KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A gathering of University of Tennessee students, professors and community members will be allowed to continue using the Student Union Cumberland Plaza until May 18, according to the notices from UT.
Originally, UT said the "People's School for Gaza" could only use the plaza until May 11. On Friday, signs were displayed near the gathering spot saying UT extended the date to Saturday, May 18 — the school's official graduation day.
According to time, place and manner restrictions imposed by UT, the group can gather from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. UT said it was imposing the restrictions for three reasons, listed below.
- To provide equal access to campus resources for all
- To provide for ongoing continuity of campus operations
- To provide for the safety of our campus community
When People's School for Gaza began, seven students and two people not affiliated with UT were arrested after the group was told to leave. It began after the Students for Justice in Palestine hosted an event about the ongoing Israel-Gaza Crisis, bringing students together for a vigil to honor Palestinians killed in Gaza on May 1. 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. 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, effectively creating a daily study session focused on Palestine.
On social media, the group said it began holding "People's Assembly" gatherings, where attendees decided on their uniting principles — a list of core values that inform the goals of the group. Those goals were updated on Friday, identifying five actions they wanted to see UT take in relation to Israel and Palestine. Those new demands are listed below.
- UT must divest from, cut ties with, and end recruitment for weapons manufacturers who profit from killing innocent humans - our family members and children in Gaza.
Specifically, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, RTX(formerly Raytheon), and Boeing. - UT must disclose all university investments and financial ties. If UT believes it can wash its hands of its complicity in genocide by blaming a third party for investing in what is
"profitable," UT must end its relationship with that third party and must have more control of its investments. - UT permanently end its study abroad trips to Israel which deny students with Palestinian ID's (including dual US/Palestinian citizens) equal opportunity. People with Palestinian IDs are automatically deported from Israel because of their ethnicity and national origin.
- UT must divest from Israeli companies until the genocide, apartheid, and illegal and belligerent occupation end and Palestinian Independence is established.
- There should be no Palestinian exception to free speech. The right to free speech and assembly does not end at 10PM. UT must protect our right to free assembly and speech at all times of day and night. UT, Donde Plowman, and University Leaders care more about their investments, their ties to weapons manufacturers, and their profits than they do about their students and our right to protest a genocide. Free speech does not have a bedtime.
The gathering comes as tensions continue to flare across the U.S. during pro-Palestinian demonstrations at college campuses. Thousands have been arrested so far during those demonstrations, with violence breaking out at some.
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.