Nearly 60 academics have expressed their support for the students involved in the Law Faculty occupation.

In a letter to Vice-Chancellor Alison Richard, the dons described the occupation as a “peaceful, dignified and humanitarian show of constructive solidarity with suffering civilians”. They praised both the manner in which the action was conducted and its demands.

The 56 signatories expressed disquiet at the University’s reaction to the occupation and criticised its threats of matriculation sanctions and food deprivation in response to peaceful protest.

The University’s “refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue with its own students” about their demands, particularly in comparison with the actions of other universities, was also condemned.

T he occupation, which lasted for six days, was conducted with the aim that the University take positive action in regard to the Palestinian situation by providing academic aid, granting scholarships, and fundraising.

The signatories stated that the University could “make no more enlightened or humanitarian contribution to the appalling suffering created by this conflict”. They also agreed with the protesters’ demand for divestment from the arms trade, urging greater transparency in University investments and a constructive movement toward ethical investment.

The Cambridge-Gaza Solidarity group was “delighted” at the breadth of support the letter showed the occupation and its aims to have. “The event of the occupation is a rallying cry for students and academics alike to begin working together for change both within our institution and in the wider world,” the group said.

Highlighting intellectual communities’ “responsibility to lead humane debate and global transformation”, the letter stressed that in failing to defend the exercise of intellectual freedom the University risked compromising its own “cherished, animating ideals”.

The letter also urged the University to use the occupation as an opportunity to remind itself of its aims of encouraging freedom of thought and freedom from discrimination, and of “contributing to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence”.

In response, Pro-Vice Chancellor John Rallison stressed that the University had taken “every step to permit the students involved in the protest to express their views,” and maintained that the occupation was ended without the use of force after it proved disruptive to students’ education.