The Union of Students in Ireland stands firmly with the Palestinian people on the 75th anniversary of the Nakba and reiterates its commitment to highlighting the systematic abuses faced by Palestinians at the hands of Israel.
Today, May 15, is the anniversary of the Nakba, or ‘the Catastrophe,’ where Palestinians were expelled from their historic and ancestral land.
Since then, ongoing actions have created over eight million refugees and over 800,000 internally displaced people through territorial fragmentation; segregation and control; dispossession of land and property; and denial of economic and social rights.
The student movement has historically been at the forefront of important societal change, and on this day of commemoration, USI stands firmly with the Palestinian people against Israel’s ongoing apartheid regime.
At USI Comhdháil 2023, which took place last month, delegates passed a BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) motion, proposed by Trinity College Students’ Union, which mandates the USI Coiste Gnó to boycott Israeli corporations, institutions and companies, and assist Students’ Unions in setting up BDS branches on their campuses.
The global BDS movement calls on Israel to end its human and civil rights abuses and calls on Israel to respect the human and civil rights of all religions, races, nationalities, and ethnicities.
BDS respects the civil rights of all religions, races, nationalities, and ethnicities, in line with USI’s other work and policies on anti-racism, anti-discrimination and anti-apartheid.
At the most recent European Students’ Union board meeting, USI tabled a BDS motion which was viewed as an extremely divisive and antagonistic action, despite its purpose being to highlight the systematic abuses faced by Palestinian people and to join calls for these abuses to end.
USI will continue to work towards this aim.