University of Cambridge granted four-month protest injunction
The University of Cambridge has been granted a High Court order blocking Israel-Palestine protests on parts of its campus until the end of July.Last month, a judge dismissed a request by the university for a five-year injunction blocking direct action related to the conflict on several sites without the university's consent.On Wednesday the university returned to the High Court to apply for a four-month order preventing protesters from disrupting multiple graduation events.Mr Justice Soole granted the injunction on Friday, stating there was an "imminent and real risk of a recurrence" of direct action on the campus and a "strong probability that this will otherwise occur" if the order was not issued.
"I am satisfied that there is a compelling need for the granting of an injunction," he said.He added the "proposed terms are the minimum necessary in the circumstances" and the injunction "does provide a fair balance between the rights of all parties".The injunction prevents protesters from disrupting graduation events up to 26 July, the final ceremony of the academic year.
Myriam Stacey KC, for the university, told the hearing protesters seemed to be mostly affiliated with the group Cambridge for Palestine. A spokesperson for the university said it welcomed the High Court's decision and it would "safeguard" its site from occupation and therefore the graduation ceremonies, while protecting the right for staff to work.They added the action "was never about preventing lawful protest".The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) opposed the university's bid, with its lawyers telling the court the injunction was a "disproportionate infringement" on the human rights of the protesters and would set a "dangerous precedent" for protesting on campuses.Cambridge for Palestine said it "condemns" the decision, which it described as "a violent move to criminalise and police our movement".
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Federal judge rules that Trump administration can no longer detain Mahmoud Khalil
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration can no longer detain Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. In his order on Wednesday, Judge Michael E Farbiarz said that the ruling will go into effect at 9.30am on Friday, adding: 'This is to allow the respondents to seek appellate review should they wish to.' Khalil has been held in a detention facility in Louisiana since March. Earlier this month, he described the pain of missing the birth of his first child while being detained, saying: 'When I heard my son's first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.' This story will be updated …
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Israeli forces recover bodies of two hostage in Gaza, PM says
Israeli security forces operating in Gaza have recovered the bodies of two Israeli hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named one of them as Yair (Yaya) Yaakov, 59, who was killed inside his home at Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October teenage sons, Or and Yagil, and his partner, Meirav Tal, were abducted alive and released in November 2023, as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and said the name of the other hostage had not yet been released, but that their family had been are now 53 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. News of the recovery of Yair Yaakov's body initially came from his sons."Dad, I love you," Yagil wrote in a post on Instagram on Wednesday evening, according to the Haaretz newspaper. "I don't know how to respond yet. I'm sad to say this. I'm waiting for your funeral, I love you and knew this day would come."Yagil also thanked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet internal security service and expressed hope that the remaining hostages "will be brought [back] in a deal that doesn't risk soldiers".Later, Netanyahu issued a statement saying: "Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our deepest condolences to the families who have lost their most beloved.""I thank the soldiers and commanders for another successful execution of the sacred mission to return our hostages."The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents many hostages' families, said in a statement that it "bows its head in sorrow over the murder of Yaya and shares in the profound grief of the Yaakov family"."There are no words to express the depth of this pain," it added. "The hostages have no time. We must bring them all home, Now!"The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 55,104 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
RE Trump Palestine warning
Donald Trump's administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending a UN conference next week on a possible two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, according to a US cable seen by Reuters. The diplomatic demarche, sent on Tuesday, says countries that take 'anti-Israel actions' following the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to US foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington. The demarche runs squarely against the diplomacy of two close allies, France and Saudi Arabia, who are co-hosting the gathering next week in New York that aims to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. 'We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages,' read the cable. Emmanuel Macron has suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference. French officials say they have been working to avoid a clash with the US, Israel's staunchest major ally. 'The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,' the cable read. The United States for decades backed a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would create a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel. Trump, in his first term, was relatively tepid in his approach to a two-state solution, a longtime pillar of US Middle East policy. The Republican president has given little sign of where he stands on the issue in his second term. But on Tuesday, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a long-time vocal supporter of Israel, said he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a US foreign policy goal. 'Unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state would effectively render Oct 7 Palestinian Independence Day,' the cable read, referring to when Palestinian Hamas militants carried out a cross-border attack from Gaza on Israel in 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Hamas' attack triggered Israel's air and ground war in Gaza in which almost 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of the population of 2.3 million displaced and the enclave widely reduced to rubble. If Macron went ahead, France, home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities, would become the first Western heavyweight to recognise a Palestinian state. This could lend greater momentum to a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations generally more critical of Israel. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Macron's stance has shifted amid Israel's intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and there is a growing sense of urgency in Paris to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever. The US cable said Washington had worked tirelessly with Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, free the hostages and end the conflict. 'This conference undermines these delicate negotiations and emboldens Hamas at a time when the terrorist group has rejected proposals by the negotiators that Israel has accepted.' This week the UK, Australia and Canada were joined by other countries in placing sanctions on two Israeli far-right government ministers to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, to bring the Gaza war to an end. 'The United States opposes the implied support of the conference for potential actions including boycotts and sanctions on Israel as well as other punitive measures,' the cable read. Israel has repeatedly criticised the conference, saying it rewards Hamas for the attack on Israel, and it has lobbied France against recognising a Palestinian state. 'Nothing surprises me anymore, but I don't see how many countries could step back on their participation,' said a European diplomat, who asked for anonymity due to the subject's sensitivity. 'This is bullying, and of a stupid type.'
