Dozens of students, faculty and passersby gathered in front of Washington Mews on Monday afternoon to honor the thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians killed in Israel’s ongoing siege in the Gaza Strip and ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
Members of the NYU People’s Solidarity Coalition recited Palestinian poetry and read aloud the names of hundreds killed in the now yearlong war in Gaza for around five hours against a wall of flowers and banners reading “Honor the Martyrs of Palestine” and “Free Palestine, Arms Embargo Now.” In a Friday post on Instagram about the vigil, the group also called for the university to divest from companies and weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel, writing “may the cost of their greed haunt them.” In April, NYU said it will not consider divestment from Israel amid rising student and faculty demands.
Jasmine Khelil, a first-year graduate student and member of NYU PSC, said organizing the vigil across from Weinstein Hall and around several other university buildings was intended to raise awareness of the ongoing violence in the region.
“The most painful, tragic thing that NYU is not realizing is that these people have the same last names as us,” Khalil said in an interview with WSN. “So standing there, reading out names, knowing that they have hopes, they have dreams, they have aspirations just like we do — that makes it incredibly difficult.”
The vigil’s organizers told WSN a Department of Campus Safety vehicle had parked across the street for the duration of the demonstration, and that several New York City Police Department officers were stationed in an unmarked vehicle. They also said that several “Zionist aggressors” approached the group and heckled attendees.
“Campus Safety is not here for our protection,” Khalil said. “They are here for the protection of the university and its buildings and the protection of a Zionist administration.”
The Israeli military has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in the last year as part of its ongoing bombardment. Since the start of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, more than 3,500 people have died and 1 million have had to evacuate their homes. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a U.S.-backed cease-fire deal on Sunday, but Israel has not responded to the proposal.
In September, NYU PSC joined the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Arab Students Association to hold a vigil on campus in support of those killed in Palestine and Lebanon. Organizers displayed Palestinian and Lebanese flags, gave speeches and recited prayers under the arch. The demonstration saw over 40 people in attendance, some of whom joined after participating in a citywide march from Madison Square Garden to the United Nations headquarters in protest of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon.
A Ph.D. student and NYU PSC member at Monday’s vigil, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, said that speakers read out the names of martyrs, beginning with infants and progressing by age. After several hours, the student said that organizers were still reading the names of toddlers. They also noted that attendees could write the names and ages of martyrs on the ground behind the Washington Mews gates.
Lidia H., another graduate student and PSC member who requested partial anonymity, said she recognized some of the names read out loud, and that the vigil helped her feel recognized by the university community.
“They make me feel a little less invisible as an Arab student — as a human student,” she said in an interview with WSN. “It sometimes feels like it collapses time zones, that we’re in sync with the revolt. Palestine, Lebanon — they are not that far. We can create pockets of solidarity even on campus.”
Contact Liyana Illyas at [email protected].
