Students for Justice in Palestine-Madison (SJP) and Palestine Solidarity Committee at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (PSCU) hosted a candlelight vigil for Palestinian victims killed in Gaza on Oct. 7 while UW Hillel organized a quiet reflection on the third floor of its building.
The campus events commemorate three years passing since Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians launched an ongoing conflict between Gaza and Israel which is now characterized by a United Nations independent commission as a genocide.
Mac, a leader in SJP, said the Gaza vigil was hosted to honor Palestinian victims and provide a space for students to come together and remember all who have been lost.
“It’s very heartening to see so many people here and so many people willing to say this isn’t right. We are going to come together, do what we can to end what role we and our university have in Israel’s campaign,” Mac told The Daily Cardinal.
UW Hillel said in a statement to the Cardinal that Oct. 7, 2023 was “the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, which remains a source of grief and fear for many Jewish students.”
To commemorate the day, they hosted an exhibit of banners within their building “honoring victims of the October 7th massacre, giving students a quiet space to reflect and remember those lost as individuals” along with a ‘Recipe of Memory’ event, “where students cooked a favorite meal of someone who had died and shared it together.”
During the Gaza vigil, over 75 students held candles around a banner with the names of over 65,000 Palestinian victims. A few people brought signs, and one participant flew a Palestinian flag. The vigil opened with student leaders from SJP and PSCU reading out their names and stories of the dead and holding a moment of silence.
Among many, they honored Hidaya Hamad, director of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) youth and volunteers department and Said Al Zebda, president of the University College of Applied Sciences.
After the moment of silence, Adam Donahue, one of the lead organizers with SJP, read remarks from one of SJP’s writers. The statement included a brief overview of SJP’s mission and a call to action to continue advocating for Palestinian rights.
“Don’t let them tell you that you are too small, or too distant or too helpless, that you are unable to act,” Donahue said.
The vigil ended with Donahue reading a poem titled “I Grant You Refuge” by Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli airstrike in Oct. 2023.
Freshman Claire O’Hern-Maidak told the Cardinal she came to the vigil to be in a space that commemorated and uplifted Palestinian victims.
“The genocide that’s going on in Palestine is just disgusting and horrifying, and it is so sad that people sit down and ignore it,” O’Hern-Maidak said.
Donahue referenced Associated Students of Madison’s (ASM) March divestment resolution supported by SJP which was denounced by the university, saying SJP continues to engage in advocacy work.
“We are continuing to organize and build pressure, by maybe getting other UW schools to get divestment resolutions,” Donahue said.
SJP is also currently working on organizing a student referendum on this year’s ASM ballot which would reinforce last semester’s resolution, according to Donahue.
