Cambridge University students protest Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely visit

Cambridge University students protest Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely visit
University students said they have a 'moral duty to protest the loathsome politics' Hotovely represents.
2 min read
09 February, 2022
Cambridge University students gathered outside the Cambridge Union to protest a visit from Tzipi Hotovely [Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Society]

students protested against a visit by Israeli Ambassador to the UK at a Cambridge Union event on Tuesday.

The demonstration began at 4:15pm outside the union - the largest student society in Cambridge, where Hotovely gave a speech - and was led by students from the Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Society (PalSoc).

Hotovely is known for her strong opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and has dubbed the - which saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expelled from their native land during the creation of Israel - an "Arab lie".

The Cambridge PalSoc said in a written statement to that the demonstration against the ambassador's visit was "a massive success".

"[We] are rightfully enraged... [and] affirm that a visit from Tzipi Hotovely will never go unopposed. It is our moral duty to protest the loathsome politics she represents," the group said.

"[Her visit] amounts to... a normalisation of hatred and racism as well as a shameful disregard for the wellbeing of Palestinian students," the society added.

"[We] strong solidarity with Palestinians... whose history and very existence is repeatedly denied by Hotovely."

The protest was co-organised by a number of other student-led Palestinian societies, including London School of Economic's Palestinian society, who after protesting against Hotovely's visit to their campus last November.

Government ministers criticised the LSE student action and linked it to anti-semitism.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel , saying "antisemitism has no place in our universities".

Prior to the protest in Cambridge on Tuesday, the PalSoc stated a "zero-tolerance policy for any form of racism, discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or abuse" .

Cambridge University students have previously demonstrated against the presence of previous Israeli ambassadors at their events including Daniel Taub and Mark Regev in 2014 and 2016, respectively, according to PalSoc.