Cambridge for Palestine (C4P) activists held a rally in central Cambridge on Friday (10/10), following the Graduate Schemes and Internships Fair.

Seven activists entered the Student Services Centre, where the event was taking place, and unfurled banners in the corridor saying “People’s Arms Embargo on Israel!” and “Cambridge University: Backing Growth, Burning Futures”.

They were protesting the presence of three companies: BlackRock (who, it later transpired, had not attended), Charles River Associates, and Baillie Gifford. Charles River Associates is an American consulting firm, while BlackRock and Baillie Gifford are investment companies.

“Cambridge is constantly taking students straight from University into working with arms companies, arms dealers, and arms financiers,” said one protester. “This is an arms financier careers fair. It’s saying, ‘Come and get a job in financing arms companies’.”

A security guard told the activists they had the right to protest but that the event must continue. C4P were given the option of speaking to the companies inside, but decided that remaining in the corridor would have more impact.

A long queue formed as attendees were unable to enter the building. Students were eventually let in via a side entrance, where they had to cross a picket manned by half the group.

The protester continued: “This is financing occupation and genocide, and we’re here to say we don’t want that on our campus. It’s all being held right next to the Disabled Student Centre. Israel is the number one disabler of children.”

This comes days after a ceasefire was reached between Hamas and Israel, with the IDF withdrawing forces from central areas of Gaza.

Most attendees crossed the picket line, but several expressed support for the cause. A delivery man blocked from entering the event shared that, while he believed in the need for a Free Palestine, he would have protested outside parliament rather than the careers fair.

In an Instagram post, C4P stated: “BlackRock is an investment company that has massive investments in Israel and in companies including Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and General Dynamics that make the weapons Israel uses to murder Palestinians.”

C4P opposes Charles River Associates due to its alleged work with fossil fuel companies and “strong ties to the Chief Economist of the Israel Competition Authority”. They accused Baillie Gifford of being “one of the top 50 European investors in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestine territories” and of financing defence companies.

Following the earlier demonstration, over 350 protesters assembled outside Anglia Ruskin University’s East Road campus at 5pm.

Led by a team of stewards, the march proceeded past Parker’s Piece and towards Trumpington Street, behind a banner declaring that “U.K. weapons are being used in the Gaza genocide”.

Meanwhile, signs held by those in the crowd insisted that “there is no both sides in genocide,” and called to “end the occupation”. Traffic was partially blocked in one direction as the march continued down the street.

On Trumpington Street, the assembled protesters stopped outside the University of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering. Here, a speaker accused the university of “teaching IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] soldiers,” and led chants of “hands off Palestine”.

Continuing onto King’s Parade, the procession stopped outside of King’s College porters’ lodge, and referred to the college’s decision in May to divest from arms companies, something that remains a key demand of the protesters to the University of Cambridge.

After over an hour of marching, the protest ended outside Great St Mary’s Church. Here, the crowd heard first from a visiting Palestinian scholar, who accused Israel of deliberately “targeting all the schools, all the universities,” of Gaza, saying that he hoped to tell the story “of all the people who weren’t able to tell their stories from under the rubble”.

Following the scholar’s speech, a moment of silence was held for those who have lost their lives in the war, before the day’s final speaker addressed the crowd. The final speaker criticised the University’s alleged involvement with Israel, claiming that “its walls are covered in the blood of young children who had hopes and dreams like us”.

Additionally, the speaker claimed that the University’s Department of Computer Science and Technology is “deeply intertwined” with Palantir, the company which has been accused by the United Nations of “profiting from genocide”.

The University of Cambridge has been contacted for comment.