A GROUP of Irish academics is calling on colleges in Ireland to boycott collaborations with Israeli institutions and companies with strong links to the Israeli military, following its recent attacks on Gaza.
The organisation, entitled Academics for Palestine (AfP), revealed that the University of Limerick is among the Irish institutions to have worked on security-related projects alongside Israeli institutions.
According to AfP, researchers at UL collaborated with an Israeli security company, Athena GS3-Security Implementations Ltd, on an EU-funded programme worth almost €4 million from April 2009 to March 2011.
The university also partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), key players in the development of security and surveillance for Israel’s separation wall.
UL language teacher and AfP member Zoe Lawlor says it is crucial that Israel “be sent the message that its war crimes will have repercussions” following the deaths of more than 2,000 people in Gaza.
She told the Limerick Post: “The academic boycott has been well supported in Ireland, where almost 200 academics have now signed a pledge launched by AfP earlier this year. We are pleased to say that several UL academics have already signed the pledge and we hope and expect that more will do so in the coming weeks.”
Ms Lawlor continued: “As researchers engage with programmes such as the EU research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, they may not be aware that there are Israeli institutions participating in their funding applications. Academics for Palestine call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, but not of individuals. We encourage more faculty and researchers in UL, and all Irish universities, to join us in avoiding all collaboration with Israeli institutions.”
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 141 schools were significantly damaged or destroyed by airstrikes and shelling, including 90 UN schools and four kindergartens.
The Islamic University in Gaza and a branch of Al Quds Open University were also hit.
AfP says that Israel’s military strikes are “an attack on education as well as a war crime”.
