The United Kingdom is famous for its ‘deep’ traditions, which it continues to maintain to this day in key pillars of the country. The kingdom, the government protocols and of course those of the Universities. So one of those traditions is expected to be broken this weekend. In particular, the tradition of Senate House, the building of the University of Cambridge that has hosted graduation ceremonies since the 18th century, is expected this weekend to not host the thousands of students who intend to graduate.

According to the decision and the Times newspaper report the ceremonies will take place “at an alternative location suitable for the occasion” without clarifying which one while describing the decision as “very difficult”. The university apparently succumbed to the pressure of dozens of students who have been demonstrating inside the university premises in favor of Palestine since the beginning of last week. Tents have been set up on the lawn by the group Cambridge for Palestine, while the group has stated that “we will not leave the temporary camp unless the university commits to divest and break all ties with Israel and the British state”.

What do divestments mean?

The demonstration in Cambridge is one of many that have been set up in the country’s universities, such as that of the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh. Of course, all of these are coordinated and reflect the intense demonstrations in American universities. But why do they take place? The main demand of the protesting students is the disinvestment of the universities by the State of Israel, in simple words, the severing of the ties of the institutions in any way from Israel. For example, the University of Edinburgh has created an investment fund, which has been supported by student fees. This fund, in order to survive, invests in stocks, bonds and other investment funds.

Among them, there are shares of the companies Amazon and Google. The university’s direct investments, according to the Financial Times report, are £2.8 million for Google and £4.9 million for Amazon. These two companies are accused of helping the Israeli government and its military through the ‘cloud’ services they offer. The protesters therefore argue that “the technology provided to the Israeli military is tantamount to weapons as it facilitates and enables the attack on Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank and by extension the genocide being committed in Gaza”.

One protester named ‘Fig and Olive’ even told the Financial Times that, “when I realized my tuition fees were blood money I couldn’t concentrate at university”. At the same time, a Cambridge student who spoke to the Times said that the protesters at the University of Cambridge were “demanding that the institution disclose all its research collaborations and financial ties with companies and institutions complicit in Israel’s genocide and withdraw from they”.

What are the next steps?

According to the protesters, Cambridge University has agreed to negotiate a divestment from Israel. In Edinburgh now where 12 students – out of 35 who have set up tents inside the site – are on hunger strike, the divestment campaign looks stronger.

It has so far the support of 600 staff and 97% of the students’ union, while this week the University of Edinburgh met for student welfare. In his official statement he said that “the loss of human life in Palestine is deeply painful and we understand the strength of feeling around it” but as he clarified “economic policy will be considered later in the month”.

Demonstrations at UK universities are more peaceful and tolerant than the violence seen on US campuses, but several Jewish students say they fear anti-Israel protests, concerns echoed by senior university administrators.