Students at St John’s have called on the College to divest from arms companies, weeks after an encampment was set up on its lawn.

In a petition drafted by the College’s JCR and SBR, students demanded John’s “divest from arms manufacturers and companies complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”.

It continued: “We are heartbroken at the tragedy unfolding in Gaza – deemed a ‘genocide’ by Amnesty International and an ‘intolerable’ level of human suffering by the UK government, and are gravely disappointed at the College’s silence on the issue and continued financial support of these human rights abuses.”

In early June, Cambridge for Palestine (C4P) established an encampment on the College lawn, before being evicted through a High Court injunction just two days later. This injunction was extended by the court for another 12 months, alongside Trinity College’s injunction.

During the encampment, a C4P spokesperson claimed that Freedom of Information requests revealed the College holds £3.2 million in arms companies including BAE Systems and Elbit Systems. John’s had previously rejected Freedom of Information Requests about investments on the grounds of “trade secrets”.

The open letter also alleged that the College failed to engage “meaningfully with students” at the encampment or address “their concerns,” “calling the police and fencing the areas off with members still inside”.

They added: “We are saddened by College’s response to our fellow students, and ask that College recognise their request for John’s to divest from arms and companies complicit in the ongoing genocide.”

The College has previously faced criticism for its investments, with C4P disrupting last year’s May Ball by climbing the walls of the College’s New Court building and dropping a banner calling on the College to “divest from genocide”.

In May, King’s College became one of the first colleges at the University of Cambridge to pledge divestment from “illegal occupation,” following a prolonged student campaign for them to do so.

In contrast, in early June, Trinity’s College Council told the student body at a liaison meeting that the College will only “decide on what, if any, change to make” once the University’s arms review is concluded.

Last week, the University hosted an open meeting about “investments in, and research funded by, companies belonging to the defence industry,” as part of an ongoing consultation for its arms review.

C4P has set up four encampments in Easter term, at Trinity, John’s, and Magdalene and, more recently, on King’s Parade lawn. All three colleges obtained interim injunctions against protesters, with the length of Magdalene’s injunction awaiting High Court approval.

St John’s College was contacted for comment.