Cambridge open letter delivered: now for the next steps in our campaign for disclosure and divestment
Tuesday 14 May saw the delivery of our open letter to Pro Vice Chancellors Bhaskar Vira and Kamal Munir at Old Schools. A delegation of staff handed over a printed copy of the 2500-signature statement from members of the University, accompanied by a demonstration of around 100 students from the camp and supporters. You can read Varsity’s report here.
What happens next?
We urge signatories and supporters to continue pressing management to meet the demands of disclosure, divestment, reinvestment and protection. Email Vice-Chancellor Debbie Prentice and let her know your individual views: vco.enquiries@admin.cam.ac.uk
If you are a current member of staff or PhD student at the University you may wish to show your individual commitment to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions by signing this pledge: https://forms.gle/GkQwgyXHztDtjTC98
If you are in Cambridge, please come and show your solidarity with the camp on King’s Parade.
Join us at the Cambridge Assembly for Palestine on Thursday 23 May, 7-9pm, Wesley Methodist Church CB1 1LG to discuss how to continue and deepen the campaign. The Assembly aims to build on the previous campaigning successes and form effective strategies and actions for the future in Cambridge, in the pursuit of justice for the people of Palestine. Initiated by: Cambridge UCU, Cambridgeshire NEU, Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Cambridge Camp for Palestine, Cambridge Healthworkers for Palestine, Cambourne for Palestine, Cambridge Artists for Palestine, Cambridge Families for Palestine. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/qacNg24QtHkrDxFRA
About the open letter
The letter was created by a group of academic staff who have come together to support students’ demands and their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and protest over this issue. It can be read here: https://cambridgeunistaff4palestine.substack.com/p/open-letter-in-support-of-the-cambridge
Why did we create the open letter?
In response to the dire conditions in Gaza and especially in education: More than 34,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza since 7 October, 75% of whom are women and children. During the last 6 months of continuous bombardment, all Universities in Gaza have been destroyed and 90,000 university students cannot attend. The Israeli army has killed 95 university professors, along with hundreds of teachers and thousands of students.
Many of our colleagues and students are directly affected. Hundreds of family members of Cambridge University’s staff and students have been killed, injured, or displaced due to violence in Gaza, with many stranded in Rafah are at risk of further strikes. Unlike its response to the Ukraine invasion, the University has not condemned the violence affecting its community and has done little to support those impacted. Moreover, it continues dealings with arms companies implicated in attacks on educational institutions and the deaths of relatives of the Cambridge students and staff. This callous indifference from the University's leadership towards the wellbeing of its staff and students is unacceptable and must stop now.
The University has partnerships with arms companies including:
BAE Systems (an ‘Industry partner’ of the University’s Institute for Manufacturing) which manufactures parts of the F-35 stealth fighter jet used extensively by the Israeli military in waves of airstrikes against the civilian population of Gaza.
Rolls-Royce (a ‘Funding Partner’ of the University’s Institute for Manufacturing) which makes the “LiftSystem” fan propulsion system for the F-35 in Filton, Bristol.
Boeing (which has been engaged in collaboration with Cambridge for over 20 years) rushed GPS kits used to convert unguided bombs into ‘precision’ missiles to Israel in October 2023. According to Human Rights Watch, a similar JDAM guidance kit was used in an “unlawful attack on civilians” in a strike which killed Lebanese aid workers on 27 March 2024.
The University has refused to disclose the details of its investments in complicit arms companies. UCU and the Cambridge University Students Union have called for transparency by the University on its investments through the Cambridge University Endowment Fund (CUEF). The fund is made up of about £4 billion in net assets and collects investment from the central university, from 15 colleges and from 4 trusts, and then delegates the investment strategy to third-party fund managers. Another information request showed that the other main investment fund in Cambridge, that of Trinity College, has heavily invested in companies producing arms for the Israeli army like Caterpillar, or even directly invested in Elbit Industries which produces drones which have killed thousands of civilians in Gaza. A freedom of information request to the university endowment fund was rejected with the University’s response invoking claims of "trade secrecy" and "commercial interests" as reasons for not providing the information requested.
This is not the first time Cambridge staff and students have told the University that they are appalled by Israeli state crimes against the Palestinian people and the University’s complicity in them. Collectively, over forty student groups and over 3,000 members of the University community signed open letters in 2023, 2021 and 2018. It is the complete silence and inaction of the University that has forced students to take further action, joining an international student movement for freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people.
Students of all faiths and backgrounds are gathered together on campus in peaceful protest, sharing meals, prayers, and supporting each other. On Friday 10 May, the encampment issued open invitations for Juma’a prayers at the camp and for a Shabbat against genocide service (this includes Jewish prayers followed by Palestinian poetry and a communal meal, it is coordinated by the encampments in Edinburgh, Leeds, Warwick, SOAS and UCL with Cambridge). And they have a very reasonable and legitimate demand: that their University stop funding Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
The encampment has wide support from trade unions and the wider community in Cambridge. Cambridge UCU which represents over 1000 academic, research, academic-related and professional services staff as well as many PhD students, issued a joint solidarity statement with Oxford UCU supporting the encampment and its demands which can be read here: https://www.ucu.cam.ac.uk/joint-ucu-branch-statement-on-the-oxford-and-cambridge-palestine-solidarity-encampments/. The Cambridgeshire branch of the National Education Union representing thousands of teachers across the county has also passed a resolution in solidarity. The NEU is one of 19 other local organisations which have signed a statement in solidarity with the encampment, including Cambridge Stop The War Coalition, Cambridge City Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Cambridge Community Kitchen, Disabled People Against the Cuts Cambs and Essex, Cambridge Unite Community Branch and Cambridge Artists' Union