The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Council has unanimously passed a motion to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and to “denounce the apartheid that Israel is committing in Palestine”.
The motion, which must be ratified by USI Congress to take effect, mandates USI to support local BDS branches in third-level institutions and to establish a toolkit to aid in the establishment of local BDS branches, based on the toolkit of Trinity BDS.
It further mandates USI Coiste Gnó, the unions leadership, to call on the European Students Union (ESU) to re-evaluate the membership of Israel and to support potential Palestinian efforts to engage with ESU.
USI Coiste Gnó is also mandated by the motion to boycott Israeli corporations, institutions and companies and their products which the union currently uses or has relations with.
The motion was written in collaboration with TCDSU President Gabi Fullam and USI Vice President for the Dublin Region Sierra Mueller-Owens, former TCDSU Welfare and Equality Officer.
In 2020, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) voted to support the BDS movement with some 64.5 per cent voting in favour.
Following TCDSU’s successful BDS referendum, the student unions of University College Dublin and Dublin City University also adopted pro-BDS stances .
This followed a petition launched by Trinity BDS group alongside TCDSU in 2021.The petition called for Trinity to “divest from the war-industry”.
