Cambridge To Fully Fund Palestinian Scholars, Students In Deal To End Occupation
Authored by Dominic Vogelbacher via The College Fix,
University of Cambridge leaders have agreed to a list of concessions to convince pro-Palestinian demonstrators to end a three-month-old encampment set up at a high-profile zone along the prestigious British institution, including a pledge to fully fund Palestinian scholars and students.
The student organization Cambridge for Palestine has occupied King’s Parade with a large encampment since May 6. King’s Parade is a highly touristic area with massive foot traffic in front of the historic King’s College gates and chapel, built in 1446. On the other side of the street is the Corpus Clock, one of Cambridge’s famous tourist attractions.
To end the occupation, the university recently committed to giving Palestinians undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, fully funded residential placements for visiting doctoral students and academics, clinical placements for med students, and grants for researchers from Palestinian regions.
“In addition, the Institute for Continuing Education has recently offered places to Palestinian students to attend the University of Cambridge’s International Summer Programme free of charge,” the university stated in its Aug. 1 announcement.
Cambridge also pledged to submit its full application next month to become a so-called University of Sanctuary.
“We share the horror of our students at the loss of life, and the appalling destruction of education institutions and infrastructure in Gaza,” the university stated.
“We are … committing our own networks and resources to ensure that these processes reflect the needs of the Palestinian people.”
The encampment included about 30 tents and pavilions, with large banners placed on King’s College and signs lining the sidewalk. The banners displayed slogans such as “Cambridge Jews For Justice in Palestine” and “Money for Education, Not War + Occupation.” Several posters featured lists of demands and community guidelines.
The community guidelines board included a no-tolerance policy for Islamophobia, ableism, transphobia, racism, and misogyny, as well as the slogan: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The sign also asserted that both Britain and Cambridge University are not simply complicit, but “knowing benefactors and partners in the genocide.”
The group initially stated it would not end the encampment until Cambridge agreed to divest all of its business ties with pro-Israel companies and invest in Palestinian students, academics, and causes — including becoming a University of Sanctuary.
The student activists argued in statements that some companies Cambridge invests in are “complicit in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” including Barclays, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Caterpillar, and Rolls Royce.
On June 8, over a month after the encampment was formed, the university created a Humanitarian Response Fund and allocated $128,000 in initial funding to help students affected by the “conflict or crisis.”
On Aug. 1, Cambridge University announced its concessions, noting campus leaders “have agreed to explore” the demands to change university policy, but the proposed actions are “contingent on the encampment closing down.”
The proposed actions include reviewing their “approach to responsible investment” and “academic and industry research ties and collaborations including those falling within the arms/defense category.”
Campus leaders have invited a proposed student task force to join the “working group” that will “make recommendations to subsequent meetings of… governance committees that oversee policies” that are relevant to the students’ demands.
In their Instagram response, Cambridge for Palestine stated while the university’s statement was a “long-overdue step toward building an academic institution that has no ties to genocide,” the commitments are “insufficient.”
The organization wants a “comprehensive disclosure and divestment effort” and is “appalled” that the word “genocide” was not used in the statement.
In the same post, Cambridge for Palestine stated the encampment on King’s Parade is slated to close sometime in mid-August. However, they are planning a “Concrete Camp Project” that will be a “permanent physical space for Palestinian liberation organizing in Cambridge.”
Cambridge for Palestine declined requests from The College Fix seeking comment.