Radio Islam<\/em><\/strong> about what has unfolded since the group established an encampment at Trinity College just a few weeks ago. \u201cA few days later, we were served an interim injunction by Trinity stating that we were illegally on their land, and they hired a private company that started erecting fences around the encampment while the protesters were sleeping,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nStudents were forced to wake up quickly and leave the site before it was completely sealed off. \u201cThankfully, everyone was safe, and we managed to get out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Shortly after, the group moved to Saint John\u2019s College, which they say has around \u00a33.2 million invested in companies contributing to \u201cthe ongoing genocide.\u201d Once again, the response was swift: \u201cThey served an interim injunction and started fencing the areas to shut us down.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mahmoud and others, the irony is painful. \u201cInstead of the colleges looking inwards and seeing their complicity\u2026 they put effort into erasing any semblance of Palestine that reminds the students that there is a genocide going on. All while claiming to educate the next generation of leaders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked if the university\u2019s approach changed after the relaunch of the encampments, Mahmoud says the institutions have responded with \u201ccopy-paste\u201d tactics. \u201cThis year, they are handing out interim injunctions. It is a step up from what they did before, where they were a little more tolerant,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
While universities in Gaza are being wiped out by war, Cambridge students say they will not be silenced. \u201cEvery university has been destroyed in Gaza. For two years now, the kids have not been learning. Teachers and students alike are being bombarded with bombs and starved to death. So it does not matter what response the university throws at us. If it is not by encampments, then it will be by other means. We will not stop!\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
The motivation for continuing is deeply personal and profoundly human. \u201cWe see death on our screens in horrible fashions\u2026 children, mothers, dads, in schools and hospitals. We know for a fact that our institute is complicit in investing millions of pounds. It is a moral obligation. It is a moral responsibility,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
Mahmoud explained that the injunctions set a dangerous precedent. \u201cThey are anti\u2013freedom of speech. The university is supposed to be a beacon of free speech. Doing these injunctions sets a legal precedent to police student speech,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He emphasised that Cambridge needs to shed its prestige and look inwards. \u201cIf you are trying to teach people about human justice, international law, and criminal actions and then at the same time tell them they cannot speak \u2013 that contradicts the whole message,\u201d said Mahmoud.<\/p>\n
The presence of police has added to the emotional weight of the protests. \u201cPolice were probably requested by the college to inform us that we might be arrested. It feels destabilising. We are young. We want good careers and to make a significant impact on the world. It is scary when someone says you could be arrested \u2013 that will stay on your record. But it pales in comparison to what Gazans are facing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Among the companies Cambridge for Palestine is demanding the university divest from are Elbit Systems, BAE Systems, and Caterpillar. Mahmoud describes the link as \u201cnot far away\u201d or complicated. \u201cIt is a very direct link. Elbit Systems is headquartered in Haifa, Israel. They are known to manufacture bombs and drones that literally kill civilians right now as we speak,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s demands are straightforward: full disclosure of financial ties to the conflict, divestment from complicit companies, protection of protest rights, and reinvestment into initiatives that support Palestinian refugees and education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe university has largely stonewalled us. There is endless bureaucracy. A war of attrition,\u201d said Mahmoud. However, some results have been achieved. King\u2019s College has announced it is divesting, although the trust remains cautious due to Trinity\u2019s backtracking on a similar promise. \u201cWe persist. We insist on still raising the Palestinian flag. We still demand answers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Mahmoud, while institutional resistance remains firm, support from faculty and the wider student body has been heart-warming. \u201cStudents and faculty have been helpful. Many lecturers come to our encampments. They sign letters in support. The Student Union voted last year to stand with us. It does contrast with the university’s response,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The solidarity stretches beyond Cambridge. \u201cWe learn from each other globally. Some campuses are stress-free, others face violent repression. We support one another, sign letters, and amplify each other\u2019s voices. This is about Gaza, about freedom for Palestine,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
In the face of surveillance, legal threats and the fear of arrest, C4P\u2019s message echoes loud and clear: \u201cIt no longer becomes about us. It becomes about what is happening in Gaza \u2013 and why our university is still helping in this ongoing starvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
LISTEN<\/strong> to the full interview with Muallimah Annisa Essack and C4P Spokesperson, Mahmoud, here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za 12 June 2025 | 13:30 CAT 3 min read At the historic University of Cambridge in England, students have turned protest into purpose, setting up encampments again to call for the divestment of college funds from companies allegedly complicit in Israel\u2019s military actions in Gaza. Cambridge for Palestine (C4P) began as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":98385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/c4p5.png?fit=745%2C505&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pAQ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 16:01:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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