<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=windows-1252" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<STYLE>.hmmessage P {
PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px
}
BODY.hmmessage {
FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; FONT-SIZE: 12pt
}
</STYLE>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19222"></HEAD>
<BODY class=hmmessage bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV>
<DIV class=ecxgmail_quote><A
href="http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/teachers-union-of-ireland-calls-for-academic-boycott-of-israel-in-unanimous-vote-first-academic-union-in-europe-to-do-so"
target=_blank>http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/teachers-union-of-ireland-calls-for-academic-boycott-of-israel-in-unanimous-vote-first-academic-union-in-europe-to-do-so</A>
<BR><BR>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 21px; FONT-SIZE: 19px"><B>Teachers Union of
Ireland</B></SPAN><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> calls for Academic Boycott of
Israel in unanimous vote; first academic union in Europe to do so</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><B><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><I>Ireland-Palestine Solidarity
Campaign – Press Release, Thursday 4<SUP>th</SUP> April 2013, 2.30pm</I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><I><BR></I></P>At its Annual
Congress, the <B>Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) became the first academic
union in Europe to endorse the Palestinian call for an academic boycott of
Israel.</B> The motion, which refers to Israel as an “<SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)">apartheid state</SPAN>”, calls
for “<SPAN style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)">all members to cease
all cultural and academic collaboration with Israel, including the exchange of
scientists, students and academic personalities, as well as all cooperation in
research programmes</SPAN>” was passed by a unanimous vote during today’s
morning session. <BR><BR><BR><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)">The motion further calls on the
Irish Congress of Trade Unions to “step up its campaign for boycott, divestment
and sanctions (BDS) 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</SPAN>”, and on the
TUI to conduct an awareness campaign amongst members on the need for BDS. The
motion was a composite motion proposed by the TUI Executive Committee and TUI
Dublin Colleges Branch. It <SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)">was presented
by Jim Roche, a lecturer in the DIT School of Architecture and member of the TUI
Dublin Colleges Union branch, and seconded by Gerry Quinn, Vice President of the
TUI.</SPAN><BR><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)"><BR></SPAN><BR>
<P>Speaking after the successful passage of the motion, <B>Jim Roche said</B>:
“I am very pleased that this motion was passed with such support by TUI members,
especially coming the day after Israeli occupation forces shot and killed two
Palestinian teenagers in the West Bank yesterday. BDS is a noble non-violent
method of resisting Israeli militarism, occupation and apartheid, and there is
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.” </P>
<P> </P>
<P>Mr. Roche pointed to the desperate situation of Palestinian education under
occupation saying that: “Palestinians are struggling for the right to education
under extremely difficult conditions. They are eager for it, as shown by the
large numbers of students in third level education inside and outside the
occupied Palestinian territories. Education has always been a target of the
Israeli occupation, seeing forced closures of universities, disruption under
checkpoint, closure and curfew regimes, and arrests, beatings and killing of
both students and teachers. Sometimes, such as during the 2008-09 attack on
Gaza, educational institutions have been militarily attacked. In fact I
have just returned from a solidarity visit to Gaza where I had the opportunity
to hear first-hand from Palestinian educators and students about their
difficulties. The unanimous passage of this motion that shows that the
Palestinian struggle for freedom, of which academic freedom is a key part,
resonates with TUI members and sends a strong message of solidarity to their
counterparts in Palestine” </P>
<P> </P>
<P>Mr. Roche concluded: “We proposed this motion as we believe that, as with
South Africa, the trade union movement has a vital role to play in helping apply
pressure to end Israeli apartheid and occupation. I am proud that the TUI has
taken a clear stand, and now support a full academic boycott of Israel in line
with the Palestinian call for BDS”. </P>
<P> </P>
<P><B>Dr. David Landy</B>, a member of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
and founder member of Academics for Palestine welcomed the motion saying: “This
is an historic precedent, being the first such motion in Europe to explicitly
call for an academic boycott of Israel. We congratulate the TUI and call on all
Irish, British and European academic unions to move similar motions. Undoubtedly
apologists for Israeli apartheid will complain that such motions stifle academic
freedom, but this is nonsense. The Palestinian call for an academic boycott of
Israel is an institutional boycott, not a boycott of individuals. Ironically,
those that will jump to complain about this motion will have no words of
condemnation for the <I>de facto</I> boycott imposed on Palestinian education by
Israel, nor for its continuing attacks on Palestinian education, students and
educators”.<BR><BR>ENDS<BR><BR></P>
<P><B>Notes for Editors</B></P>
<P> </P>
<P><I>The TUI Motion in full reads: <BR><BR><B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)">
241. Executive Committee/Dublin
Colleges(x4)<SPAN> </SPAN><BR><BR></SPAN></B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)"></SPAN></I></P>
<P><I><SPAN style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)">TUI demand that ICTU
step up its campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) 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.</SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(34,34,34)"><BR><SPAN style="BACKGROUND: white">Congress
instructs the Executive Committee to:</SPAN><BR><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white">(a) Conduct an awareness campaign amongst TUI members
on the need for BDS</SPAN><BR><SPAN style="BACKGROUND: white">(b) Request all
members to cease all cultural and academic collaboration with Israel, including
the exchange of scientists, students and academic personalities, as well as all
cooperation in research programmes. (ENDS)</SPAN></SPAN></I><I></I></P>
<P><I></I> </P>
<P><I>The Palestinian Call for a Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel can be
read here: <A href="http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=869"
target=_blank>http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=869</A></I><I></I></P>
<P><I></I> </P>
<P><I>Jim Roche is a lecturer in DIT School of Architecture and a member of the
TUI Dublin Colleges Branch He is also PRO of the Irish Anti-War Movement and a
member of both the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Gaza Action
Ireland. </I></P>
<P><I><BR>David Landy is a lecturer in the TCD Department of Sociology, a member
of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign national committee and a founder
member of Academics for
Palestine</I><I></I></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>