KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For around a week, groups of University of Tennessee students gathered with professors and community members near the Student Union for the "People's School for Gaza." UT said the group could continue gathering at its usual spot from 7 a.m. through 10 p.m. until May 11, subject to further notice from the university.
The group is not an official university-affiliated group, unlike the Students for Justice in Palestine. The SJP group previously hosted an event about the ongoing Israel-Gaza Crisis, bringing students together for a vigil to honor Palestinians killed in Gaza on May 1.
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. They lasted late into Thursday night near the Law School lawn. Police then arrested seven UT students and two people not affiliated with the university after they were told to leave.
The groups continued their gathering for days later, and they ended without arrests following warnings to leave from UT leaders. Organizers of the group said they invited guests to give seminars about Palestine and its history. On May 8, the group said it was "invited to take a field trip to HSS" for its meetings as severe weather was expected to sweep through most of East Tennessee.
On social media, the group said its meeting would be part of the "People's Assembly," a type of collective decision-making process that was first held on Tuesday.
UT said leaders shared time, place and manner restrictions with the People's School for Gaza group, and they could continue gathering at the Student Union Cumberland Plaza until May 11. The university's exam period lasts until May 15, and commencement ceremonies are set for between May 16 and May 19.
The full statement from UT is available below.
"The university is committed to recognizing individuals’ rights to free speech and free expression and providing a safe learning environment for all. We are committed to recognizing these rights within the bounds of law and policy, neutral of content.
University leadership has shared with the group that we have implemented time, place and manner restrictions under the university’s Policy Affirming Principles of Free Speech for Students and Faculty. We have communicated to the group that the area they have chosen to frequent over the past several days - the Student Union Cumberland Plaza - has been reserved for their free expression activity from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. through Saturday, May 11, subject to further notice from the university. We will communicate updated time, place and manner information to the group before the end of this period.
More details about time, place and manner restrictions are outlined on the university’s Free Speech at UT webpage, and in the Hilltopics Student Handbook. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has a helpful explanation of time, place and manner restrictions on university campuses in the context of current events.
Again, the university has an obligation to apply law and policy equally, regardless of viewpoint."
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 Monday that U.S. Army vessels and a U.S. Navy ship were part of an effort to build a floating platform to distribute aid to the Gaza Strip. The Pentagon said the effort would cost around $320 million, and a U.S. military official also said the American Army engineering unit teamed with an Israeli Defense Force engineering unit recently to practice installing parts of the platform, according to the Associated Press.
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.