UK: Cambridge students slam pro-Palestine protest crackdown
Two University of Cambridge colleges have gained court injunctions restricting pro-Palestine protest encampments on campus, Middle East Eye reported on June 7th.
This move has sparked backlash from student activists who say the measures criminalise peaceful protests.
Last week, Trinity College and St John’s College obtained interim injunctions after activists reinstated encampments demanding divestment from Israeli firms. The injunctions, if made final, would remain in effect for 12 months.
A lawyer representing the colleges told the court that the protests have been a disturbance for students taking examinations and created “an environment of fear and intimidation” due to the presence of masked demonstrators.
Cambridge for Palestine (C4P), the group organising the encampments, criticised the move as an attempt to suppress dissent on campus.
“Just months ago, when Cambridge enacted its first anti-protest injunction, over a thousand students, faculty and staff members united to condemn the university’s repressive and racist action,” a C4P spokesperson said.
Video footage posted by C4P on Instagram appeared to show police warning student protesters that they could be jailed. “Our university is isolating itself with its blatant defense of Zionist violence,” they added.
The protests ignited following frustration over the university’s failure to meet prior commitments to review its investment policies. Trinity College has faced criticism for holdings in firms including Elbit Systems, Caterpillar, L3Harris Technologies, and Barclays.
The student group has issued four demands: Full transparency surrounding financial relationships with companies linked to Israeli breaches of international law, full divestment from those entities and investment towards Palestinians.
During March, the University of Cambridge was handed a High Court order prohibiting pro-Palestinian protest activity at three campus areas until July ends. The order was a softened version of the university’s earlier request for a five-year prohibition, which a judge denied on February 27th.
The University of Cambridge is comprised of 31 autonomous colleges, each with independent governance, such as in their financial investment decisions. Since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, several universities have faced student-led encampments calling for divestment.
On May 20th, King’s College Cambridge became the first Oxbridge institution to commit to divesting from arms manufacturers and companies linked to the occupation of Palestine and Ukraine.
Student-led encampments calling for divestment from Israeli-linked companies have taken place at universities across the UK and US, since the outbreak of the war. Many of these protests have been met with police interventions and legal action.
Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org
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