Written and distributed by the JCR Committee on the 2nd of February 2024.
On behalf of the JCR committee, we stand in solidarity with those affected by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The JCR committee shares a desire for an end to the violence, and our hearts go out to the Palestinian and Israeli lives caught up in the conflict. We deeply sympathise with those students personally connected with the ongoing crisis.
We will be running events this term that fundraise for Oxfam’s Gaza Crisis Appeal, an organisation helping to provide food, safe water, and hygiene products to civilians currently in makeshift shelters, and will be providing more aid and rebuilding services as soon as it becomes safe to do so. The Corpus community is a kind, understanding and empathetic one, so we hope to see you there in support of an important cause.
We would like to encourage students affected to reach out for support, and below are some resources available. The JCR welfare team including Leila (jcr-welfare1@corpus.cam.ac.uk), Brandon (jcr-welfare2@corpus.cam.ac.uk) and Neelakshi (jcr-welfare3@corpus.cam.ac.uk), as well as Ayesha (jcr-ethnicminorities@corpus.cam.ac.uk), and I (jm2453@cam.ac.uk), are here if at any point you would like to reach out.
Note that since this was written, the Welfare Officers, Ethnic Diversity Officer, and President have changed. The current persons in those roles can be found on the ‘Committee’ page under the ‘JCR Info’ header, and they welcome any person who wants to reach out for support.
Support resources:
Community Security Trust’s antisemitic incident reporting hotline - 0800 032 3263
CU ISoc - https://isoc.co.uk/welfare
CU JSoc - https://www.cujs.org/
CU Palestinian Society – https://cambridgepalsoc.weebly.com
Islamophobia Response Unit - https://www.theiru.org.uk/report-islamophobia/
Jewish Chaplaincy, Ben - ben@mychaplaincy.co.uk, Atira - atira@mychaplaincy.co.uk
Muslim Youth Helpline - 0808 808 2008
TellMAMA for reporting incidents of anti-Muslim hatred - 0800 456 1226
Union of Jewish Student’s welfare hotline - 020 7424 3288
More generally, there is the Cambridge City Council Racial Harassment Service (call on 01223 457967 or 07973 883 261)
More info on Oxfam’s Gaza Crisis Appeal
Our thoughts are with the affected families and communities,
With love,
The JCR committee