https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/queens-university-confirms-end-to-israeli-investments-HSP4O2RTMRDCHFAJCTPV5756BQ/

By Allan Preston
June 06, 2025 at 6:00am BST

QUEEN’S University Belfast has confirmed it is no longer investing in Israeli companies.

It follows an announcement by Trinity College Dublin, which said it will divest from any new arrangements with Israeli universities, firms and institutions.

Pro-Palestinians activists have since called on other Irish universities to do the same in protest against the war in Gaza.

Last May, students at Trinity were fined €214,285 after a series of demonstrations against fees and rent as well as the university’s ties to Israel.

Trinity later dropped the fine, and said it would complete a divestment from Israeli companies with activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and which appear on the UN blacklist.

A Queen’s spokesperson told the Irish News they were no longer investing in Israeli companies as of Thursday.

“In June last year, Queen’s announced it was progressing its divestment from companies blacklisted by the UN Human Rights Council,” they said.

“We can confirm as of today, the University has no direct investment in any Israeli companies. From an academic standpoint, we currently have no institutional research MoUs with Israeli-based partners, there are no direct research partnerships with Queen’s and any institution in Israel, and we have no student exchange programmes with Israel.”

In March, a collective of students and staff from Queen’s organised a march to the US Consulate in Belfast over the United States’ “complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza”.

Last November, three students were also arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at Queen’s as the former US first lady Hilary Clinton was visiting.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland director of Amnesty International, welcomed the announcement and praised student activists and staff “who have made this happen in response to the unfolding genocide in Gaza.”

“We call on all institutions, including Stormont government departments and local councils in Northern Ireland, to cut ties with any entity that profits from or perpetuates war crimes.

“That includes divesting from companies that profit from illegal Israeli settlements and military occupation and ending arms sales to Israel. Human rights are not negotiable.”

Earlier this week, Zoe Lawlor who chairs the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, called the announcement from Trinity a “landmark step in academic rejection of apartheid Israel’s regime”.

“Trinity will now stand on the right side of history, as it did with South African apartheid in the past, but it is nevertheless disappointing that it took so long to get to this position,” she said.

by UpToNoGoodAsUsual_

17 comments

  1. > Last May, students at Trinity were fined €214,285 after a series of demonstrations against fees and rent as well as the university’s ties to Israel.

    They only backtracked because of the blacklash.

    They were, up until that point, fully happy to fine students for complaining about fees. Taken in isolation, away from _the rest_, it’s a very Ebenezer Scrooge thing to do.

    They thought that up, considered it a good idea, and ran with it.

    This alone makes them monumentally excremental and I hope they lose money over it. Fuckers.

  3. Brilliant news, Israel should be held to account just like Russia & Nazi Germany were after their invasions.
    What Israel are doing is inhumane. Nazism never went away, it just moved to Israel I found was a good quote.

    This week’s podcast on Free State was particularly horrific to listen to how the surgeon from Cavan was able to describe the wounds inflicted by Israel on Gazans.

  4. There’s going to be a certain group of people very disappointed with this. Brilliant.

  6. I saw a lot of people sarcastically commenting, when they saw pics of the protest, that the protestors were ‘virtue signalling’ and ‘wow, I guess Netanyahu is going to stop now’. The implication being that their protests would never achieve anything. I think it’s clear that those guys were wrong, next time an apathetic dickhead mocks you for standing up to their beliefs, you can safely ignore them.

  7. about time lads fuck me. may pour a drink for all the sorry fucks in this sub laughing at the protesters saying they’ll accomplish nothing.

  8. Good. Fuck the Nazis in Israel and fuck all of their Kapo supporters around the world.

  9. I’d respect them more if they eject Clinton before she walks.

  10. So they’ll invest in companies that invest in Israeli companies. Business is the fullest of shit of the shitful. Don’t applaud nonsense.

  11. America is the only country with the power to stop Netanyahu.

  14. What Israel is doing isn’t right. What hamas did isn’t right. None of this is going to bring peace 

  16. Amazing, never thought I’d live together QUB do something informed by ethics.

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