Pro-Palestinian encampment dismantled at Vancouver Island University

A months-long pro-Palestinian encampment at Vancouver Island University has been dismantled following a court order, but protesters suggest more demonstrations could be on the way.

Protesters had until 9:30 a.m. Sunday to get off a grassy area in the university’s quad in Nanaimo, B.C. after the province’s Supreme Court granted the university an injunction last week.

In a video statement posted on the protesting group’s Instagram account, an unidentified protester said people in “hazmat suits” arrived when the injunction took effect and began dismantling the encampment, which has been in place for 110 days.

The court ordered that no further encampments be established within the same specific area for 150 days.

The protester in the video said as demonstrators “go on to other forms of protest, or perhaps a second encampment on a different patch of grass” they have to live with the knowledge that the university went to court to remove students rather than listen to their concerns.

The encampment was one of many that sprang up on campuses in both Canada and the United States in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with participants demanding universities cut financial and academic ties with firms and institutions linked to Israel.

The protester said in the video statement that the site of the encampment, near the university’s library and main cafeteria, had become a place of gathering for the community to raise awareness.

“It was a place to grieve together, to share cultures, to talk about what’s happening and to share ideas. We saw students, we saw families, we saw faculty, we saw employees of the university join us. It became a community space, as well as a form of protesting,” she said.

The university said in a statement Sunday that the encampment was dismantled with the help of a qualified security firm and that work to restore the quad ahead of the fall semester is underway.

The statement said all personal belongings from the encampment were documented and will be securely stored for participants to retrieve.

It acknowledged that “this situation has been both challenging and emotional for many” and promised a detailed update “in the coming days.”

The university previously said that while it respects the right to peaceful protest, the court order ensures the campus quad is returned to the community and “prevents any individual group from occupying a shared space for extended periods of time to promote a single perspective.”

Similar protest encampments in B.C. were vacated this summer at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.

Vancouver Island University launched legal action against the protesters there after issuing a trespass notice on July 11, which the university said was being ignored.

It went to court following an Ontario decision that granted the University of Toronto an injunction against an encampment on property-rights grounds.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which intervened in the B.C. case, argued that the court must consider the effects of an injunction on the protesters’ Charter rights, even if the encampment is on private property.

It issued a statement last week saying it was pleased the court found the measures initially sought by the university were “overly broad,” though the judge also found that the protesters’ Charter rights didn’t undermine the university’s property owner rights.

The association said it has become increasingly concerned with injunctions being used to restrict protest rights.