Members of the Board: Make Trinity College Dublin an Apartheid-Free Campus
Trinity College Dublin has a strong record of solidarity against apartheid states internationally, with pioneering figures such as Kader Asmal, Mary Robinson, and Nelson Mandela formally associated with the university.
When Nelson Mandela visited TCD to receive an Honorary Doctor in Laws (LL.D) in 2000, he used the occasion and setting to declare: "We firmly believe that in conferring this award through me on the people of South Africa, you are affirming the relevance of our experience for the rest of the world.”
However, since then, TCD has contributed research and funding to programmes run by drone manufacturer Elbit Security Systems and by Israel's International Security and Counter-Terrorism Academy. TCD has also cultivated long-term research links with the Weizmann Institute of Science, which has worked on development projects for the Israeli military. Each of these research partners contributes to the illegal occupation of Palestinian land by Israeli security forces and settlers.
In 2004, the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees issued a call to the international academic community: to suspend all research links with Israeli institutions until the educational and human rights of the Palestinian people are respected by Israel. TCD has retained and increased its research links with Israeli institutions since that time.
According to the United Nations, "228 schools were damaged, including 26 that were destroyed or damaged beyond repair" in Israel's military assault against Gaza in July-August, 2014. In the wake of these events, the Provost and Chancellor of the university have declined to comment on TCD's research ties and funding affiliations with Israeli institutions.
Let’s call on the Board of TCD to honour the university’s record of respect for human and educational rights by ending research affiliations with institutions that support policies of discrimination and violence against the Palestinian people.
Check out www.apartheidfreecampus.org for more information.