The University of Victoria in British Columbia says it has begun the process of removing the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, telling protesters they are trespassing on school property.
The school says in its latest encampment update that it has 含羞草研究社渢aken a calm, measured and reasoned approach含羞草研究社� to the protest since it was set up on May 1, but administrators 含羞草研究社渟ee no further prospect for a successful dialogue.含羞草研究社�
On its social media page, protesters naming themselves 含羞草研究社淧eople含羞草研究社檚 Park UVIC含羞草研究社� confirm the school has issued them a trespass notice, adding the administration has told them to 含羞草研究社渧acate by 8 a.m. Monday.含羞草研究社�
The group did not specify their plans while asking the public to 含羞草研究社渟tay tuned for updates from camp and plans going forward.含羞草研究社�
Protesters at the university have been demanding the school cut financial and academic ties with Israeli entities due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and the latest development comes about a week after Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C. launched legal action against protesters there for allegedly ignoring a deadline to leave their camp.
Vancouver Island University says it had issued its trespass notice to protesters on July 11.
University of Victoria says in its update that the school had been working toward 含羞草研究社渁 peaceful conclusion of the encampment含羞草研究社� since June through facilitated discussions with protesters.
含羞草研究社淯nfortunately, we have not successfully achieved agreement on the process and timeline for decampment,含羞草研究社� the school update says.含羞草研究社卟菅芯可鐫The university was disappointed to learn of this impasse through social media posts from People含羞草研究社檚 Park UVic.含羞草研究社�
The protest group says on its social media page that protesters 含羞草研究社渉ave negotiated in good faith含羞草研究社� but described the school含羞草研究社檚 last proposed resolution as having 含羞草研究社渘o concrete commitments含羞草研究社� and containing 含羞草研究社渋neffective policy含羞草研究社� that fails to address what they are calling a genocide in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The group also reposted a statement from July 19, saying it is 含羞草研究社渦nfortunately no surprise to once again witness our administration betraying the integrity of this process and emphasizing that these negotiations have been and always will be on their terms.含羞草研究社�
A camp at the University of British Columbia was vacated by protesters voluntarily on July 7.
The recent developments come after an Ontario court granted the University of Toronto an injunction on July 2 that ordered protesters there to dismantle their encampment on the grounds that it is a violation of the school含羞草研究社檚 property rights.
Legal experts have said the decision sets a powerful precedent and creates a road map for other schools to follow in seeking legal recourse in removing protest encampments on campus.
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