Linda Doyle
HAVING FACED down the college authorities in May over ties between Trinners and Israeli institutions, the TCD Students’ Union and the Trinity Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions group can’t have been overly impressed with last month’s decision to award former Belgian prime minister and hardcore Nato advocate Herman Van Rompuy an honorary degree. Of more concern, however, will be the calls for Trinity to “consider adopting” the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
Most recently, this call was made by outspoken UK-based consultant paediatrician Edwin Abrahamson (cousin of movie director Lenny), who withdrew a 10-year bursary for disadvantaged students over his concerns that TCD was becoming “a no-go zone for Jews” – a concern based on the existence of a single provocative anti-Jewish sign in the men’s toilet in the Buttery social centre, a photo of which was posted on social media.
According to the Sunday Times, Abrahamson duly met with both Trinity provost Linda Doyle and the college’s head of equality, diversity and inclusion, Siobhán O’Brien Green, to discuss how Trinity could do better and the IHRA’s antisemitism definition was raised.
It will be recalled (see The Phoenix 22/3/24) that at the end of 2023 the Berlin senate introduced a controversial “anti-discrimination clause” for all arts funding, requiring recipients of state arts grants to renounce “any form of anti-semitism according to the [IHRA] definition of anti-semitism”.
The trouble is that this definition is so broad and ambiguous, conflating criticism of the state of Israel with antisemitism, that the senate’s move was deemed to be discriminatory. Following vocal protests by the artistic community, Berlin backed down and scrapped the clause earlier this year.
Goldhawk asked TCD if there had been any moves towards adopting the IHRA definition and was told: “As part of its work on race and ethnic equality, Trinity is exploring definitions and declarations that could be supportive to our work on dignity and respect.”
Watch this space.
