UCD BDS have labelled Nancy Pelosi as a “war criminal” and characterised an event she is attending in UCD as “shaking the blood-soaked hands of corporate and political leaders interested in maintaining good relations with powerful murderers”, following an article by The College Tribune revealing the Former U.S. Speaker of the House’s visit to the Belfield Campus last week.
Pelosi will be on campus to receive two awards, an honorary degree from UCD at 3pm and the Sutherland Leadership Award at a Gala Dinner in the O’Reilly Hall today.
In a statement released to its members and obtained by The College Tribune, UCD BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) said, “US war criminal Nancy Pelosi will be on OUR campus today, receiving an honorary degree and award, and shaking the blood-soaked hands of corporate and political leaders interested in maintaining good relations with powerful murderers at a gala dinner in O’Reilly Hall.”
The activist group said it is a “disgrace for an academic institution” to organise such events on their campus and continued saying, “we cannot tolerate the normalisation of the platforming of war criminals at UCD”.
The group called for UCD to be an “anti-imperialist, anti-genocidal and anti-apartheid space” and called for “as many people as possible at the protests to show UCD that hosting and honouring war criminals crosses our red line.”
“We should also use this platform to shame this university for its complicity in the colonial apartheid project in Palestine, particularly the current genocide,” continuing the group’s call, in conjunction with UCD Students’ Union, for UCD to take a stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The event is expected to be attended by more than 500 business and political leaders. She will receive the award as recognition for her “outstanding contribution to leadership and public life in a career spanning four decades.” The name Sutherland may sound familiar to UCD students, it is a sponsored award by the name sponsor of UCD’s law building – Peter Sutherland. Previous awardees include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank.
Hugh Dooley – Co-Editor
