Elham Asaad Buaras
Cambridge University’s Student Union approved a motion on November 27 stating, “This house believes the international community has failed Palestine.” The motion passed overwhelmingly following a debate between pro‑Palestine and pro‑Israel speakers.
The motion was proposed by Palestinian journalist and campaigner Yara Eid. Opposing it was Israeli speaker and former army liaison Hen Mazzig.
This vote comes amid a wave of student activism at Cambridge and across the UK. In July, more than 180 sabbatical officers and student groups from 52 campuses addressed an open letter to National Union of Students (NUS), issuing this ultimatum: “An organisation that refuses to stand with students in the struggle for justice cannot claim to represent us.”
The letter described Israel’s assault on Gaza as “the systematic destruction of a people,” and condemned what it called the NUS’s refusal to acknowledge the crisis as genocide. It accused the union of “adopting a posture of neutrality that sanitises mass atrocities and shields the oppressor.”
Among its core demands, the letter demanded that the NUS “recognise the assault on Gaza as a ‘plausible genocide’,” call for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire,” and “condemn Israeli apartheid and occupation in line with international law.” It also called on the NUS to rescind its adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which signatories argued is being used to suppress Palestine‑solidarity activism on campuses.
The letter warned that if the NUS failed to meet these demands, student unions across the country were prepared to begin disaffiliation.
Following this letter and the mounting discontent among student bodies, Cambridge Student Union passed a motion in September to disaffiliate from the NUS, citing its perceived failure to support Palestinian students and campaigns. The union also criticised the NUS for offering “poor value for money,” noting the estimated annual fee of £20,000 ($26,000).
In addition, Cambridge University has taken steps to divest from companies involved in producing “controversial weapons,” following a year of pro‑Palestine student protests. This aligns with broader divestment moves for example, one of Cambridge’s major colleges, King’s College, Cambridge, recently announced it would divest from the arms industry and companies accused of complicity in occupation in Ukraine and Palestinian territories.
Feature photo: Palestinian journalist Yara Eid and pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig debate at Cambridge University, where Eid’s motion that “the international community has failed Palestine” passed. (Credit: WikiMedia)
