BDS Maynooth Protests Target University Ties to Israeli-Linked Firms

On 20 February 2026, the Maynooth-based BDS group hosted a protest in solidarity against the ongoing genocide in Palestine, and Maynooth University’s role within and complicity with Israel-based and -supporting companies. 

The BDS (The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, founded in 2005 by Omar Barghouti, is led by Palestinian and stands for freedom, justice and equality. As the movement states on its website, “BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.” 

This protest was held at 1.30pm at the entrance of St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, perfectly positioned to garner attention from students and staff making their way through the university south campus for lunch. 

The main topic of protest was ties with Israeli Defence Forces held by the company FANUC. a Japanese robotics MNC. The company sponsored the IEEE UK and Ireland Chapter Annual Conference, hosted in Maynooth University on this date. Many protestors sported signs with slogans such as “FANUC kills children” and “FANUC profits from genocide,” and chants rang out in call and response with “FANUC, FANUC, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.” Speakers from other activist organisations around Maynooth, including Healthcare Workers for Palestine and ISPC Kildare, addressed the protest. Other such groups in attendance Academia for Palestine (AfP) Ireland, Engineers Against Apartheid, Your Tech Their Deaths, and the Maynooth University Students’ Union (MSU).

During the protest, the key speaker on behalf of BDS, Sian Cowman, brought the crowd’s attention to the conference, which was taking place in the nearby Renehan Hall from 8am to 5.30pm. This event sees researchers and practitioners in automation meet, as stated in the BDS press release Silver Hand Journal received on the matter. Originally, the conference was sponsored by FANUC, however, they were removed from the IEEE’s list of sponsors shortly before the conference. 

In conversation with Silver Hand journalists, Cowman explained the role of FANUC and why the movement is speaking against them: “Since we have raised the issue [of the FANUC sponsorship] with the conference organizers, the FANUC sponsorship has been removed from the website. But we also ask that they make a public statement as to why they are no longer accepting sponsorships from FANUC, and confirmation that they have returned the sponsored funding.”

Cowman also criticised the university and their tolerance of this behaviour in the press release of the protest: 

“Maynooth University has been stalling for months now on making any commitment to boycott Israeli institutions or complicit corporations.” 

This message carried through into the protest, with the topic of the universities' reluctance to cut ties with Israeli-supporting companies being a prominent point of discussion for speakers. Another company that BDS condemned was Intel, and its investments into the apartheid. Intel was established 1989 in Leixlip, just outside of Maynooth town, from where it continued to expand worldwide. The group called on the university to cut their funding and connection to the company, who in turn funds STEM research at the University, recently providing grants and a new robotics lab. This lab was opened on January 31, 2024, within four months of Israel’s October 7th invasion. Speakers said they contacted university management as a plea to end relations with such companies and to make a public statement, to which the president of the university, Eeva Leinonon, responded that the university in a statement dated 17 June 2025: “does not hold any investments in arms manufacturing or distribution companies, does not hold investments in any company headquartered in Israel and does not have any funded research projects with Israeli universities.” 

The MSU has made calls to the university in the past to resolve such issues, participating in several walkouts this year and regularly posting about BDS and Palestine solidarity activities on social media. We reached out to MSU President Charli Middleton ahead of the protest to ask whether she or another representative planned to attend. A response confirmed that the VP for Student Life, Amina Traboue, would be present on behalf of the MSU. Silver Hand approached Traboue towards the end of the protest and about the SU’s relationship with the BDS movement, to which she replied that they, “meet with the movement on a regular basis to see what they can communicate with university staff.” These meetings are crucial, as their findings are relayed when Middleton meets with the Leinonen. Traboue then re-emphasised the importance of streamlining communication with the university, stating that: “As we heard in this protest, it’s clear the university are not listening to these emails that are coming through, so it’s a good opportunity for us to hear what other organizations want to hear from the university.”

On 21 February 2026, approximately 24 hours after the protest, Silver Hand was made aware of an altercation that took place at the conference. In an Instagram reel posted by groups present at the protest, including Your Tech Their Deaths and IPSC Kildare, it was disclosed that activists from five groups disrupted keynote speaker, Saeid Nahavandi. Nahavandi, who has ties with the arms industry, was prevented from speaking as an activist read from a list of Palestinian children who have been killed by Israel. This activist, who is yet to be named, was removed from the premises by the university campus security, leaving a parting comment: “I’m still only on the one-year-olds”.

The protest came to an end with a reading of Palestinian poetry by writers including Rasha Abdulhadi and George Abraham, bringing attention further to the pressure, damages, and heartbreak currently occurring in Palestine.

We asked what people can do if they wish to take part in the BDS movements, Cowman said: 

“You can look for us on our Instagram account, maynoothbds, and we have a form that anybody interested can use to sign up, who will then proceed to be invited to our WhatsApp group to join in our meetings.”