The University Times spoke to a number of Trinity students about why they were taking action at a protest in support of Palestine this afternoon.
Trinity student Adam stated that “the fight has to continue on to the government, because the government still supports Israeli products. They haven’t enacted the Occupied Territories Bill. There’s still arms flying over Ireland, unchecked by our Minister for Transport. I think being in Trinity, I know that direct action works, because I’ve seen the fantastic effect that our encounters and our protests have had there.”
Adam further added that with the upcoming election, he hoped “people think about who they’re voting for and look at what they’ve done for Palestine, not what they’ve said, because I know Simon Harris likes to say a lot, but he does very, very little.”
Pól, an Irish and Linguistics student, stated he attended the protest because he especially wants the government to stand up for the Occupied Territories Bill – a proposed law that would ban trade between Ireland and Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank. In the aftermath of Donald Trumps’ election, Pól shared that he thinks American governmental policy will get worse, which will thereby intensify military activity in Gaza.
Valour, a Biomedical Science student who waved flags outside of Teach a Sé said she was protesting because “people my age and younger in Palestine are currently victims of a genocide, and I’m very privileged that I’m here at Trinity and that I have access to a safe education. I feel like it’s my responsibility as someone who’s in that position to amplify the voices of people in Palestine and to do everything I can to raise awareness and hopefully put an end to the atrocities that are happening there.”
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union President Jenny Maguire, along with a member of QSoc, also waved flags from the College’s windows as protestors chanted outside the building. Maguire stated the Palestinian movement is connected to the student movement because “it is inherently an anti-violent, anti-colonial movement that is focused on people. What we’re seeing in these protests is acts of resistance.”
Thousands of protestors attended the demonstration. These events have become an almost weekly fixture in Dublin since October 7th 2023, when Hamas orchestrated a terrorist act in Israel, with Israel then escalating a military attack in Palestine.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the United Nations (UN) considers to be reliable, has reported a death toll of more than 43,300 people over the past thirteen months.
According to the UN’s Human Rights Office analysis of the death toll in Palestine, close to 70% of verified victims over a six-month period were women and children.
