A protest outside Guildhall unveiled a ‘tableau vivant’ to illustrate a little-known partnership with Israel signed by the UK during Rishi Sunak’s tenure as prime minister.
The purpose of the tableau is to call for the repudiation of the ‘2030 Roadmap for Britain-Israel bilateral relations’, an agreement signed by the Sunak government in March 2023 which, say the organisers of the protest, “few people know about”.
Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign tableau vivant, Guildhall, 11 July 2026. Picture: Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign
The tableau was the showpiece at Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s (CPSC) stall in Market Square. Protesters urged the Labour government, soon to be under new leadership, to abandon the roadmap.
“The expansion of settlements is not mentioned in the agreement,” said a CPSC spokesperson, “nor any of the other human rights abuses was known to have been committed at that time. Instead Israel is praised as a ‘likeminded partner’ committed to ‘democratic norms’ as ‘the mainstay for maintaining a rules-based international system and respect for universal human rights’ – words which ring rather hollow in July 2026.”
Gaza today
“Passers-by were interested in the visually striking display and numerous leaflets were handed out,” reported one of the campaigners.
The likely PM-in-waiting, Andy Burnham, this month apologised for Labour’s response to Israel’s military activities in Gaza, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better” under his leadership. Further sanctions and a ban on the trade of goods with illegal settlements could become policy.
Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner. Picture: Peter Nixon
Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner said: “The UK-Israel 2030 Roadmap was negotiated by the previous Conservative government in a very different context.
“The UK’s relationship with Israel, like all our international partnerships, should always be guided by international law and our commitment to achieving a just and lasting peace.”