for Palestine (@AcaforPalestine) April 14, 2024
Elaine O’Mahony, a spokesperson for #TLC4P, said: “These attacks on Gazan universities, students, and academics place particular demands of solidarity and action on our university community here in Ireland.
“In 2022 Irish Higher Education institutions unequivocally condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"By contrast, the muted and equivocal response of most Irish HE institutions to Israel’s current attacks on Gaza is deeply troubling. It's time for the university sector to break its silence and take a stand."
O'Mahony added: “The ICJ interim ruling and the United Nations' condemnation of Israel's onslaught show that the Department of Further Education, Research, Innovation & Science (DFHERIS), the Higher Education Authority (HEA), and Northern Ireland’s Department of the Economy have a moral obligation to sever all ties with complicit Israeli institutions and corporations.
"We are disappointed that they have not done this.
“We, the staff and students from universities across the island of Ireland, are taking this co-ordinated action today to voice our horror at what is being done to the Palestinian people, and to call on all third-level institutions across Ireland to:
- Issue a statement condemning Israel's mass killing of Palestinians and the deliberate destruction of Gaza's educational infrastructure.
- Demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and ensure unhindered access to aid for Gaza.
- Offer sanctuary status to Palestinian academics and students and commit to investing in the restoration of Palestinian education.
- Review all ties with Israeli universities, cultural institutions, and collaborations involving the Israeli industrial sector.
- Adopt ethical institution investment policies that would include divestment from all holdings in companies associated with arms manufacture.
- Support the implementation of a sector wide BDS policy advocating for the withdrawal of support from companies engaged in violations of Palestinian human rights.
Queen's University Belfast (QUB) Palestine Assembly also demands the removal of Hillary Clinton from the position of University Chancellor and the reappointment of a new Chancellor who has the support of the staff and student body.
Speaking ahead of the Day of Action, QUB student Ewen McClelland said: "QUB students have made their voices consistently heard since the start of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
"We refuse to witness our university have a warmonger chancellor in Hilary Clinton and invest in companies arming Israel to destroy academic institutions in Palestine.
"From the student referendum last December, our demands for Palestine have been laid out and we will see them fulfilled, Free Palestine."
Staff and students at the following institutions are set to participate in the Day of Action for Palestine on April 17:
- Atlantic Technical University (ATU)
- Carlow College St. Patrick’s
- Dublin City University (DCU)
- Maynooth University
- Munster Technological University (MTU)
- Queen’s University Belfast (QUB)
- South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford
- South East Technological University (SETU) Carlow
- St. John’s College Cork
- Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin)
- Technological University of the Shannon (TUS)
- Trinity College Dublin
- Ulster University
- Union of Students of Ireland (USI)
- University College Cork (UCC)
- University College Dublin (UCD)
- University of Galway
- University of Limerick (UL)
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