Cambridge students hit out at injunctions 'criminalising' Palestine encampment
Interim injunctions were obtained by Trinity College and St John's College earlier this week after campaigners re-established encampments in protest at what they said was a failure by the university to divest from Israeli companies.
A lawyer for the colleges has asked for the injunctions to be made final and to last 12 months, arguing that the protests have been disruptive to students taking exams and that the colleges are "concerned about the environment of fear and intimidation created by masked protesters".
Cambridge for Palestine (C4P) said the move amounts to "criminalising" protests on campus. The group posted footage on their Instagram page appearing to show police earlier this week threatening protesters with imprisonment.
Speaking to Middle East Eye on Saturday, a spokesperson for C4P, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the university was aiming to obscure a consensus among the student body that "rejects the university's long-standing partnership in genocide".
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"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," they said.
"Our university is isolating itself with its blatant defence of Zionist violence, and we will not allow it to go unchecked as it bankrolls scholasticide and mass murder."
'Our university is isolating itself with its blatant defence of Zionist violence'
- C4P activist
MEE contacted the University of Cambridge for comment, but had received no response at the time of publication.
C4P says Trinity College holds investments in companies such as Elbit Systems, Caterpillar, L3Harris Technologies, and Barclays despite the university's previous commitment to review its 'responsible investment' policy following a similar months-long encampment last year.
The group said the renewed protest last week came after months of student, faculty and community "frustration" over the university's failure to honour those pledges.
The group has outlined four core demands, including full disclosure of financial ties to companies implicated in Israeli violations of international law, full divestment from them and reinvestment in Palestinian communities.
In March, the university was granted a High Court order barring pro-Palestine actions from three locations on its campus until the end of July 2025 - a reduced version of its original bid to secure a five-year ban, which was rejected in court on 27 February.
The University of Cambridge is made up of 31 self-governing colleges that operate autonomously, including in their financial investments. Many of them have faced protests over their investments since the launch of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.
On 20 May, King's College announced it would divest millions from the arms industry and companies complicit in "the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories", becoming the first Oxford or Cambridge college to take such measures.
Since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, pro-Palestinian students around the world have launched encampments in support of Gaza and in opposition to university links to Israel.
The actions have been met with a fierce crackdown by security and police on several campuses.
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