The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has just announced that over 500 businesses, organisations, unions and community groups in Ireland have become Apartheid Free Zones, as part of a campaign connected to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
The Apartheid Free Zones coordinator and IPSC campaign officer, Bronadh Bhrian, shares, “In choosing to become Apartheid Free Zones, businesses, groups, organisations, unions, local government bodies and others are asserting their collective power by stepping up and doing what the Irish government refuses to do: ending trade with Israel and companies complicit in war crimes and refusing to normalise genocide and apartheid.”.
In practice, the campaign involves businesses enforcing ethical procurement policies, meaning that they would not associate with Israeli institutions or trade with organisations that profit off the human rights violations being carried out by Israel in Palestine. Co-Founder of the BDS movement, Omar Barghouti, stated on social media: “Palestinians are counting on the great people of Ireland to end the complicity of the Irish state, corporations and institutions in Israel’s crimes. We know you won’t let us down”.
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Bronadh Bhrian adds, “Unfortunately it seems in the vast majority of cases where a local council has voted to support BDS, the democratic mandate has been ignored by bureaucrats happy to continue their complicity”. This shows an urgent need for the concerns of the BDS movement to be addressed at an institutional level in Ireland.
They conclude “From architects to artists’ studios, trade unions to theatres, and cafés to councils, the Apartheid Free Zone movement is growing every day – in towns, cities and communities across Ireland. None of this would have been possible without the work of our incredible volunteers, who have been out in communities across Ireland promoting the campaign”.
This mass support comes after activists recently gathered outside the Department of Justice to protest the rejection of multiple Palestinian students’ Irish visas.
To join the Apartheid Free Zone Ireland campaign and see the full list of organisations involved, check out the website here.
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