Braverman Braves the Encampment: A Spectacle of Bad-Faith Reporting
TCS reports on Suella Braverman’s visit to the encampment, and the ongoing misrepresentative media discourse.
Photo provided by Christopher Lorde
Suella Braverman visited the encampment outside of King’s College this morning to record a news segment with GB News. The encampment, which has a policy not to engage with ‘hostile’ media, refused to engage with both Braverman and reporters from GB News. This visit comes after the university agreed to enter negotiations with representatives of the encampment last night. These negotiations were due to take place in the afternoon of Thursday 16th May.
“I have come to the encampment today to listen to what the students have to say, and based on their refusal to engage I can only conclude they have nothing meaningful to offer” - Suella Braverman to TCS
TCS spoke to Braverman and asked for a comment on her visit. She said the following: “I have come to the encampment today to listen to what the students have to say, and based on their refusal to engage, I can only conclude they have nothing meaningful to offer”. This is not the first time Braverman has been at Cambridge; after all, the ex-Home Secretary was previously a Law student at Queens’ College. Braverman was a notable figure during her time at Cambridge, having been accused of buying votes from a student in an attempt to become chair of the Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA).
However, the simple fact is that there was no need for Braverman to come to the camp to ascertain what the students have to say; the ‘Cambridge for Palestine’ Instagram account has been carefully documenting the activities of the students. Just last week, participants protested against Peter Thiel speaking at the Union; Thiel is the founder of Palantir, which agreed to supply the Israeli Ministry of Defence with military technology. Such technologies include Artificial Intelligence software that is used to identify Palestinian ‘targets’. But the encampment also runs community events including tatreez workshops (a form of traditional Palestinian embroidery) and the performance of the Janazah prayer (Islamic funeral prayer). Despite all this information being publicly accessible, Braverman’s insistence on attempting to speak directly with the students arguably lies in something a lot more sinister, especially as she came in concert with GB News. Braverman has a history of mocking protests, for example when she described protestors of the government’s Public Order Bill as “Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati”.
GB News is known for its deeply controversial and biased depiction of ongoing news with a recent report from Ofcom highlighting that five programmes on GB News broke impartiality rules. Sensationalist coverage that panders to far-right ideological talking points is evident in their use of the subtitle ‘More Protest Madness’ to refer to other student protests. It should also be noted that GB News has chosen to come to Cambridge, when only two days ago, and much closer to their headquarters in London, they reported on university encampments at the London School of Economics. Conducting this news piece with Braverman at her previous site of study is a particularly inflammatory act and demonstrates an active attempt to incite confrontation - especially given that the encampment and its media team received no prior notice of Braverman’s visit. This raises questions over the intentions of Braverman’s visit, who surely would have reached out ahead of time if she wanted to engage in a meaningful conversation, as she claims.
Photo provided by Christopher Lorde
Photo provided by Christopher Lorde
Cambridge for Palestine “stated emphatically that they refuse to engage in any media coverage that is derailing the discourse around the encampment to focus on issues of freedom of speech”.
TCS spoke to a representative of Cambridge for Palestine about Braverman’s visit. They stated emphatically that they refuse to engage in any media coverage that is derailing the discourse around the encampment. From our perspective, this is logical, given that the encampment has been frequently accosted by bad-faith right-wing pundits under the cheap guise of ‘exercising free speech’. Furthermore, the encampment stated that it stands against attempts to use the movement “as a tool for an irrelevant person to gain any political relevance”. The coverage by GB News, and other media outlets, is misrepresenting the encampment and “this distracts from the core issue we stand against, which is the genocide of an entire population. Our university invests in said genocide,” stated the spokesperson.
Support for the encampment’s calls for the university to take action are not limited to the student body. Many faculty members and other staff have expressed their solidarity with the protest and called for the university to divest. Associate Professor at Magdalene College, Dr Ali Meghji, said: “As a professor working in postcolonial sociology, I am proud to see so many of our students realise that the topics we teach are not secluded to the classroom, and I believe that we - as a faculty - have no other option but to support these brave students as they stand up for what is right”.
The encampments have been and continue to be a site of careful reflection, education and hope, despite facing ongoing attempts from the likes of Braverman and GB News to delegitimise and vilify student activism. TCS spoke to Cambridge Jews for Justice on their involvement in the encampment in an interview last week. Coverage of this interview is forthcoming, but nonetheless the group stressed that they have felt nothing but safety regarding their Jewish identities within the encampment. Further, they stated that discourses around antisemitism are not being conducted in good faith and serve to present Jewish students as a “monolith”, which they unequivocally stand against.
As national newspapers attempt to paint the Cambridge encampment, and wider Palestinian activism, as a monolith, it is deeply important that journalistic coverage reflects the plurality of opinions, and does not simply serve as a spectacle. Suella Braverman’s visit to the Senate House sits in a larger context of bad-faith actors attempting to vilify student activism. The encampment’s refusal to engage should be understood within the larger realm of resistance. GB news have intentionally aggravated camps with a dogmatic, right wing stance working with Braverman to disrupt activists.
TCS unequivocally supports free speech, but we are also of the view that such notions do not inherently protect speakers from criticism of their views and ideas. It is clear, and has been clear since the beginning of this conflict, that there are many actors who wish to discredit pro-Palestinian activists via dishonest representations. It is sad to see right wing media attempt to discredit and mock students who are putting themselves at risk to speak for those who are being silenced.
“Nuance, respect and compassion are some of our greatest weapons - and those with the privilege of a voice ought to hold these values to heart.”
Those who wish for an end to the genocide have no need to warp the narrative; their efforts are instead focussed on the emotional weight required to process death exacted at an unprecedented scale. The media serves its greatest public good when it privileges honesty and does not shy away from publishing dissenting narratives. People such as Suella Braverman who throw inflammatory rhetoric into the furor of such tumultuous times should not be understood as good faith actors. Nuance, respect and compassion are some of our greatest weapons - and those with the privilege of a voice ought to hold these values to heart.
