KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Thursday, a group of people appeared in court for the first time after they were arrested and charged with trespassing while at a Nakba Day Vigil on the University of Tennessee's campus.
Yassin Terou, the owner of a falafel restaurant and a community leader, was among them. He gathered with three UT students and two others who were arrested. The group was arrested after university leaders said the College of Law lawn was an unauthorized spot for the group and gave them ten minutes to leave.
Some members of the group moved onto the sidewalk and avoided charges. Others stayed on the lawn to mourn the Palestinian lives and communities lost during the Nakba — a period of Palestinian history that uplifted swaths of people while Israel was created.
It was organized by the People's School for Gaza, which organized regular gatherings of students and community members to discuss Palestinian history and the ongoing Israel-Gaza Crisis. UT said the group could use a plaza near the Student Union until 10 p.m. each day through May 18, emphasizing that it could impose time, place and manner restrictions on demonstrations.
"I was not expecting any court experience. I am a student at UTK, and I thought being part of a contract that I signed to be a student, that I would be held to the same standards that they asked me to be held to," said Kevin Dennis, one of the students who appeared in court.
Terou previously said he hired an attorney and filed a complaint with the University of Tennessee Police Department about his arrest. He said the arrest aggravated existing nerve damage in his arm, causing him to go to the hospital. He also said UTPD identified him as not being affiliated with the university, despite Terou being listed as a member of the Board of Visitors on a Department of Religious Studies webpage.
Terou's preliminary hearing for the trespassing charge was set for June 24 after his Thursday court appearance.
Layla Soliz was also charged and appeared in court on Thursday after she was arrested for trespassing, along with her husband. She also said her religious rights were violated while in custody after she said a photo of her without her hijab was taken and posted to the Knox County Sheriff's Office's inmate database.
Her preliminary hearing for the trespassing charge was also set for June 24.
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 there were several attacks by Israeli settler groups against aid convoys heading for Gaza. It said the vehicles were reported set on fire on the evening of May 17.
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.
However, 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.
The UN also said on May 21 that it would suspend food distribution in Rafah due to a lack of supplies and an untenable security situation due to Israel's expanding military operations. It also warned that humanitarian operations across the region were nearing collapse.