It is “right” for Trinity College students to “escalate” their campus protests to be more disruptive, an Irish Labour Party Senator has said.
35-year-old Senator Annie Hoey, Labour’s Further and Higher education spokesperson, expressed “solidarity” with the ongoing Trinity campus demonstrations, which she said were against the university’s “financial links to Israeli companies and ties to Israeli institutions.”
Last Friday, students erected dozens of tents on campus, and blocked off access to the Book of Kells “indefinitely” using benches to disrupt university business as a form of protest. They have vowed to continue their demonstration until their list of demands have been met.
The Book of Kells is now closed indefinetly. No business as usual during a genocide. @tcddublin cut ties with the genocidal state of Israel! pic.twitter.com/LZ31xcvtYt
— László Molnárfi (SU) (@TCDSU_President) May 3, 2024
In a statement published on the Labour Party’s website, Senator Hoey said that such escalations were justified.
“The students of Trinity College Dublin are rightly protesting against Trinity’s financial investments in Israeli companies and links to Israeli institutions,” she said.
“…The students have protested these issues consistently, and by Trinity’s rules, for the past number of months, but there has been little response or action taken.
“Protest that does not cause an interruption or nuisance for the university have been ignored. It is right for the students to escalate their protest.”
She added: “Solidarity with the students of Trinity College Dublin – they are doing the heavy lifting on this issue and we need to see our universities divest from being complicit in genocide.”
Gript asked Senator Hoey if she would also support anti-mass migration protests escalating their measures if more conventional protest methods were not heeded by authorities. However, no reply was received.
The news comes as Trinity college has party capitulated to some of the students’ demands, saying it has “initiated a process to divest from investments in companies that have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN Blacklist”.
They also condemned what they called “the ferocious and disproportionate onslaught in Gaza”, and welcomed the International Court of Justice’s interim ruling in South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel.
According to Trinity College Student Union President László Molnárfi, the university has also given a commitment that there will be “no penalties” for the encampment protest.
However, the protesting students have vowed to “keep up the fight”, claiming that these victories are only a “partial success.”
2/
-Recognize the ICJ ruling on genocide
-Have started the process of divesting from investments in the Occupied Territories
-Support Palestinian students via scholarships
-Set up a task force to review academic ties to Israeli academic institutions— László Molnárfi (SU) (@TCDSU_President) May 6, 2024
The Students’ Union has pledged to continue driving ahead with further demands, including forcing the college to “divest from all Israeli companies in the endowment fund.”
— TCD Students' Union 🇵🇸🏳️🌈 (@tcdsu) May 6, 2024
Moreover, the Students’ Union at University College Cork has urged that university it to “end its silence on Palestine”, warning that it will “escalate to further action” if the college fails to comply.
The Students' Union at University College Cork has written to the university urging it to "end its silence on Palestine" and warning that it will "escalate to further action" if its demands are not methttps://t.co/AV4X6UlUQj
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 7, 2024