‘The victims of the victims.’ Palestinian Ambassador Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid Visits UCC

By Current Affairs Reporter Jack Walsh

On Thursday the 29 April 2024, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine, Her Excellency Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, visited University College Cork. She held a meeting with UCC President John O’Halloran, who noted how ‘UCC has a long history of engagement in the region.’ During the meeting, a number of areas of mutual cooperation were discussed, including the supporting of Palestinian students.

‘I would like to first thank UCC students for hosting anti-apartheid week. This is very important and strong of them to continue to do that, especially in these difficult times.’

– Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid.

In the evening, following an afternoon of engagements in Cork City, Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid returned to UCC to give an address to students. Held in West Wing 9, the event was organised by UCC Ógra Shinn Fhéin as part of the Students’ Union’s Anti-Apartheid Week.

Speaking about the current situation in Gaza, the Ambassador highlighted the destruction wrought on the education sector. With a before and after photo of Al-Azhar university projected behind her, she placed particular emphasis on the ‘600,000 students who have no access to education since the 7th of October’ and the ‘more than 4,700 students and 240 educational staff’ who have lost their lives.

Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid said that while she was not at UCC to speak specifically about October 7, the attacks ‘didn’t happen out of thin air’. While she utterly rejected the killing of innocent civilians and taking of hostages, she shed light on how the Palestinian people have been suffering ‘decades of oppression, injustice, colonialisation, and occupation’ by Israel. There is, she continued, ‘no justification for what Israel did, and what it is doing’ as it so clearly goes beyond rage and revenge. She asked if the Israelis have forgotten that the Palestinian people are also ‘human beings’ who have now become, in her view, ‘the victims of the victims.’

When ‘the whole world is live-streaming Israel’s destruction’ of Gaza, the Ambassador reasoned that by failing to hold Israel accountable for its actions, the international community is complicit in the ‘ongoing Nakba against the Palestinians.’  What is happening now ‘is a plan by Israel to annex Gaza, to make it unlivable’ the Ambassador declared, showing a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations holding a map of the Middle East where there is no Palestine, only Israel. This, she believes, showed his intent to act as he is now doing.

Al-Azhar University

By way of conclusion, the Ambassador issued a warning that if Israel succeeds in displacing the Palestinian people from Gaza, its next step will be to annex the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Despite an uncertain future, Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid remains defiant, and confident in her people’s continued ability to resist, asserting ‘we will be free one day.’

After her address, attendees were invited to ask questions. Among the issues raised were the following: criticisms of the Palestinian Authority; support for Hamas; child prisoners; and the Taoiseach’s visit to the White House for St. Patrick’s Day.

On Hamas, the Ambassador said that with 15-20 per cent of the Palestinian people supporting the group, they are part of the Palestinian people. Whether she agrees with them or not doesn’t change this fact.

Similarly, in response to criticisms of the Palestinian Authority, Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid noted that as in any other country, there are internal divisions in Palestine. Using the example of the political parties here in Ireland, she said that while you might support Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, or Fine Gael for example, at the end of the day you recognise that they are all Irish. Furthermore, whoever is in government represents the people because they are in office via democratic means. This is similarly true in Palestine where the Palestinian Authority is part of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation which is ‘the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian People.’ Conceding that elections, or the lack thereof, is an issue, the Ambassador highlighted how local elections did take place in 2021 and the desire to hold a general election remains strong, but while the Israeli’s refuse to facilitate elections in East Jerusalem none will take as East Jerusalem is part of Palestine and cannot be left out.

Her Excellency Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid and University President Dr John O’Halloran

Responding to the question on child prisoners, the Ambassador introduced a man in the audience called Jihad. Sentenced to 7 years in an Israeli prison aged 13 for throwing stones at a tank, Jihad spoke about his time in Israeli jails. He described the conditions as ‘hell on earth’ before going on to reveal that two of his three sons, aged 19 and 20, are currently imprisoned for similar actions to his. He passionately stated how it was important to fight for his people’s freedom, but also acknowledged the challenges as a father of seeing your children endure the same conditions you did.

‘I’m obliged to extend my sincere gratitude to the university, to the city council and to the people of Cork for their constant and strong support and solidarity with our people.’ – Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid.

Finally, on whether the Taoiseach should visit the White House as part of the annual St Patrick’s Day festivities in Washington D.C., the Ambassador held back from giving a personal opinion given her status as a diplomat. However, she did express her desire to see the Taoiseach raise the cause of Palestine with President Biden.

On the day of the Ambassador’s visit, it had been noticed by students, and was highlighted by the UCCSU Environmental and Sustainability Representative, Dearbhla Richardson, that the Palestinian flag had only been flying for a short time while the Ambassador was meeting with President O’Halloran. When this was queried by the Express, the following statement was given by the President’s office: ‘It is University policy to raise the flag of visiting ambassadors and, as is standard practice, the flag is then lowered when the ambassador departs.’

The Student’s Union remains critical of UCC’s lack of engagement with the BDS campaign and refusal to criticise Israel for what the Union sees as the ‘genocide of the Palestinian people.’ With further solidarity events planned at UCC, students are echoing the wishes of Ambassador Wahba Abdalmajid who urged us to ‘continue to speak about Palestine […] and continue to raise the injustice in Palestine.’