Students opposing the war in Gaza began dismantling their protest camp at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland on Wednesday evening, after the institution agreed to divest three Israeli companies listed by the United Nations for their links with settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Trinity said it would move to divest as early as next month, and that its endowment fund would also seek to divest investments in other Israeli companies in the future.
“We fully understand the driving force behind the encampment on our campus, and we stand in solidarity with the students in our horror at what is happening in Gaza,” the college said in a statement released Wednesday evening.
“We abhor and condemn all violence and war, including the atrocities of October 7, the taking of hostages and the continued savage and disproportionate attack in Gaza,” it added. “The humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the dehumanization of its population are obscene.”
The statement was approved by the board of the college.
Trinity's protest, which began five days ago and had remained peaceful, was organized by the students' union and its branch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The demonstration came as students across Europe organized pro-Palestinian sit-ins and protests against anti-Semitism at other universities on the continent, taking a similar approach to their counterparts in the United States.
Jenny Maguire, the new president of Trinity's student body, contrasted the calm atmosphere in the university's Fellow's Square, where students have already taken down flags and tents in anticipation of the statement's release, with the violence at some US universities, where Police were deployed to evacuate some occupied buildings amid anti-war protests.
“The council was determined that it would be an example for the future,” Ms Maguire said on Wednesday evening. “It refused to follow the American example of involving police and made clear it would not pursue anything like that here.”
Prof. Eoin O'Sullivan, who led the university's negotiating team, said: “I think the negotiations were very productive and very fruitful, and I would like to commend the students for their part in that.”
Support for the Palestinian cause is strong in Ireland, where many people compare Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories to centuries of British colonialism in their own country.
Ireland is also, together with Spain, one of the strongest supporters of the Palestinian cause in the European Union. Last month, the prime ministers of both governments, Simon Harris and Pedro Sánchez, said they would recognize a state of Palestine “when the time is right.”
Protesting Trinity students said they were pleased that the college had met their demands, including the creation of a special working group to consider future engagement with Israeli companies, academic institutions and student exchanges. The college has also drawn up a plan to finance tuition and accommodation for eight students from Gaza.
This week's protest had forced the college to close its world-famous Book by Kells exhibition, which houses some of Ireland's oldest and most valuable books – one of the university's main sources of external income – along with university libraries and other facilities. About a million tourists pay to visit the Kells exhibition every year.
Professor O'Sullivan said the review of Trinity's ties with Israel and the wider Middle East would most likely follow the model of a recent working group on the university's own colonial legacy.
A key recommendation was to rename a university library previously named after philosopher Bishop George Berkeley, a renowned Trinity graduate who was a slave owner during his years in the American colonies. It is now known on campus as the X Library.