First of all, the statement put out earlier today by those organising the powerful sit-in protest at Maynooth:
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Maynooth University Students and Workers Demand Action on Palestinian Genocide
Maynooth, Ireland - [10/05/2024] - The Maynooth University community is intensifying its call for justice amidst the ongoing genocide in Occupied Palestine by disrupting the President’s address to the Sociological Association of Ireland annual conference today at 12.45pm in the foyer of the School of Education building, and holding a sit-in in the conference location for the rest of the day. With this disruption, students and postgraduate workers are demanding immediate action from President Leinonen and the university administration, urging them to take a firm stance against the genocide being committed and to sever ties with the occupying Israeli state and complicit companies.
In a letter directed to President Leinonen and publicly read out as she was due to make her address, the group emphasises the urgent need for Maynooth University to condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza and to make a binding commitment to the principles of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and the academic boycott of Israeli institutions. They highlight the significant precedent set by Trinity College Dublin's condemnation of the genocide and commitment to divest, and stress the necessity for Maynooth to follow suit.
The demands put forth by the group include issuing a public statement condemning the genocide, committing to the principles of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, collaborating in the Palestinian-led restoration of academic institutions in Gaza,, providing sanctuary and scholarships for 100 displaced Palestinian students and scholars, and the severing of ties with Intel, a company that has invested 25 billion USD in Israel since the start of this current phase of genocide. They note Maynooth University’s research partnership with Intel, in place since 2019, particularly the recent Intel investment in a robotics lab on campus. In the context of Intel’s investments in the genocidal State of Israel, such partnerships should be unacceptable to any institution of conscience.
Through this disruptive action, the group aims to draw attention to the university's silence and inaction on the genocide of Palestinians and to underscore the urgency of their cause. They vow to escalate disruptive actions until Maynooth University makes a good faith commitment towards their demands.
For media inquiries, please contact
Sian Cowman 083 403 1185 / siancowman@gmail.com
Criostóir King 087 613 3894 / criostoirking@gmail.com
About Maynooth BDS
Maynooth BDS is a coalition of students and postgraduate workers at Maynooth University dedicated to advocating for justice, equality, and human rights in Palestine. They work in solidarity with the global BDS movement to pressure institutions and corporations to end complicity in Israeli apartheid and occupation.
Follow Us:
Twitter: MaynoothBDS
Instagram: MaynoothBDS
Here is an image of the action:
Maynooth BDS on X: "Sit-in happening now! 🇵🇸 @maynoothsu https://t.co/4I7trMSJQD" / X (twitter.com)
Second, the immediately following statement from Academics for Palestine, supporting the students and grad student workers:
AFP SUPPORTS MAYNOOTH STUDENTS’ SOLIDARITY
Academics for Palestine strongly support the demands made today by student activists in Maynooth University. In joining the Palestine solidarity actions that have spread across university campuses in the United States, France, Australia, Britain, India, Brazil, Tunisia, Netherlands, German, Japan and beyond, these students are showing a degree of moral courage and leadership that has been distinctly lacking among our university administrations.
This week’s decision by Trinity College Dublin to condemn the ongoing genocide, divest from Israeli companies, and review all ties with Israeli institutions sets an important precedent which must be followed in universities throughout Ireland. Not to do so would bring shame on university leadership, who would be forever remembered as being on the wrong side of history.
Across the island of Ireland, we have witnessed our university administrations legitimate their 7 months of silence on Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinian people by asserting that they are holding a neutral position in defence of academic freedom. To remain silent in the face of this genocidal war on occupied Palestine is not neutrality, but complicity. Nor is the call for ceasefire a controversial matter; it has the overwhelming support of the people of Ireland as well as the Irish government. We support the students’ demands that Irish universities take concrete steps. Over the past 7 months, the demands of student groups, third-level campus staff groups, and Academics for Palestine have been expressed repeatedly and consistently.
They include:
1) Severing any existing institutional partnerships, projects or affiliations with Israeli universities and state institutions.
2) Disclosing and divesting from any financial complicity in Israeli occupation and from companies involved in violations of Palestinian rights.
3) Divesting from any holdings in companies associated with weapons development or arms manufacturing, and withdrawal from any projects involving partners associated with the Israeli security, surveillance technology or arms industries.
4) Making an unequivocal statement of solidarity with the people of Palestine, condemning the ongoing genocide, apartheid and occupation they face.
5) Committing to provide substantial material and logistical support for displaced Palestinian students and academics to study and work in Ireland.
These demands should no longer be cast as radical; they are the least our institutions should be doing amidst the ongoing destruction of Gaza. The ongoing invasion and bombardment of Rafah, described by UNICEF as a ‘children’s city’ due to the 600,000 children currently seeking safety there, adds a particular urgency to the situation.
The Maynooth students who have taken action today follow the lead of principled student movements as well as the longstanding principles of the civil society-led Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Indeed, Irish third-level institutions are completely out of step with the broader public in Ireland in their refusal to deplore the Israeli state’s genocidal atrocities in Palestine. So we will continue to repeat and insist on these demands until they are met. We do so inspired by our own students and students rising around the world, and with the aim of reclaiming Irish universities as spaces of justice, anti-racism, and anti-colonialism.
Here is the AfP website: Academics for Palestine – Academia Against Apartheid
Conor
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