A prominent German MEP has accused Trinity College Dublin of "punishing the Jewish people" by giving in to what he called "anti-semitic" pressure from the students' union over the war in Gaza.
Christian Ehler, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP), suggested that Trinity College was forgetting the "lessons" of 20th century anti-semitism.
He called on the European Commission "as protector of the [EU] treaties, to do everything in its power to move Trinity College Dublin from the dark path it embarked on and to prevent any other universities from following its direction".
Mr Ehler, who is a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, said the "the leadership of Trinity College Dublin gave in to pressure from [an] anti- Semitic student group... committed to punishing the Jewish people for protecting themselves against the terrorists of Hamas operating out of Gaza".
He said the university’s decision to commit to divesting from Israeli companies, as well as reviewing its academic relations with Israeli institutions, was "clearly an act against the Jewish people in general disguised as a measured response to a war".
He said: "Israel and the Jewish people are part of our European family, of the European Research Area [ERA] and are our partners in the [EU] Framework Programmes.
"The ERA cannot exist if we allow academic institutions to discriminate against certain people which are part of the ERA by fuelling anti-Semitism in Europe by giving in to these student movements."
He added: "The twentieth century taught us what happens when we accommodate anti-Semitism in Europe - this may never happen again."
The five-day protest camp at Trinity College over the war in Gaza ended, after the university agreed to the demands of the protesting students.
It followed similar demonstrations in the US.
Following the TCD encampment other encampments were established in University College Cork (UCC), University College Dublin (UCD) and students at Maynooth University also engaged in a sit-in as part of their campaign to get the university to sever ties with Israeli institutions.
UCD told staff and students that it has no investments in Israel and no bilateral partnerships with Israeli institutions.
