Over 120 protesters gathered on King’s Parade on Wednesday evening (21/05) to mark King’s College’s landmark decision to divest from arms companies and firms engaged in “illegal” activities. 

The decision followed internal discussion on the College’s investment ethics, which had been “prompted by the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories”. King’s will subsequently divest from companies involved in “activities generally recognised as illegal or contravening global norms, such as occupation,” in addition to those producing military and nuclear weapons, or parts thereof.

King’s Provost, Gillian Tett, has said that the changes will be fully implemented by the end of the year. 

Organised by Cambridge for Palestine (C4P), the rally heard from speakers from King’s College for Palestine (KC4P), Cambridge Jews for Palestine, and C4P.

One speaker said that the decision meant that “King’s College will no longer invest in companies that produce weapons used by Israel to massacre people in Gaza,” accusing the university of leaving a “moral stain” for “choosing to continue to be complicit in genocide and ethnic cleansing”.

Protesters then chanted “Cambridge Uni you will see, Palestine will be free,” and “money for education, not war and occupation,” as well as “we will return” in Arabic.

Another said that, despite Cambridge University’s “attempts to criminalise our movement,” news of the divestment “must be the hope we cling onto”.

University legal action against protesters was a common target for many of the speakers, in particular the precautionary injunction obtained by the University to prevent protests taking place on its land, which a speaker claimed amounted to “hiding from accountability”.

Throughout the rally, speakers called on the University’s 30 other colleges to follow the example of King’s, with one saying the decision was “too little, too late,” and represented just “one college, at one university,” unless other institutions followed suit.

Talking to Varsity, one speaker at the protest said: “This rally was called to mark the decision of King’s College to divest from arms and companies complicit in occupation. We welcome this decision and call on other colleges to follow in the example set by King’s. It has been 20 months since the Genocide in Gaza began and 11 months since aid was allowed into Gaza; action like this from colleges and universities is long overdue whilst these institutions still invest millions in companies complicit in genocide.”

The news of King's divestment comes after Varsity in November reported that Trinity College would not be divesting from arms companies, despite reports that the College council had voted to do so. 

The University and King's College have been contacted for comment.