“Free, free Palestine!” students chanted through the halls of TUD Grangegorman. Teachers and students rallied together sporting signs and banners to make a stand on campus and make their voices heard.

One of the organisers of the protest was Jim Roche, a leading figurehead and spokesperson for Palestinian human rights and the Irish movement against the Israeli regime. 

Jim Roach, Secretary of the Irish Anti War movement and Co-Founder of Academics for Palestine, discussed his extensive involvement in advocating for Palestinian rights.  

Also a lecturer at TU Dublin and vice chair of the TU Dublin colleges branch, Roche co-founded Academics for Palestine in 2014, which was the first academic union to pass a motion for academic boycott.  

TU Dublin was the first academic union to pass an academic boycott including divestment and sanctions. Jim Roche was instrumental in setting this up following his experience of trips to the West Bank.  

Roche said: “It was an incredible, eye-opening trip. When we came back, I brought a motion to TUI Congress about boycott, divestment, sanctions, about academic boycott in April 2013 after our trip to Gaza. That passed, and we were the first academic union to pass a notion of academic boycott.”  

Roche has been heavily involved in the Irish Palestine movement for over 20 years. Jim and his colleagues faced backlash, including hate mail and phone calls, but they received support from the IPSC and received media coverage.  

The Academics for Palestine pledge call for the boycott of Israeli institutions formed academics for Palestine. “We hold meetings, we write letters, we ask people to sign our pledge, and we campaign across academia,” Jim said. 

The pledge reads as follows: “In response to the call from Palestinian civil society for an institutional academic boycott of Israel, we pledge not to engage in any professional association with Israeli academic, research and state institutions and with those representing these institutions, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.” 

Jim took the time to acknowledge the emotional toll on activists, advising others to take breaks and protect themselves. “For the first few months I was spending on average two hours a day writing and canvassing and it wears you out. You have to take breaks and be there for each other. I feel like I’ve just been crying since the seventh of October (last year), I just feel completely drained.”