Protest held at Leinster House calling for an investigation into “Israeli Apartheid”

Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Trinity BDS, Amnesty International and others joined the protest

A protest calling for an investigation into “Israeli Apartheid” was held outside Leinster House today. 

The protest was led by Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) and Amnesty International as part of a Global Day of Action calling on the UN to “investigate, and act to end, Israel’s apartheid regime imposed upon the Palestinian people”. Trinity Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (Trinity BDS) also attended the protest. 

In a statement to Trinity News, Trinity BDS said: “We are asking our government to call out the crimes of apartheid, and to continuously seek sanctions to be put by the United Nations on the Apartheid state, similar to those adopted against apartheid South Africa as part of the successful global effort to bringing it to an end.”

“In addition to the imminent issue at hand, all activists and politicians came together today to ask the attending crowd to sign the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) that was launched in February” the statement continued. “The ECI is a lobbying tool used to bring up issues at the European Commission and encourage the Union to take further action on such issues.”

“Our ECI is calling for banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements that pose themselves as an obstacle in the face of any peaceful solution. The petition requires 1,000,000 signatories before being granted the official ECI benefit of being brought up to the Commission.”

Trinity BDS also underlined their opposition to Trinity’s continued involvement in the arms trade and to their collaboration with Israeli universities. 

Using the hashtag “#InvestigateApartheid”, the protest organisers claim that the United Nations investigated the South African apartheid regime and ultimately imposed sanctions. They are calling on the Irish government to take a leading role in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) calling on for action to “investigate and end apartheid”.

The IPSC stated on their website that: “For decades, Palestinians have been demanding the implementation of UN resolutions that guarantee their inalienable rights and pave the way towards true justice and peace in Palestine.”

“The failure by the international community to enforce relevant UN resolutions based on international law is a crucial factor in the entrenchment of Israel’s decades-old regime of apartheid and military occupation, and all the death and suffering, violence, fragmentation and ethnic cleansing it inflicts on the indigenous Palestinian people.”

“For decades, the Palestinian people have been calling for the recognition and dismantling of this Israeli apartheid through UN mechanisms, such as lawful and targeted sanctions, as was done in the case of apartheid South Africathey continued.

This comes after the Irish President, Michael D. Higgins met with the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, September 13.

President Higgins is a long-standing supporter of Palestine, having spoken in the Dáil, and attended demonstrations in support of the cause. President Abbas also met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin.