Ireland moves to ban Israeli imports, as university severs ties with Israel
Ireland has made moves to become the first European Union country to ban trade with Israeli-occupied territories, while its prestigious university Trinity College has cut all ties with Israel. Its long-held continuing support for the Palestinian people has roots in the country's own history – and these latest measures have crystallised tensions with Israel.
Ireland's prestigious Trinity College Dublin said on Wednesday, 4 June that it would cut all ties with Israel in protest at "ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law" – the first first Western university to make such a move.
The university's board informed students by email that it had accepted the recommendations of a taskforce to sever "institutional links with the State of Israel, Israeli universities and companies headquartered in Israel".
The recommendations would be "enacted for the duration of the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law," said the email, sent by the board's chairman Paul Farrell and seen by French news agency AFP.
The taskforce was set up after part of the university's campus in central Dublin was blockaded by students for five days last year in protest at Israel's actions in Gaza.
US slams sanctions by UK, allies on far-right Israeli ministers
The university also said that it would "enter into no further mobility agreements with Israeli universities".
Foreign Minister Simon Harris told reporters he hoped other EU countries would follow Ireland's lead.
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