Mobilising Youth: A Conversation with Israel and Palestine launches in Trinity College Dublin

national | rights and freedoms | news report Wednesday March 17, 2010 00:16 by Freda H and Kev - IPSC

Tonight, Tuesday March 16th, marked the beginning of the "Mobilising Youth: A Conversation with Israel and Palestine" tour which runs nationwide until March 25th.

The speakers on this tour are two strong, articulate young women Deema Darawshy and Sahar Vardi. Both speakers spoke strongly in favour of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

Deema Darawshy and Sahar Vardi

Deema Darawshy is a young Palestinian citizen of Israel. She has been involved with many different organisations including human rights group B'Tselem, Ta Adam (Students for Human Rights), Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group and is now working for HaMoked - Centre for the Defence of the Individual.

Sahar Vardi is a young Israeli from Jerusalem. She has been a human rights activist since a young age and last year spent two months in prison for refusing to serve in the Israeli army. She is involved in organisations such as Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Ta'Ayush, New Profile and recently was one of the instrumental figures behind the increasing demonstrations in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem.

When asked about opposition to the international Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign Sahar Vardi said, “ The principle of boycott will hit Israel much sooner than the economic impact of a boycott ever could. Israel does not want to be ostracised nor will it allow the boycott to effect it's economy. If the boycott gathers strength Israel will be forced to rectify it's policy of Apartheid and strangulation of the Palestinian people. The power of individuals and the international community in the BDS campaign makes me optimistic that we will see a resolution to this conflict in my life time.”

Deema Darawshy, speaking about the conditions that Palestinian citizens of Israel live under, said, “In a system that ostensibly grants equal rights to all it's citizens Palestinians who live in Israel do not enjoy the same rights and freedoms as Jewish citizens do. We face discrimination in virtually all walks of life from housing to education to employment. This is not always prominent in the discourse surrounding the Palestinian issue in the international community.”

Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) spokesperson Freda Hughes speaking about the tour said, “These two brave young women show that there is indeed hope for a just resolution to the Palestine/Israel question. The fact that a young Israeli woman has spent time in prison for refusing to serve in the Israeli military and continues advocate Boycott Divestment and Sanctions as a legitimate method of fighting Israeli Apartheid is emblematic of a gradual shift in certain sectors of Israeli society towards justice for the Palestinian people. The IPSC is proud to co -host this excellent initiative.”

This nationwide tour is co-hosted by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Labour Youth and supported by ICTU Youth. For a full listing of tour dates see below. All events are open to the public.

16th March: 6 pm Trinity College Dublin. Maxwell Theatre, Hamilton Building.

18th March: NUI Galway. 7pm, The View, Aras na Mac Leinn/Student Centre. http://www.nuigalway.ie/campus-map/

20th March: 1 pm Belfast. Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre
Map: http://www.burc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Section...age=1

22nd March: University College Cork, 6pm, Room G10 in the Civil Engineering Building. http://www.ucc.ie/en/build/maps/CampusandAccessMaps/Mai...p.pdf

23rd March: 7 pm University of Limerick, Jean Monnet, DG016, Main Building. http://www.ul.ie/main/places/index.shtml

24th March: 7pm University College Dublin. Leture Room P, Newman Building. http://www.ucd.ie/maps/ucdmap_eng.html

25th March: 7.30 pm NUI Maynooth. Meeting Room 3 & 4 Student's Union. http://www.nuim.ie/location/maps/north.shtml

http://www.ipsc.ie

http://www.labour.ie/youth/