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MEDFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The pro-Palestinian encampment on the Tufts University campus in Medford was taken down Friday night.
Protestors have been demanding Tufts divest from companies that do business with Israel.
"We’re pleased that the encampment has been taken down and that the protest on the academic quad has been resolved peacefully and voluntarily," said Patrick Collins, Executive Director of Media Relations at Tufts University. "The protesters’ departure was not the result of an agreement with the university."
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On Tuesday, school officials issued a no trespass order after negotiation talks with students broke down.
Officials warned students they could face suspension or sanctions if they did not vacate the encampment. The administration also voiced safety concerns about outside demonstrators coming to Tufts and expanding the encampment.
In a statement on social media, the group Students for Justice in Palestine at Tufts said it was "deeply angered and disappointed to announce that negotiations with the tufts [sic] administration have failed. The administration offered our Gaza Solidarity Encampment a bad-faith deal that fails to end the university's complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The administration even refused to comply with our demand to extend amnesty to students involved in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and recent protests for divestment."
SJP Tufts said that the encampment's closure was not related to the negotiations, and "may elaborate on this at a further date as we need time to process and develop our approach to discussing this matter."
Similar encampments have taken place at colleges and universities around Massachusetts, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Last week, more than 200 people combined were arrested after police broke up encampments at Emerson College and Northeastern University.
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