A ‘Liberated Zone’ encampment was set up outside King’s College in the centre of Cambridge on Monday morning (5 May) as part of a pro-Palestine protest which included an equivalent camp being set up at Oxford University at the same time.
The protesters moved on to King’s College lawn at 7am on Monday, pitching around 20 tents along with supplies including sleeping bags.
In a joint statement, Oxford Action for Palestine and Cambridge for Palestine said they “refuse to accept our universities’ complicity in Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people”. Cambridge for Palestine called on the university to disclose financial and professional ties to Israel, divest from related organisations, and reinvest in supporting Palestinian students, academics and scholars.
Student-led group Cambridge Jews for Justice in Palestine is supporting the encampment on their university grounds and told the PA news agency: “We refuse to sit by while our university is complicit in, and profits from, the genocide of Palestinians and we refuse to accept its commitment to murder and bloodshed as the status quo.”
The spokesperson said they were joining “students across the world in refusing the weaponised conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism”.
Kashif Darr was on King’s Parade when the encampment was set up.
“The students went on to the green and took it over, set up the camp, there was a camp debrief at 11am, plus a rally at 3pm which was amazing,” he said. “The students put out their statement along with Oxford at same time, it was amazing. It’s a really good place to be.
“There’s 80 students involved, on and off. I think they’ll be there until their demands are met by the university.”
Speaking today (8 May) about the encampment, Mahmoud, a member of the Cambridge for Palestine group which set up the camp, told the Cambridge Independent that there are now “30 or 40 tents” on King’s Parade.
“I’m doing a Masters at University of Cambridge and this has been the primary issue of the day for me in the last 6 or 7 months. I would go to my classes every day and have fresh in my mind pictures of children ripped to shreds and that’s what I’m taking this action with this amazing amazing group.”
He added: “Teachers have been coming in yesterday to tutor students and provide moral and practical support, though to my awareness there are not any teachers sleeping in the camps.
“It’s a constant stream of people until late night and early morning, when it’s just those who are sleeping. During the day numbers grow considerably. People come to support friends, share food and sing and dance with us.
“Yesterday we had a rally to deliver our demands physically to the Pro Vice Chancellor but we have yet to hear from them, they’ve not even acknowledged publicly that we are even here.”
A University of Cambridge spokesperson said: “The university is fully committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law and we acknowledge the right to protest. We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy. Our priority is the safety of all staff and students.
“We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia and any other form of racial or religious hatred, or other unlawful activity.”
Jewish students must not be harassed or intimidated, the education secretary has said of the many UK university campus protests.
Gillian Keegan, writing in the Daily Telegraph, believes the protests could add to a hostile atmosphere on campus and said: “We will not stand by as Jewish students suffer”.
Cambridge for Palestine has invited Cambridge residents to sign an open letter in support of the Cambridge student encampment for Palestine.
