University Students, Activists In Ireland Hold Demonstrations In Support Of Palestine

Students from Trinity College in Ireland and activists held separate demonstrations Saturday in support of Palestine in the capital city of Dublin.

At Trinity College, one of Ireland's most prestigious universities, the protest was organized by pro-Palestinian students and they demanded that the school's administration sever ties with Israel.

The students wrote slogans such as "Israel is a terrorist state", "End the genocide", "From the river to the sea" and "Free Palestine" on tents set up on campus.

Activists gathered in front of the Light Monument in the city, displaying Palestinian and Irish flags as they marched toward the school.

Protesters cheered slogans in support of the students outside the campus and displayed banners that read: "Free Palestine" and "Cut ties with Israel."

"I think the significance of today is to give students the opportunity to speak about the rights of oppressed people, particularly those currently suffering genocide in Palestine," Fintan Sheerin, an academic at the university, told Anadolu.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 incursion by Hamas, which killed less than 1,200 people.

Tel Aviv, in comparison, has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians and wounded over 77,900 amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities in the Palestinian territory.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement besides a crippling blockade on food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to prevent genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz. -