Ireland's top university cuts all ties with Israel after major student protest
Ireland's prestigious Trinity College Dublin said on Wednesday that it would cut all links with Israel in protest at 'ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law'.
The university's board informed students by email that it had accepted the recommendations of a taskforce to sever 'institutional links with the State of Israel, Israeli universities and companies headquartered in Israel'.
The recommendations would be 'enacted for the duration of the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law', said the email sent by the board's chairman Paul Farrell.
The taskforce was set up after part of the university's campus in central Dublin was blockaded by students for five days last year in protest at Israel's actions in Gaza.
Among the taskforce's recommendations approved by the board were pledges to divest 'from all companies headquartered in Israel' and to 'enter into no future supply contracts with Israeli firms' and 'no new commercial relationships with Israeli entities'.
The university also said that it would 'enter into no further mobility agreements with Israeli universities'.
Trinity has two current Erasmus+ exchange agreements with Israeli universities: Bar Ilan University, an agreement that ends in July 2026, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which ends in July 2025, the university told AFP in an email.
The board also said that the university 'should not submit for approval or agree to participate in any new institutional research agreements involving Israeli participation'.
It 'should seek to align itself with like-minded universities and bodies in an effort to influence EU policy concerning Israel's participation in such collaborations,' it added.
Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel's response to the October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas militants that sparked the war in Gaza.
Polls since the start of the war have shown overwhelming pro-Palestinian sympathy in Ireland.
In May 2024, Dublin joined several other European countries in recognising Palestine as a 'sovereign and independent state'.
It then joined South Africa in bringing a case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza - charges angrily denied by Israeli leaders.
In December, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of the country's embassy in Dublin, blaming Ireland's 'extreme anti-Israel policies'.
The University of Geneva also announced Wednesday that it has ended its partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem following student protests, saying it no longer reflected the institution's 'strategic priorities'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Kemi Badenoch to give speech on the ECHR
Kemi Badenoch is set to use a major speech to declare she is 'increasingly of the view' that the UK should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. The leader of the Conservative Party is expected to set out a plan to launch a commission into whether Britain should quit the treaty. The ECHR was a dividing issue in last year's Conservative leadership election, with Mrs Badenoch's rival Robert Jenrick championing the idea that Britain should pull out. Critics of the treaty want to leave it because it has been used to frustrate attempts to deport migrants from Britain. Mrs Badenoch is expected to say that she is 'increasingly of the view that we will need to leave, because I am yet to see a clear and coherent route to change within our current legal structures'. 'I have always been clear that if our national interest means that we need to leave the ECHR, we will leave,' the Conservative leader will say. She will add: 'But I say that not because of any particular obsession with international law or with our treaty arrangements. I say that because for me, the most important thing is making our country safer, richer and fairer.'
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Reform's Richard Tice doubles down on call for burqa ban debate after chairman quits
Reform's deputy leader has doubled down on calls for a debate on whether burqas should be banned in Britain after a furious row over the issue saw the party's chairman quit. Zia Yusuf resigned on Thursday after describing a call from the party's newest MP to ban the burqa as 'dumb'. Speaking as he entered the count for the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood by-election, Richard Tice said MPs should 'discuss' a potential ban. 'Let's have a discussion about these things, all these important issues, as opposed to not discussing anything, smearing and labelling,' he said. Pressed on his personal view amid chaotic scenes, Mr Tice said there should be a 'national debate'. And, asked if Mr Yusuf's resignation implied the party was racist, the Boston and Skegness MP said: 'With the greatest of respect, that's nonsense.' It came after the new Runcorn and Helsby MP Sarch Pochin used her first Prime Minister's Questions question to call on Sir Keir to ban burqas 'in the interest of public safety'. She said: 'Given the prime minister's desire to strengthen strategic alignment with our European neighbours, will he, in the interest of public safety, follow the lead of France, Belgium, Denmark and others and ban the burqa?' Sir Keir welcomed Ms Pochin to the Commons, but said 'I am not going to follow her down that line'. A Reform spokesman later clarified that banning burqas was not party policy, sparking calls from the far-right for Mr Farage to adopt the proposals. Later, Mr Yusuf said it was 'dumb for a party to ask the prime minister if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do'. He quit the party on Thursday saying 'I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office'. Asked on Wednesday night about Ms Pochin's comments on the burqa, party leader Nigel Farage also said he would welcome a broader debate about face coverings in public. He told GB News: 'I think this debate actually goes beyond the burqa… I was in Aberdeen Monday, there was a mob there to meet me, an organisation called Antifa, and half of them had complete face coverings on so they would be unidentifiable. 'I don't think face coverings in public places make sense, and I think we do deserve debate about that, which I see the burqa as being a part.' Denying his party was 'in chaos', Mr Tice paid tribute to the outgoing former chairman. 'As Nigel's said, as I've said, we're very sad that Zia has resigned,' he said. 'He's worked incredibly hard, he's been instrumental in driving the party forward. ' One of the reasons that this result could be really close – who knows which way it will go – is because of the success of what Zia has achieved.' He added: 'It's very sad, politics is difficult, it's time-consuming, but he's worked incredibly hard.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Senior Tory says Britain 'needs to leave' the ECHR as Kemi Badenoch launches probe into how to exit Strasbourg court
A senior Tory MP today said Britain 'needs to leave' the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) - as the party launches a probe into how to exit the treaty. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the Conservatives were 'increasingly of the view ' that the UK needs to remove itself from the oversight of Strasbourg judges. He spoke ahead of a major speech by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, in which she will announce plans for an investigation into leaving the ECHR. Mr Philp suggested the commission being established by his party was about 'getting the detail right'. 'We are increasingly of the view that we do need to leave,' he told Times Radio. 'But what we're not going to do is just shoot from the hip and make that commitment without proper thought.' The shadow home secretary added: 'My view is that, in principle, yes, we need to leave. But we also need to get the detail right.' In her speech later, Mrs Badenoch will announce a new commission to examine the effect of international treaties on Britain's ability to deal with issues ranging from immigration and crime to housing and the environment. Tory sources said the remit of the commission, led by barrister Lord Wolfson, will include drawing up a detailed plan to quit the ECHR. It will also examine the case for leaving the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and rewriting the Equality Act and Climate Change Act. The new stance puts the Conservatives on course to include a pledge to quit the ECHR in their next manifesto, creating clear blue water with Labour. Sir Keir Starmer's controversial Attorney General, Lord Hermer, has said Labour will 'never' quit the ECHR. He was forced to apologise last week for likening those in favour of the move to Nazis. Mrs Badenoch will say the Strasbourg court is unreformable and accuse it of showing 'ever greater willingness to invent new rights and directly overrule popular mandates'. She will insist that she has never had 'any particular obsession with international law or with our treaty arrangements', but that work on a radical new Tory policy platform has convinced her that it will be impossible to deliver while in the ECHR. 'The more we build our policy programme, the clearer it seems that to achieve our objectives we will need to leave the ECHR in its current form,' she will say. 'I have thought long and hard about this, and I am increasingly of the view that we will need to leave, because I am yet to see a clear and coherent route to change within our current legal structures. 'Some say reform is the answer, but I say we have tried that before (and) the Strasbourg court has shown no interest in fundamental change. 'It has rebuffed those European states calling for a new approach and, in its recent decisions – above all on climate change – it has shown ever greater willingness to invent new rights and directly overrule popular mandates.' Mrs Badenoch will set the commission five 'common sense' tests for assessing whether human rights laws are getting in the way of vital reforms. The deportation test will assess whether Parliament, rather than the international courts, is able to determine who comes to the UK and is allowed to stay here. Mrs Badenoch will say Britain should have the ability to remove foreign criminals and illegal migrants 'even if they have family here or claim they would be at risk if sent home'. A second 'veterans test' would examine whether the current legal framework allows ministers to 'stop our veterans being endlessly pursued by vexatious legal attacks' using human rights laws. A 'fairness test' will look at whether the authorities can 'put British citizens first in social housing and in receiving scarce public services'. A 'justice test' will look at the impact of human rights laws on the ability of the police to deal with issues like the disruptive protests staged by eco-activists. And a 'prosperity test' will examine whether treaties would prevent the Government from ditching costly climate change measures and cutting red tape holding back economic development. She will argue that the tests are 'not extreme demands', adding: 'They are basic tests of whether we are still a sovereign nation able to make our own laws and govern ourselves. 'If the commission makes clear that these tests cannot be passed under the current system then the system must change. 'If international treaties, including the European Convention, block us and there is no realistic prospect of changing them then we leave. No hesitation. No apology.' Although Britain left the EU in 2020 it remains a signatory to the ECHR and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. The ECHR was incorporated into law in Labour's 1998 Human Rights Act, allowing people to bring cases in the British courts. The commission will look at the issues involved in leaving, such as how to avoid destabilising the Good Friday Agreement, which includes a commitment to the ECHR. Mrs Badenoch will set out whether she plans to leave the ECHR at the Tory conference in October, when the investigation will report back. Elsewhere, the head of the Council of Europe warned that rising migration may result in changes to how the ECHR operates. Alain Berset, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, told The Times: 'We are witnessing a world where things are changing rapidly. 'It is accelerating. We see this, and it means that it is normal that we must also adapt to this. We need adaptation. 'We need discussion about the rules that we want to have, and there is no taboo.'
