Jewish donor pulls bursary over concern for Jewish students at Trinity College - interview

A donor to Trinity College Dublin withdrew a bursary in his father’s name in response to hostile conditions for Jewish students at the Irish campus, the donor explained to The Jerusalem Post as the administration capitulated to the student encampment on May 8, accepting demands to divest and end business with Israeli companies and begin to process to end all Israeli academic ties.

“I’ll always have a strong allegiance to Trinity,” pediatrician Dr. Ed Abrahamson said on Wednesday with a hint of heartbreak in his voice.

The Abrahamsons had been involved with Trinity College going back to his grandfather. Abrahamson is himself an alumnus of the Dublin institution, as was his father, who was a law school graduate and lifelong supporter and adviser at the school.

Maurice Abrahamson Bursary

“To mark the 10th anniversary of my father’s passing we decided that we wanted to create a bursary with Trinity in his name,” said Abrahamson. “It was a big thing for us. It was a way of recognizing Dad’s relationship with Trinity.”

The Maurice Abrahamson Bursary was established last year to support disadvantaged students, who may have had lower grades but came from difficult backgrounds. Abrahamson wanted the students to know that the donations came from someone who was Jewish and part of the local Jewish community, and he said the students and Trinity were aware of that.

When an encampment was established outside the library on May 3, Abrahamson said he “was concerned about the impact that this would have on the Jewish students.”

“I had had contact with Jewish students about what was happening since October 7,” Abrahamson related. “These students described how they had been suffering a huge amount.”

The Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, to which students have to pay membership fees, had been relentlessly anti-Israel on social media since the Hamas massacre, according to Abrahamson.

After the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the president of the student union tweeted that it was “legitimate resistance,” noted Abrahamson.

TCDSU President Laszlo Molnarfi wrote on social media on October 7 that “Palestinians have the right to resist the brutal conditions imposed on them by the apartheid regime of Israel.”

The SU had been in official support of the encampment and its demand, publishing on Wednesday a jubilant announcement about Trinity’s acceptance of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) demands.

Trinity College PhD candidate Rachel Moiselle said on X on Tuesday that she had met with a junior dean on Monday about her online interactions with a staff member who had endorsed the October 7 massacre and engaged in public denial of Hamas atrocities.

After October 7 the atmosphere became ugly, the donor said, and students had approached the college about the hostile environment. A delayed response promised them a safe space – a small room. By promising this, Abrahamson said it showed “that the college acknowledges the problem – you wouldn’t offer this space if you didn’t think it was an issue.” 

Abrahamson’s concern for the safety of Jewish students grew with the encampment’s establishment, which through intimidation and harassment created veritable “no-go-zones” for Jews.

Trinity College Hillel stated in response to the encampment on May 2 that the “protests are part of a pattern that is emerging on campuses around the country – some of which have led to threats and harassment toward Jewish students.

“No student should feel as though they must hide their full identity to experience our campus environment, nor should their basic safety ever be jeopardized,” said Hillel. “To our students: You are not alone.”

Abrahamson was especially alarmed to see the emblems of terrorist organizations flown by the activists. A flag for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is proscribed by the European Union as a terrorist organization, was flown from a Trinity building window, Moiselle wrote last Saturday. A PFLP banner was hung on the grounds, and another outside and at Trinity Hall (student accommodation building). One of the banners allegedly depicted PFLP airplane hijacker Leila Khaled.

The donor felt compelled to contact the Trinity administration. In his first email, Abrahamson said he made it clear that he didn’t want to interfere with student union free speech or engage with political opinions, no matter how much he might disagree with them.

“I just wanted the college to say that they were proud to receive Jewish donations and that they were committed to protecting Jewish students,” said the doctor.

Within 24 hours of his email, Trinity had caved to the demands of the encampment, said Abrahamson. On May 6, the TCDSU and Trinity College BDS had announced a “partial success,” and 48 hours later declared “victory.” Trinity said in a May 8 statement that it supported the International Court of Justice’s position that “Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide about members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip,” would divest from and cease business with Israeli companies, provide accommodations for Palestinian scholars, and form a task force to review student exchanges with Israeli institutions.

“The victory we secured today shows the power of collective action and the unbreakable strength of student-staff solidarity,” said the TCDSU. “There is still much work to be done.”

The Israeli Embassy in Ireland stated on May 10 that it expressed “great concern” about the events at Trinity.

Hostile for Jews

“It is alarming that this respected institution of learning appears to have capitulated to the extreme behavior of a small minority of activists who have chosen to pursue a campaign of discrimination and delegitimization against Israel, while completely disregarding the consequential effects of their actions,” said the embassy.

The diplomatic mission said that the university had permitted anti-Israel activists to disrupt academic life and created a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students and staff. Proposed academic and business boycotts targeted all Israelis, discriminatorily punishing the people not just the government, and denied the world the outcomes of joint research.

Abrahamson said the “thought that they were completely capitulating was extraordinary.”

He wrote that day to the provost, “I am writing perhaps in the futile hope you will reply sympathetically and act, but the SU in the minds of many seem to have browbeaten the Board into submission.” There was no reply, but Provost Linda Doyle later related that she had never seen the email.

Ultimately, he felt that he had no option but to cancel the bursary – he didn’t want his father’s name associated with a disregard for the safety of Jewish students.

“All I then received was a brief paragraph thanking me for my support,” said Abrahamson. “I thought I would get some sort of response, but I haven’t and the Jewish students are still suffering.”

In response to the lack of communication from the college, which he said refused to break its silence and affirm that it would protect Jewish students, he spoke publicly about the bursary’s cancellation.

“I could have just canceled the bursary and not said anything but I wanted to improve things for Jewish students,” said Abrahamson. “For me, this is about the Jewish students, now.”

Since going public, the provost has agreed to meet with Abrahamson on Friday. He also said that other donors had contacted him to say that they would also be canceling bursaries.

“This was not a call for Trinity to issue pro-Israel statements or to prevent them from making them change their approach to Israel, it was about protecting the Jewish students who feel intimidated and threatened,” said Abrahamson. “The environment is one where Jews can no longer feel safe.”