KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Saturday, after weeks of gathering, the People's School for Gaza faces the last day that the University of Tennessee said it could gather at a plaza near the Student Union.
When People's School for Gaza began in early May, seven students and two people not affiliated with UT were arrested after the group was told to leave. It emerged after the Students for Justice in Palestine hosted a May 1 event about the ongoing Israel-Gaza Crisis, bringing students together for a vigil to honor Palestinians killed in Gaza.
During the event, they also demanded UT end its Israeli study abroad program and divest from Israel.
Following the vigil, groups began peacefully demonstrating for Palestine at UT. Some of the people who joined the demonstrations were not affiliated with the university. Those demonstrations lasted late into Thursday night near the Law School lawn when the initial arrests were made.
The group hosted study sessions and discussions about Palestinian history for weeks afterward. The university said they could only gather at the Student Union plaza until 10 p.m. each day, up until May 18 — a decision that drew the ire of organizers who criticized UT leadership as restricting free speech.
During its gatherings, the group brought out speakers and sat with community members to discuss the crisis and the historical events leading up to it. It also created new demands which included disclosing all of UT's financial ties, divesting from weapons manufacturers, and ensuring "no Palestinian exception to free speech."
On May 15, the owner of a restaurant that Reader's Digest said was the Nicest Place in America was arrested while participating in a "Nakba Day Vigil." He was also recognized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for community involvement and volunteer efforts. Around two days later, Yassin Terou said he complained about his treatment at the University of Tennessee Police Department.
He said when he was arrested, officers aggravated existing nerve damage which caused his arm to need a sling. He also said UTPD identified him as a person not affiliated with UT, despite previously having a webpage with the Department of Religious Studies on its Board of Visitors.
Yassin Terou was taken into custody alongside ten other people, three of them students. The group had gathered along with many other from the People's School for Gaza near the UT College of Law for the vigil. There, UT leaders told them to leave the area and said they were on unauthorized property. Around ten minutes after the warning, they were arrested and charged with trespassing.
In his mugshot, Terou smiled. He said he was happy to be "on the right side, in the right history."
The Nakba Day Vigil was organized by the People's School for Gaza to mourn the Nakba, a period of Palestinian history when communities were displaced and people were killed following World War II, as Israel was created. Terou, himself a refugee from Syria, previously said he wanted to act as a mediator in discussions about Israel and Palestine.
He also said he wanted to protect the First Amendment rights of students at UT and routinely showed up at the Peoples School for Gaza.
UT repeatedly said it is allowed to implement time, place and manner restrictions on demonstrations. It said the People's School for Gaza could use the plaza near the Student Union until 10 p.m. each day until May 18. The Nakba Day Vigil was organized across the street at the College of Law lawn.
The People's School of Gaza quickly organized a "Spontaneous Day of Care" after the arrests. It was held on May 17 and included a visit from a therapist, meant to help students heal after the arrests. After a therapy session, the group said UTPD approached the group and said they had a warrant for a person's arrest and asked the group to disperse. The group said they refused, and said the person was arrested.
Saturday marks the final day that UT planned to allow the group to use the plaza. On Saturday, organizers also shared information about a "March for the Students" in Market Square. It is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
Background on the Israel-Gaza Crisis
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Israeli officials said around 1,200 people died in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led raid in Southern Israel, and some 570 Israeli soldiers have reportedly been killed since.
The ongoing Israeli offensive has also been internationally condemned, and the International Court of Justice called for Israel to prevent death and destruction after South Africa filed allegations that the country committed genocide in Gaza.
Across the U.S., protests at college campuses have also flared to show support for Palestine. At several schools nationally, police and National Guard members were called to force the demonstrations to an end.
The Oct. 7 bombing followed decades of tension, during which time the Human Rights Watch said Gazans lived in an "open-air prison." Most of the tension centers around Palestine and Gaza, an area that was divided as part of the "Nakba" — a period of displacements in the region following World War II as Israel was created.
"It remains a deeply traumatic event in their collective memory and continues to shape their struggle for justice and for their right to return to their homes," the UN said about the Nakba.
Hamas was elected to power during the mid-2000s. The United Nations said in 2019 more than half of all people in Gaza were under 18 years old, indicating they were not able to vote for Hamas when Israel declared war.
The group launched the attack on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War — causing an initial death toll that was unseen since the 1973 war between Israel, Egypt and Syria. The day after the Oct. 7 bombing, Israel declared war against Hamas and started bombarding Gaza.
The Gaza Strip was home to millions of people. The UN said more than 70% of all housing units have been destroyed, and around 80% have been destroyed in the northern area. The UN said the entire Gazan population is facing a "severe food crisis," escalating the risk of famine and especially impacting vulnerable groups. A UN Special Rapporteur for food also said Israel "has mounted a starvation campaign."
It also said on April 30 that the region's health system was in jeopardy. Only five hospitals in northern Gaza were partially functional, and only six were operational in the southern part of the region.
It said around 86% of schools were damaged, and 72% would need at least major rehabilitation work. It also said around 1.7 million people were displaced across the Gaza Strip, with families having to move multiple times in search of safety.
Around 200 days since the start of the crisis, violence continued flaring across the region.
The UN also said Israeli settler violence was prevalent, and over two days there were 18 incidents involving Israeli settlers. It said armed settlers held Palestinian farmers at gunpoint, seized crops, and assaulted shepherds. In the Jordan Valley, the UN also said settlers entered and tore down Palestinian tents.
Since Oct. 7, Israel has cut off much access to food, water, medicine and electricity in Gaza. On May 7, Israeli forces took control of Gaza's Rafah border crossing, prompting fears of a full-scale invasion of the city after talks in Cairo of a cease-fire with Hamas without any clear agreement.
The Pentagon said a newly built U.S. pier on the Gaza Strip could lead to new deliveries of food and supplies. Trucks carrying aid rolled into the region on May 17, according to the Associated Press, and the shipment was the first in an operation that military leaders said could scale up to 150 truckloads a day.
Aid has been slow to get into Gaza, with backups of trucks waiting for Israeli inspections. The U.S. and other nations used air drops to send food into Gaza, and aid organizations said several hundred trucks of resources are needed per day to fully help the region. With the Rafah crossing captured, Israel gained full control over the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since it withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005.