Pro-Palestinian protesters who have pitched their tents at the University of Cambridge have forced the institution to move its graduation ceremonies to an undisclosed “alternative location.” In a bizarre spectacle, the ancient university is acting like a secret society or an underground nightclub.
These special events (that is, the graduations, not the raves) have taken place at Senate House since the 18th century. But this tradition will be broken this week after activists said they would disrupt graduation ceremonies as a “last resort” because the University had not met their demands to cut ties with Israeli institutions.
Official willingness to accommodate this Occupy-style demonstration suggests a serious loss of nerve on the part of the institution—which one imagines could just about manage to stir itself to evict any illegal raves from its environs in future.
The dominant protesters have marked their territory by draping the Palestinian flag on the historic Senate House building. Meanwhile, activists at other universities across the country—and, indeed, across Europe—have also forced class cancellations and have clashed with the police.
A Cambridge university spokesman said:
We regret that due to the ongoing presence of protesters on Senate House lawn, we have taken the very difficult decision to make alternative arrangements for the Degree Congregations this weekend.
He added perfunctorily that “we are confident that ceremonies will be a memorable and enjoyable experience for students and their guests” which suggests that the protests are now being treated as an inevitable fact of life.
Criminally, activists used a ladder to break into the Senate House lawn earlier this week before setting up a camp. They say they will stay until their demands—that the university “commits to full disclosure and divestment from all ties to Israel and the British state”—are met.
A Cambridge official said they would be happy to discuss terms with the protesters, but to date had only received “anonymous emails”.
