Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted an event organised by Barclays this afternoon, claiming that Cambridge University should not provide a platform for companies “complicit in genocide”. 

The protesters convened outside the University Student Services Centre, chanting outside, banging on windows, and condemning students as they left the event.

The group gathered on King’s Parade this afternoon, stating their intention to “march to the careers event now and tell them that these disgusting companies are not welcome on our campus.”

Protesters stated their aim to make attendees “extremely uncomfortable,” and were seen shouting at University security staff.

They went on ask “Are you uncomfortable in there?” as they blocked a side entrance to the building.

Students from Cambridge for Palestine (C4P), Jews for Justice, and Stop the War attended the event, following a joint Instagram post expressing a desire to “remind Barclay’s [that] genocide enablers are not welcome here”.

Protesters claimed that the University has given “6.1 billion in loans to companies that allow genocide”. They criticised the University for allowing Barclays to “advertise your bombings and massacres as careers,” and accused them of “cosying up to them and inviting them to a networking event”.

One student leaving the event told us the event organisers “tried to keep [the event] going”, but were unable to as a result of the noise from outside. He expressed his “disappointment” that the event was disrupted, and his regret that representatives from Barclays who had travelled from London were unable to deliver the material they had prepared.

This comes after pro-Palestinian activists occupied the Barclay’s branch in Cambridge earlier this year, calling for the bank to end its funding of the fossil fuel industry and its “investment” in Israel’s operations in Gaza.

A group of students leaving the building were verbally accosted by protesters, who called them “disgusting”. One student told Varsity that she had been shouted at as she exited the Student Services Centre, despite having been there for a lecture rather than the networking event.

Cambridge for Palestine previously set up an encampment on King’s Parade in May, claiming that they would stay on the site until the University divested from Israel.

The encampment was later disbanded after the University agreed to review their investments in arms with a student-led task force. The review is set to conclude by the end of Michaelmas term.

All relevant parties have been contacted for comment.