A Cambridge student graduating on Saturday (03/05) interrupted the ceremony to protest the University’s “complicity” in “genocide in Gaza,” breaking the four-month High Court injunction against protests in Senate House.

The student, wearing full sub fusc academic dress, proceeded to the centre of the Senate House room and held up a Palestinian flag, before making a speech.

She stated: “Cambridge University is complicit in genocide in Gaza. Over 60,000 people have been killed by Israel in Gaza and Cambridge continues to invest in Israeli arms. There are no universities left in Gaza. Free Palestine.”

Following mixed applause from attendees, administrators cleared the hall and reportedly threatened police action as the student silently sat.

One student inside the graduation hall told Varsity: “It’s frankly very frustrating that this has happened. I’ve always quite been sympathetic to the pro-Palestinian cause, but this way of protesting feels unfair.

“Lots of families like mine have travelled a long way to see people graduate, and having this celebration derailed by a protest over something they have no role in feels wrong,” they added.

This comes over a month after the High Court granted the University an injunction to prevent protests on parts of its campus for four months, until 26 July, in order to prevent disruption at the 12 graduation ceremonies taking place this year. Under this injunction, the protester is liable to criminal damages if the University chooses to pursue them.

In late February, the University was initially granted a “very narrow and limited court order” to prevent disruption to graduations that weekend, but its proposed injunction of five years was rejected, and restrictions beyond Saturday’s graduations were deemed not “necessary and justified”.

The University’s successful re-application faced significant protest, with over 1,000 students, staff, and alumni signing an open letter in March seeking to prevent restrictions to pro-Palestine protests in Cambridge.

In the open letter, the injunction was described as “authoritarian,” calling on the University “to withdraw” it and reaffirm its “commitment to protect the freedom of speech and assembly of its members”.

It stated: “We note that the application to the court is made in the name of the ‘Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge’ and wish to state publicly and clearly that you are not acting in our name in preparing such an assault on freedom of expression.”

“Rather, this injunction runs contrary to the collective rights and interests of the University community as a whole to debate, assemble and protest in order to hold those in authority to account. We wish to remind you that the demands raised by students in solidarity with the Palestinian people have wide support from members of the University community,” it continued.

These injunction attempts were in response to the encampment established on Senate House lawn in both May and November of 2024, alongside occupations of King’s College lawn and Greenwich House by pro-Palestine protesters.

In early March, pro-Palestine protesters sprayed the Old Schools building with red paint, criticising the University’s investments in arms.

The University of Cambridge has been contacted for comment.