While officially recognising the State of Palestine is the right thing to do, the student movement will continue to demand the Government of Ireland takes actions that focus on ending Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian rights, says the Union of Students in Ireland.
Recognition of the State of Palestine by Ireland is well overdue, but this has not been the focus of current protests because what is needed right now is action that exerts the required pressure to end the unprecedented genocide in Gaza.
The move may help in the long-term, but appears tokenistic at the moment, as it does not contribute to holding Israel accountable for the genocide it is currently inflicting on Gaza, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in the last seven months.
All countries, including Ireland, need to exert the necessary pressure on Israel to force it to respect international law and end the genocide in Gaza and the apartheid imposed on the people of Palestine.
People all over Ireland, including many students, have been coming out in huge numbers to show their support for a free Palestine and for justice and equality for the Palestinian people.
Students are currently camping out in UCC and UCD to force their universities to completely divest from Israel, just as Trinity Students’ Union and TCD BDS did previously.
These camps and protests, including a National Day of Action on campuses, are calling for Ireland to implement BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) principles and to sever diplomatic ties with Israel to put on the pressure necessary to end the deliberate destruction of Gaza.
The argument is being made that recognition of the State of Palestine may help the movement towards long-term peace or a “two state solution”.
However, right now the focus should be on the urgent need to end to the violence and genocide in Gaza and forcing Israel to respect and observe international law.
In this respect, USI refers to the stance of the BDS movement, which says: “The BDS movement does not advocate for a particular solution to the conflict and does not call for either a “one state solution” or a “two state solution”. Instead, BDS focuses on the realisation of basic rights and the implementation of international law.”
USI also points out that Government is contradicting itself by saying it will not make a difference if Ireland acts unilaterally in placing economic sanctions on Israel, while also saying Ireland’s recognition of the State of Palestine will bring us closer to a peace process.
Another real and practical action the Government could take to help Palestinians is to offer the same supports to students fleeing Gaza that were rightly given to students fleeing Ukraine due to Russia’s illegal invasion.
Despite the fact that most of the people the Department of Foreign Affairs has managed to evacuate from Gaza also hold Irish citizenship, Gazan students are not getting any supports here.
USI has been working with these students who are having a lot of problems securing admission to Irish higher education institutions, and if they do manage to get in, they are left in a state of limbo regarding fees and other issues.