After 110 days of action, Canada’s last standing pro-Palestine encampment was dismantled at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Nanaimo campus.
The encampment was given until Sunday, Aug. 18 at 9:30 a.m. to vacate the grassy area of the campus quad located at the centre of the campus after the BC Supreme Court approved a 150-day injunction, ordering the removal of the encampment.
A letter to the community posted by VIU on Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. said that earlier in the day, with help from a qualified security firm, the encampment was dismantled in compliance with the BC Supreme Court’s injunction order.
In a statement from the VIU Palestine Solidary Encampment, posted during the takedown of the encampment, they state while they were fighting against genocide, “VIU was fighting in court saying the Charter doesn’t apply on university grounds.
A statement from the VIU Faculty and Employees for Students for Palestine Committee was also posted online on Aug.18, expressing their continuing support for the students at the Palestine Solidarity Encampment.
