Three sabbatical officers from Cambridge Students’ Union (SU) have signed a statement condemning Israel’s attack on Birzeit University in the West Bank last Tuesday (06/01).

The statement was signed by 73 students’ union officers from across the UK. In Cambridge, this included Postgraduate President Augustin Denis, Vice-President (Student Community and Societies) Olivia Ledger, and Vice-President (Liberation and Welfare) Melanie Benedict.

On Friday (09/01), the City and Community Officer of Manchester University’s students’ union, Eliott Briffa, posted the statement to Instagram, in collaboration with several pro-Palestine organisations.

According to Al Jazeera, dozens of people were injured at Birzeit University, one of Palestine’s most prestigious higher education institutions, after the Israeli army opened fire with live rounds, sound grenades, and tear gas.

The attack followed a solidarity event for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, and coincided with a screening of Hind Rajab, a film about a six-year-old girl killed during an Israeli assault on Gaza.

Addressing the storming of the University, the statement opens: “This is the price that Palestinians pay for daring to seek an education.”

The officers also express their “unequivocal solidarity with the students and teachers of Palestine as they continue to resist the onslaught of Israeli occupation”.

They further add: “Israel’s longstanding genocide of the Palestinian people is a stain on all humanity and we remain outraged at the long, deep and well-documented links between Universities in the UK and the Israeli occupation and oppression of Palestine.

“We call on all Universities to see this not just as a horrific attack on the Palestinian people but also an attack on the concept of academic freedom that they claim to hold so dearly, and to sever all ties between their institutions and Israel and all organisations that seek to support or justify the many crimes and atrocities of the Israeli state.”

The Israeli army has claimed it was targeting a “gathering in support of terrorism” and that, while it initially only fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, it later opened fire on “central violent instigators,” who were throwing rocks at soldiers from a roof.

A Birzeit University spokesperson said the attack “constitutes a flagrant and deliberate violation of the sanctity of universities and educational institutions”.

“Storming the campus in broad daylight and transforming it into a military zone reflects a systematic policy aimed at intimidating students, undermining their right to education, and targeting Palestinian consciousness,” they claimed.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Education has accused Israel of violating international norms and said that the attack will not “break the will of Palestinian students or staff”.

A spokesperson for the SU said: “The letter was written by sabbatical officers at Manchester SU and shared with our team, who signed it alongside 70 sabbatical officers nationwide. We signed it due to our belief in the right to education, and the right to freedom from violence and persecution, of Palestinian students, and due to our pre-existing relationships with the Right 2 Education Campaign at Birzeit University and Friends of Palestinian Universities (formerly Friends of Birzeit University).”

The University of Cambridge was contacted for comment.