Over 50 pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside Cambridge’s Greenwich House earlier today, as the building’s occupation enters its second day.

Student members of activist group Cambridge for Palestine (C4P) occupied the building yesterday evening (22/11) in response to the University “breaking” its agreements regarding an ongoing review of its arms investments.

The group is calling on Cambridge to condemn “genocide” in Palestine and collaborate with students on this review.

C4P has designated Greenwich House a “new liberated zone for Palestine”. At least five protesters were visible inside Greenwich House, which had been decorated with Palestinian and Lebanese flags. These flags were also flown from the building’s flagpole.

The group have made a series of demands following the occupation of the building, stating that Cambridge’s failure to comply “will only result in escalation”.

These demands include requesting the University to “publicly condemn the genocide of the Palestinian people,” and “carry out an aggregate analysis of its investments”.

In an Instagram post, C4P claimed that the University “invests in weapons manufacturing companies involved in genocide” and “takes part in research collaborations aimed at developing the weapons and AI systems used to oppress and ethnically cleanse Palestine”.

Greenwich House is an administrative building which houses many of the University’s main functions, including its estates, finance, and human resources divisions.

One speaker at the protest said: “That building has killed one child every half hour since 2023,” citing the child death toll in Gaza.

Another speaker said that protesters have “shut down the financial heart of the belly of the beast”. Three University security officers were present at the protest.

This is the group’s first major escalation since it agreed to dismantle its encampment in the summer, after Cambridge offered to review its investments in the defence industry.

The University has recently admitted to delays in this review, with deadlines being pushed from Michaelmas 2024 to the end of the academic year.

C4P is accusing Cambridge of “weaponising bureaucracy” to “weaken the demands” made by the group. Students claim that the University had pledged that six students and six academics nominated by C4P would be part of the review’s working group. But, university administrators have now “limited” this participation to only two students, the group says.

The group has also condemned the University for “erasing” Palestine from its review, after the report’s recently-published terms of reference included no direct mention of the conflict.

Cambridge has “stalled serious commitments while the genocide continues to escalate,” C4P has said.

One speaker said, regarding the University’s delays in its arms review, that it should “live up to [its] fucking word and tell us where our money is going”.

Jason Scott-Warren, an English academic and member of University Council, was in attendance at the Greenwich House protest. He told Varsity that it is “really good” that students are putting “pressure” on the University over its alleged ties to Israel.

Last week, professor Scott-Warren said that he is “concerned” that Cambridge “may be watering down undertakings made to students at the encampment”.

Speakers at the protest also condemned Trinity College’s policy on investments, following Varsity’s report that the College’s master claimed that Trinity has “no interest in divesting from arms companies”. One speaker described Professor Sally Davies’ comments as “unconscionable evil”.

Media reports in the summer had stated that Trinity planned to divest from arms. The college, Cambridge’s richest, holds shares in Elbit Systems, an arms company which produces 85% of the drones and land-based equipment used by the Israeli army.

Speakers at the protest also criticised Tilly Franklin, the University’s Chief Investment Officer.

Cambridge for Palestine’s first encampment was set up outside King’s College in May. Though students agreed to dismantle the camp in July, the group have held frequent protests against the University this term.

Greenwich House has previously been occupied by climate activists. In 2018, bailiffs forcibly removed student protesters from Zero Carbon Society after a court order ruled their occupation illegal.

The University of Cambridge and Trinity College have been contacted for comment.