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This morning, action takers sprayed the University of Cambridge’s historical Senate House in blood-red paint, in an act undertaken in collaboration with Palestine Action. The site, used for the University’s upcoming graduation ceremonies, now reflects the Palestinian bloodshed which soaks the University’s financial records, research output, and historical legacy.
This action marks the end of an entire academic year where the University of Cambridge has funded, enabled and normalised the ongoing Palestinian genocide. Cambridge University has failed to take any meaningful action against, or even release a statement opposing, UK/US-backed-Israeli atrocities in Palestine. The administration has repeatedly ignored student, staff, and alumni pleas for dialogue. The University has additionally refused to engage with escalating disruption which has been pursued in response to their silence, including the longstanding Cambridge University Encampment.
As one action taker said “Uni administration sit in ivory towers, and don’t bat an eyelid at their involvement in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The white pillars at Senate House prop up a legacy of white supremacy and colonialism, which continues to this day through investments in and partnerships with arms companies like Elbit. Cambridge’s graduation hall is stained with the blood of Palestinians and now these stains have been made visible.“
Senate House stands as the imperial heart of Cambridge and is the educational birthplace of its Zionist alumni, most infamously Arthur Balfour, author and signatory of the Balfour declaration. Balfour graduated from this very building, as did many others who actively aided the foundation and establishment of the modern-day apartheid state, and continue to support it today.
The University of Cambridge continues to actively invest in weapons companies and research partnerships enabling and normalising the UK/US-backed Palestinian genocide. “Defence” research and grants conceptualising the development of AI systems, drones, and surveillance technologies abused for the deliberate starvation and decimation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. As long as the University continues to support the brutal Zionist project, actions will escalate.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Information on the students’ demands, as reported in The Cambridge Student: https://www.thecambridgestudent.co.uk/opinion/1vmt90bkxbeexazv479767qi7by0mb-8sjkx-jbfkg
Palestine Action destroy Trinity College, Cambridge, portrait of Arthur Balfour: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/balfour-portrait-cambridge-college-slashed-spray-painted-activist
1,700 staff and alumni call on Cambridge University to negotiate with pro-Palestine activists: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240509-1700-staff-alumni-call-on-cambridge-uni-to-negotiate-with-pro-palestine-activists/