Jonny Paul
The Jerusalem Post
Fri, 19 Apr 2013 07:42 CDT



Boycott was reportedly adopted without any debate or discussion. Only proposer, seconder discussed item on agenda before vote.

The Irish trade union that adopted a boycott of Israel earlier this month did so without any debate or discussion, one of its officials told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) become the first educational trade union in Europe to adopt a boycott of Israeli academia.

At its annual conference on April 4, it voted to endorse a call by Palestinian activists for a boycott of the Jewish state, "including the exchange of scientists, students and academic personalities, as well as all cooperation in research programs."

The boycott motion was one of four - submitted months before the three-day conference - that made up the "Miscellaneous" section of the gathering's final day. Typically this section allots very little time to debate the finer details of a motion, and the first two motions - which looked at opposition to a new property tax and the funding of political parties in Ireland - took up all the allotted time, leaving none for the other two.

The boycott motion was third on the list.

After an impassioned plea by the proposer of the fourth motion - which dealt with the degenerative disease muscular dystrophy - it was decided that both motions should be discussed.

However, on Thursday, Annette Dolan, TUI's deputy general secretary, told the Post that the boycott had not been debated at all and that there had only been time for the proposer and seconder of the motion to speak before the union voted on it.

"Had it not been for the muscular dystrophy motion, it would not have been raised at all," she said.

The one who raised the boycott motion was Jim Roche, a lecturer at the Dublin Institute of Technology and a member of the fringe groups Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) and Gaza Action. TUI vice president Gerry Quinn seconded the motion.

The proposal also called on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to "step up its campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against the apartheid State of Israel until it lifts its illegal siege of Gaza and its illegal occupation of the West Bank, and agrees to abide by international law and all UN resolutions against it."

Speaking after the vote, Roche referred to BDS as "a noble non-violent method of resisting Israeli militarism, occupation and apartheid," and said there was "no question that Israel is implementing apartheid policies against the Palestinians.

Indeed, many veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa have said that it's worse than what was experienced there."

Dolan said the motion still needed approval from the union's executive committee, which will meet on Friday.

She also affirmed the union's "strong commitment" to anti-racism, and said the TUI supported National Holocaust Memorial Day every year. She added that the union was "open and willing" to speak with representatives from the Israeli side.

Roche did not comment on the matter by press time.

yep like,Some of my Best Friends Are Jews!

that's always been my favorite... i know a Jew, i'm not prejudice...


i didn't know the Irish hated the jews so much till recently... i guess this fits in with that way of thinking...

The way I read it the Palestinian activists swayed them.

I doubt the Irish contributed anything to Israel of much significance, or at least I hope not.

from wiki:


In 2003, the Irish government opposed the building of Israel's security wall in the West Bank.

According to WikiLeaks, following the 2006 Lebanon War, Ireland prevented the United States from moving military equipment destined for Israel through Shannon Airport.[9]
2010s

On 19 January 2010, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh a senior Hamas military commander was assassinated in Dubai by a team of eight suspected Mossad officers who used counterfeit European passports, including Irish passports.[10] The Irish government responded by expelling a staff member of the Israeli Embassy in Dublin.[11] Ireland subsequently delayed an EU-Israel agreement which would involve allowing Israel to access sensitive information on EU citizens, and demanded that Israel tighten its data protection laws.[12]

On 5 June 2010, an Irish humanitarian aid vessel MV Rachel Corrie heading for Gaza, was intercepted and seized by the Israeli Navy.[13] This caused political tension between Ireland and Israel.[14] [15]

On 25 January 2011, Ireland upgraded the Palestinian envoy in Ireland to that of a full embassy which resulted in the Irish Ambassador to Israel being summoned. Israel announced that it "regrets" the decision.[16]

On 4 November 2011, the Irish ship MV Saoirse carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza was intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international waters. The Navy boarded the ship, took those aboard in custody and towed it to Ashdod. In response, Irish Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore stated that the Irish government do "not agree with [the Gaza blockade], (...) regard it as contrary to international humanitarian law in its impact on the civilian population of Gaza, and (...) have repeatedly urged Israel to end a policy which is unjust, counter-productive and amounts to collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians."[17]

On 16 November 2011, unnamed sources from the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that "Ireland (is the) most hostile country in Europe" and was "pushing all of Europe's countries to a radical and uncompromising approach". An unnamed official argued that "the Irish government is feeding its people with anti-Israel hatred" and that "what we are seeing here is clear anti-Semitism." An official from the Irish Foreign Affairs Department announced that "the Government is critical of Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories. It is not hostile to Israel and it is clearly wrong to suggest as much," he said. "The notion that this Government is or would be trying to stoke up anti-Israeli feeling is untrue. We are not hostile to Israel. We are critical of policies, particularly in the occupied Palestinian territories. These are not the same things".[18] Israel’s ambassador to Ireland was reported as distancing himself from claims of Irish anti-Semitism.[19]

In early 2012 the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign organised a "cultural boycott" of Israel, as a result of which Irish music group Dervish (band) cancelled a proposed tour of Israel, citing "an "avalanche of negativity" and "venom" directed towards them." [20] This campaign of online intimidation was officially condemned by Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter [21] and Irish Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore [22]

In 2013, Alan Shatter, minister of Justice, Equality and Defense said, while visiting Israel, that “Ireland is a friend of Israel. We have a government in Ireland that wants a deeper engagement. But we also have a government in Ireland that is committed to the peace process."[23]