Gathering in grief and solidarity, the University of Rhode Island community held a vigil on Thursday, Sept. 26 for lives lost during the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
Over 80 students, faculty and alumni came together in the Multicultural Student Service Center’s Hardge Forum to not only recognize the loss of life, but to break the silence that they believe accompanies it, according to Lina Al Taan Al Hariri ‘24.
“This is not the ‘Hunger Games,’” Al Hariri said. “This is not your favorite show and you’re [not] supporting your favorite character and watching TikTok and scrolling — this is real life. This is a Palestinian soul that has been stolen every second, every day, and what [do] we do? We’re watching.”
Since the Israel-Hamas War began on Oct. 7, 2023, over 41,615 Palestinans have died, according to an update on Monday by the Al Jazeera Media Network . The conflict has also resulted in 1,139 Israeli deaths.
The university released a statement in response to the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 10, 2023 that condemned harassment, violence and discrimination in all forms.
Although URI has not released any additional statements about the specifics of the Israel-Palestine conflict, President Marc Parlange opened his State of the University address on Wednesday with an announcement about community wellness.
“I want to take a moment to acknowledge the very real pain that many members of [the] university community are experiencing through tragedies happening around the world,” Parlange said.
Warren Schwartz, a counseling center staff member who spoke at the vigil, said that these statements were “very vague.”
This perceived ambiguity impacts students of Middle Eastern descent, according to Schwartz.
“It’s not just trauma that causes psychological suffering, it’s the response to trauma that compounds suffering immensely,” Schwartz said. “Pretend[ing] it didn’t happen makes the trauma a whole lot worse.”
The degree of recognition at a university level was a theme throughout the vigil as students, in addition to MSSC Director Jean Nsabumuremyi, urged Parlange to formally acknowledge the conflict’s Palestinian perspective.
“We can’t be silent or express support vaguely in the face of mass murder and injustice,” Schwartz said.
A variety of student organizations created the Students for Palestine vigil, including the Muslim Student Association, the South Asian Student Association, the Middle Eastern Student Association and the Young Democratic Socialists of America at URI.
Fourth-year student senate Vice President Sanah Feroz, who spearheaded the vigil, reflected on the 2023-2024 academic year in terms of student action and administrative response.
Feroz attended a ceasefire rally as a member of the SASA on Dec. 1, 2023 that was hosted by the MSA. Rally attendees demanded a second statement from Parlange and commitment from the university to boycott products that fund Israel’s economy, according to an Instagram post by the MSA.
Although the rally created a platform for students to address concerns, it did not bring about the institutional change they campaigned for, according to Feroz.
“It feels dystopian,” Feroz said. “I’m here again talking about the same thing, and the circumstances haven’t changed.”
Throughout her speech, Feroz motioned to a three-panel poster with the words “we are more than just numbers” written in red paint on top of printed out lists. The poster enumerated the names, birthdays and death dates of Palestinians killed between Oct. 7, 2023 and Oct. 21, 2023. Feroz said that she kept needing to expand the poster to fit all of the names. Propped up on a table, the lists touched the floor.
“Put yourself in the shoes of someone who has lost everyone, every dream you could possibly think of, every item in their home or in their bedroom, every comfort and every humanitarian right,” Feroz said.
In addition to being a mechanism of change, the vigil was a way to bring communities together, according to fourth-year Argha Goswami, URI’s student body president.
“We’ve been talking, we’ve been shouting, we’ve been resisting and yet the bombs keep falling, the homes keep crumbling and our feeds are filled with images of children lifeless [and] buried in the rubble, and it feels relentless,” Goswami said. “But that is exactly why we are here tonight, to remind ourselves that we cannot stop.”
The MSA is hosting a variety of charity activities throughout the week of Oct. 21. For information about future events, visit the MSA’s Instagram @uri.msa .