Pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a large protest at the heart of the university earlier today, following continued violence in Israel and Gaza.
Hundreds of students gathered on King's Parade holding Palestinian flags, claiming the university, the UK government, and Israel are "complicit in genocide" in Gaza.
Earlier yesterday, Israel told 1.1 million Palestinians that they have 24 hours to leave northern Gaza before a land, air, and sea offensive, in an evacuation order that the UN has called “horrendous”.
This came after last weekend's unprecedented attack by Hamas, a Palestinian organisation of Islamist militants, which killed at least 1,300 people in Israel.
Hamas is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the EU, and the UK, as well as other powers.
Israel's bombing campaign in retaliation has now killed 2,200 people and a “complete siege” of Gaza has left food, fuel, and water supplies running out.
Arab and Palestinian student speakers accused the university of funding arms companies involved in violence by the state of Israel, while emotionally talking about the fate of family and friends in Gaza.
One student read messages from her former teacher who is currently in Gaza, which said: “I have lost many friends and loved ones, there is no safe place to hide. Pray for us.”
One Palestinian student said: "focusing on women and children's suffering is not enough. Our men deserve to live too".
A Sudanese student, describing how she grew up with Palestinian refugees, said: "I just don't know what to say. But we love you, and are with you".
Other speakers also mentioned a student whose uncle has been killed in the conflict.
The protests were organised by Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Society and Cambridge Stop the War Coalition.
Concerns over the university’s handling of the crisis have been building all week.
A Cambridge professor, Dr James Orr, was accused of "racist" "dehumanising" of Arabs and Palestinians on Friday, with an academic in his own faculty saying it is "unthinkable" that he can teach “without discrimination”.
Professor Orr, who played a lead organising role at the controversial ‘National Conservatism Conference’ in May, responded to a video of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London, which showed Muslim protestors praying, by stating: “Import the Arab World, become the Arab World”.
The university are yet to respond to the incident, which has been condemned by Cambridge’s Middle Eastern North African Society (MenaSoc) and Palestine Solidarity Society (PalSoc).
There were several isolated incidents of tension over the course of the protest. These included mutually exchanged shouts of profanity with passers-by.
Another incident came when one member of the public shouted at a speaker, who then invited her to speak into the microphone, saying "if you've got something to say, say it."
Before the protest, Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice said in her public statement that the University Security Section will be on “alert” in the coming days to “ensure heightened awareness of any activity that might make members of the Jewish community feel unsafe”.
According to the vice-chancellor, university security will do “proactive patrolling” and “work with local institutions, including the Police”.
There were Police Liason officers following the protest over the course of the day.
