Cambridge gets Gaza protest injunction for weekend, not five years

Pro-Palestine campaigners have claimed an “important victory” after the University of Cambridge failed to secure a five-year court injunction placing legal restrictions on some protests.

A judge did impose a temporary injunction on protestors from disrupting a graduation ceremony on 1 March, after complaints that repeated demonstrations had disrupted more than 1,500 students’ graduations in recent years.

Cambridge had hoped to obtain an injunction to prevent direct action linked to the Israel-Palestine conflict without its approval at its Senate House and Old Schools sites and the administrative Greenwich House building until February 2030.

But in a High Court hearing on 27 February, Mr Justice Fordham rejected the bid and warned that it was “a matter of significant concern” that the university had offered little time for potential interested parties to properly respond, according to reports.

The judge also highlighted that Cambridge had failed to tell the court about a number of graduation ceremonies that were allowed to occur.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and others, which had previously warned that the claim was an “all-out attack on freedom of expression and assembly”, said this decision should mark a “watershed” moment in defence of freedom of expression and the right to protest.

Ben Jamal, director of the PSC, said: “This is an important victory for freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, both of which should be cornerstones of university life.

“The University of Cambridge tried to single out Palestinian staff and students and those speaking up for international law, and subject them to draconian restrictions not applied to protestors on any other issue.

University lawyers told the court that the five-year injunction was needed given the “long-standing nature” of the Gaza conflict.

The judge said that he aimed to reconsider the case in the near future, according to a report. Another hearing is scheduled for the end of March.

But a spokesperson for the University and College Union said vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice should now “drop these cack-handed attempts at criminalising peaceful protest altogether”

A Cambridge spokesperson welcomed the decision to grant an interim injunction, claiming that this indicated such a restriction would not undermine freedom of speech. 

“The university is fully committed to supporting the right to protest and to freedom of speech within the law. There are many places that protests within the law can take place,” they said.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com