Irish student union endorses Israel boycott

Students of the National University of Ireland this week passed a motion supporting a boycott of Israel.

The result of Thursday’s referendum at the NUI Galway Students Union make it the first student body in Ireland to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, campaign against Israel, according to the local news site Galwaybayfm.ie.

A number of student societies submitted the motion, which is non-binding on the university.

Out of 3,013 valid votes of students who participated in the referendum on Israel, 1,954 — or 64 percent — voted in favor of boycotting Israel, the voting committee announced Friday.

Students were asked to answer with “yes” or “no” to express their support or disapproval of the assertion that, “NUI Galway Students’ Union actively supports the campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the State of Israel.”

In April, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland became the first educational trade union in Europe to adopt a boycott of Israeli academia.

Last month, the Young Men and Women’s Christian Association in Norway aligned itself with the BDS movement.