Smaller group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathers on University of Tennessee campus

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have gathered on the University of Tennessee campus again tonight, voicing their demands that administrators take action to divorce the university from any relationships that support Israeli treatment of Palestinians.

University administrators have set time, place and manner restrictions on the demonstrations, designed to assure the uninterrupted function of the university. Time, place and manner restrictions routinely pass constitutional muster, and the university has created broad rules that reserve the favored space of the demonstrators outside the Student Union and stretch from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

The People’s School of Gaza demonstrators had prepared to break the rules, even if it meant some could be arrested. About 35 were ready to do so the might of May 10, but police did not move into their space on the Student Union lawn.

Here's what's happening tonight:

Crowd disperses at the deadline

9:55 p.m.: Group members are leaving the Student Union lawn. They have decided not to risk arrest tonight.

The group has moved to the main public sidewalk along Cumberland Avenue, which the university does not control with its restrictions on gatherings.

Some demonstrators are seated as 10 p.m. deadline approaches

9:46 p.m.: Five people are seated, four are sitting on the Student Union lawn.

They are singing and playing drums, but may leave if police arrive.

Recorded message warns demonstrators to leave

9:45 p.m.: The same recorded message as last night played on speakers.

It told the crowd to leave by 10 p.m. or face consequences.

Much smaller crowd is gathered

9:16 p.m.: Only about 20 demonstrators have come together on the Student Union lawn as the university's 10 p.m. deadline nears.

That's a much smaller group than the one assembled May 10, which rose to about 135 as the night went on.

There have been no arrests during the peaceful demonstrations since May 2, when nine people - seven students and two community members - were arrested.

Joyful start to the evening

7:08 p.m.: The loudest noise on the Student Union lawn in the early evening of May 11 was laughter.Demonstrators clad in keffiyeh gathered to learn about civil disobedience and share food donated by Yassin’s Falafel House.Hasan Atatrah told Knox News he expects a “chill” evening after demonstrators stayed three hours past the state’s 10 p.m. deadline.

Relationship between demonstrators and administrators

The group crafted and issued a mission statement this week that honed their demands, calling more broadly for the university's "divestment from weapons manufacturers and the corporations complicit in the continuous horrific Palestinian genocide."

UT administration officials have tried to engage with demonstrators in several ways, including sending people to the demonstration in the early days to explain the university's rules for ongoing protests. They also provided May 7 an explanation of their investments, sending a letter to Students for Justice in Palestine that it has no direct investment in companies in Israel, and that money for investments comes from donations, not tuition. UT said investments are made globally through third-party funds and it estimates 0.2% of the portfolio is invested in Israel-based companies.

Additionally, the university said it does not have any faculty-led study abroad programs to Israel, and its affiliate provider, the University Studies Abroad Consortium, has no plans to lead a program there next year.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: University of Tennessee pro-Palestinian protests continue into weekend