Pro-Palestine encampment occupies Cambridge’s Trinity College Lawn

Trinity College has become the latest site of student-led pro-Palestine protest, with activists setting up an encampment on its front lawn in central Cambridge, in opposition to the college’s alleged financial ties to companies supplying arms to Israel.

The camp was established on Friday (30th May), with tents and gazebos pitched on the grass beside Trinity’s main entrance on Trinity Street. The protest forms part of a broader movement demanding that UK universities disclose and divest from any investments connected to the Israeli military.

On Saturday (31 May), more people gathered outside the encampment for a rally organised by student and activist groups. The event featured speeches, chants, and calls for greater accountability from the university and its constituent colleges.

Demonstrators accused Trinity of failing to follow through on past commitments to divest from arms companies. Many held placards calling for divestment, and the crowd regularly broke into chants expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Trinity has previously been at the centre of debates over ethical investment. In 2024, the college’s governing body reportedly voted to withdraw funds from arms manufacturers linked to Israel. However, later statements from the college’s master suggested a reversal or at least ambiguity over the college’s actual investment stance.

This perceived backtracking has fuelled frustration among activists, who say the college is profiting from violence while ignoring student concerns. They also point to the scale of Trinity’s wealth, as the richest college in Cambridge, and the influence it holds through its substantial land and financial assets.

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The Trinity encampment echoes similar actions across the UK and internationally, where students have established protest camps on campuses to push for institutional divestment from companies associated with the Israeli state or military.

This latest action adds to growing pressure on the University of Cambridge to clarify its investments and ethical policies. The lawn outside Trinity has now become a visible and highly symbolic stage for one of the largest student-led campaigns of the year.