AngusTheNerd

Students who have camped out for four weeks in protest against the war in Gaza have reached a "stalemate" with their university.

Between 30 and 40 students have been taking part in the encampment at the University of Exeter campus since 14 May.

The university sent an email to all students on 5 June saying it wanted to close the encampment - claiming protesters had "intimidated" open day visitors.

The protesters have denied any claims of intimidation and said the camp would remain in place.

The group has set out four main demands for the university - to cut any ties with Israeli companies, boycott Israeli universities, set up partnerships with Palestinian universities and safeguard freedom of speech for pro-Palestine supporters.

The university said in its email, which was seen by the BBC, there were no formal partnerships with Israeli universities and it did not invest in any firms that directly funded defence.

The university said it would help to reconstruct Palestinian higher education and it "safeguarded freedom of speech and expression" for everyone at the university.

Leia Baig, a third-year student who was born in Lebanon, said demonstrators had set up camp after "numerous attempts at engaging with the university administration and being met with inaction".

She refuted the claims of "intimidation" made by the university.

Ms Baig said: "It's absolutely not the case, you can see this worldwide, this misrepresentation of protesters, misrepresentation of students.

"We remain confident in our completely peaceful protest."

She said the university and protesters had now reached a "stalemate" in negotiations.

Protester Alex Almond-Colomer said the encampment would continue through the summer holidays.

Chris Kunzler, who is studying for an MA in Middle Eastern studies, said: "We would like the university to match how it claims it acts and markets itself as an institution which is helping build a better world.

"That's really what we want, the university to walk the walk of actually being an institution that respects human rights."

In the email to students the university said: "We experienced disruption and intimidation of guests during the Saturday Open Day that went beyond acceptable conduct for peaceful protest."

The email said senior leaders had met protesters "to address their escalating protest activities".

It said: "It was also made clear we cannot engage or enter into ‘negotiations’ with any group that undermines our community values and threatens to disrupt university activities.

"Assurances have been sought from the encampment that there will be no repeat of these behaviours, and they have been asked to leave their unauthorised encampment as soon as possible."

The email went on to say if the protesters "adhere to our university values and cease disruptive behaviour, then members of the senior team will continue to meet with them for discussions".

'Respect right to protest'

In a statement the university said: "We are unambiguous in our support for all colleagues and students at this time, including our commitment to protecting the right to debate openly and freely."

It said it was committed to "academic freedom, alongside our duty of care to our community".

The statement added: "We respect the right to protest, providing such protests are carried out safely, respectfully and within the law."

Two-thirds of Access for All money to go to Conservative seats as low-key Department for Transport announcement finds its way into constituency-level news stories and political PR across the country.

A controversial traffic reduction scheme could be scrapped. according to a council report which was later withdrawn.

The low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) scheme in Exeter closes off some through roads to car drivers.

A report from Devon County Council recommended the suspension of the scheme at a meeting on Monday.

But the report was swiftly removed from the website and the meeting postponed until June.

Devon County Council said the report was "incomplete" and it needed more time to gather all of the information from a public consultation into the scheme.

TL;DR: Original developer got planning permission in 2013 but never started construction and died during the pandemic. Another developer picked up the planning permission and made some major changes that the council refused permission for. Developer claims a coffee shop on the street "orchestrated" 130+ compaints to get it denied.

Cross-posted from archaeology@mander.xyz

Archaeologists in England have discovered several Roman ruins buried next to a cathedral in Exeter.

The structures, which were built between A.D. 50 and 75, include a street and wooden buildings that were once part of a Roman legionary fortress, according to a statement.

The construction itself was likely part of a "long barrack building," John Allan, a cathedral archaeologist with the University of Exeter, said in the statement.