Student hijacks Cambridge graduation, accuses university of ‘genocide complicity’

A student graduating from Cambridge University was reportedly threatened with police action after she interrupted a formal ceremony on Saturday to accuse the institution of “complicity” in “genocide in Gaza.”

During the graduation ceremony, the student walked to the front of Senate House, held up a Palestinian flag in front of Cambridge graduands and their families and made a speech.

The student protested her own university's alleged "complicity" in the Gaza "genocide" (Photo: X)[Missing Credit]

Draped in full academic dress, she claimed: “Cambridge University is complicit in genocide in Gaza. Over 60,000 people have been killed by Israel in Gaza and Cambridge continues to invest in Israeli arms. There are no universities left in Gaza. Free Palestine.”

The student sat on the floor and raised the Palestinian flag amid a smattering of applause. University administrators approached her before clearing the hall. According to Cambridge student paper, Varsity, university staff threatened police action as the student remained seated in silence.

One student who spoke to the student paper accused the protester of “derailing” the ceremony. They said: “I’ve always been quite sympathetic to the pro-Palestinian cause, but this way of protesting feels unfair.

“Lots of families like mine have travelled a long way to see people graduate, and having this celebration derailed by a protest over something they have no role in feels wrong.”

The protest comes weeks after the High Court granted Cambridge an injunction to prevent protests on parts of its campus until July 26 to prohibit the disruption of graduation ceremonies.

The university won a four-month court order blocking Gaza demonstrations from certain areas of its campus until the end of July.

Last year, Gaza protests allegedly disrupted the graduations of more than 1,600 students.

The university had sought a five-year ban, but the judge granted a four-month order, citing a “strong probability” of further disruptive demonstrations. Under the injunction, protesters who interfere with graduations could be liable to criminal damages.

The injunction period will also cover the university’s end-of-year exams, which take place in May and June.

“I am satisfied that there is a compelling need for the granting of an injunction,” the judge said.

The University of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire Constabulary were approached for comment.