Students at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) have overwhelmingly voted to endorse the Palestinian call for boycotting Israel.
Official resultsĀ of the 6 March vote showed that 1,954 students voted āyesā to a motion āThat NUI Galway Studentsā Union actively supports the campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] against the State of Israel.ā
The ānoā vote was 1,059.
Fionnghuala Nic Roibeaird, of NUI Galwayās Palestine Solidarity Society, which actively campaigned for the āyesā vote,Ā said, āThis is a landmark victory in Ireland for the growing international campaign to boycott Israel until it complies with international law and ends its illegal occupation of Palestine, and no doubt [NUI Galway Student Union] is just the first of many student unions in Ireland to endorse such a campaign.ā
TheĀ Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)Ā welcomed the 2-to-1 victory for the BDS motion.
The groupās chair Martin OāQuigleyĀ saidĀ āThis is an historic victory for those who stand in solidarity with Palestinians living under the heel of Israelās racist, apartheid system of occupation and colonization.ā
Israel embassy role
OāQuigley also praised the students āwho stood with the oppressed on the right side of history and endorsed this measure, despite a stream of venomous anti-Palestinian propaganda and dirty tricks being injected into the debate from off-campus forces, including the Israeli Embassy in Irelandās failed attempts at using social media to influence the outcome.ā
Indeed, theĀ Israeli embassy in DublinĀ which is notorious for itsĀ offensive use of social media, took the extraordinary step of publicly campaigning against the referendum,claiming in one of its Facebook postingsĀ that a vote for BDS would be a vote for āanti-Semitism.ā
During the campaign, opponents hadĀ triedĀ to useĀ de factoĀ Palestinian Authority leaderMahmoud AbbasāĀ recentĀ anti-BDS statementsĀ as a way to discredit the campaign.
NUI Galwayās Palestine Solidarity Society responded with the graphic above highlighting the broad support for BDS ā a Palestinian-initiated campaign ā among Palestinians themselves.
Irish Nobel laureate deported
The vote to endorse BDS came just days after EgyptĀ detained and deportedĀ Irish Nobel Laureate and peace activistĀ Mairead MaguireĀ from Cairo airport.
Maguire, a vocal opponent of Israelās oppression of Palestinians, had been part of a womenās delegation trying to reach Gaza.
The delegation includedĀ CODEPINKĀ activistĀ Medea BenjaminĀ who was badly beaten before being deported by Egyptian forces.
Due to Israelās tightĀ siegeĀ of the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, theĀ Rafah crossingĀ with Egypt has become the only outlet for the vast majority of the 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Since a military coup overthrew Egyptās elected president last July, theĀ US-backedĀ army regime has tightened its closure of the Rafah crossing.
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