Palestine Vigil Honors Those Killed in Israel-Hamas War
Credit: Sasha Tuddenham '24
On Nov. 15, Marist College’s Muslim Student Association (MSA), Marist Asian Alliance and International Student Association hosted a vigil for Palestine, honoring those who have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war.
“Growing up as a hijabi woman, I learned I need to fight for myself and for other people’s voices,” said Amira Aly ‘27, who is on the MSA social media committee. “I couldn’t let myself rot in my bed for any longer or wallow in the morning. Marist has a community even if it is never heard, and that community needed a chance to speak.”
On Oct. 7, Hamas launched rockets and missiles from Gaza into Israel and proceeded to invade on the ground. Israel has since retaliated by bombing Palestine and blockading its borders. Since the conflict's outbreak, more than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and 1,200 individuals have been killed in Israel.
Mahwish Khan ‘24, co-president of MSA and the vice president of the Marist Asian Alliance, is concerned by the misinformation spreading about the war. She hopes that the vigil will help students become more active in their news consumption.
“With everything going on, it would be disrespectful not to honor people who have passed and to not recognize their names beyond numbers and statistics,” said Khan.
Much of the information presented at the vigil was sourced from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the Palestinian government and the U.S. government. She believes gathering information directly from the source is key to helping students better understand the war.
For two weeks, the clubs collaborated to plan the vigil. They hosted the event in a small room in the Student Center to create an intimate feel. The walls were plastered with 147 photos of people killed in the West Bank and Gaza. Videos playing on a loop on the TV included a video of a doctor in Gaza who, despite repeated warnings, refused to evacuate because he did not want to abandon his patients. One of the tables held a stack of papers to represent the sheer number of those who have died.
After students had a chance to read the walls and information around the room, the co-president of the MSA, Sereen El Jamal ‘24, recited prayers for those who died.
“It is not just mourning the dead, but people are actively being murdered,” said El Jamal. “We set this up to make you feel uncomfortable enough to make you take action.”
They printed pamphlets to hand out to attendees about what they could do to help. El Jamal explained how they also served watermelon because, in Palestine, it is a symbol of resistance and persistence.
“I hope students feel uncomfortable and that it lingers with them the way it has lingered with us our whole lives,” said Aly. “We need action, and change comes from uncomfortability.”