Students Mourn Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Events included a candlelight vigil, an Israeli flag placing, and a pro-Palestine prayer service.

(Students attend a vigil for Israel in front of Washington Hall. Source- The Spectator)

Around 90 Washington and Lee and VMI students gathered in front of the Colonnade on Tuesday, October 10 to mourn the lives lost to Palestinian terrorist attacks the weekend before.

According to the Israeli military, Hamas militants have killed and kidnapped more than 1,300 people — including at least 27 Americans — over the last week. Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, have killed at least 1,900 people in Gaza since the conflict began.

As the humanitarian crisis in the Levant grows, world leaders and W&L students alike have recognized a need to support both Israeli and Palestinian victims.

Assembling at 7 PM on Tuesday in front of Washington Hall, student leaders of the W&L Hillel chapter offered a prayer for peace and expressed the anxiety they felt over Parents Weekend, unsure whether their distant friends and relatives were safe.

Fifteen minutes later, the vigil progressed to the Hillel House in silence. Along the way, each participant placed a candle around a tape cutout of the Star of David.

The service continued once everyone was inside. Switching between Hebrew and English, speakers read several more prayers, poems, and songs.

“Often, when bad things happen to the Jews, the world is silent. We’re not,” said event organizer Chuck Rutberg, ‘26.

Rutberg told The Spectator that the vigil’s turnout exceeded his expectations. “It was extremely moving to see roughly 5% of the student body…come out to support Israel,” he continued.

Attendees were also touched by Tuesday’s event.

“I was immensely moved by the power of all the prayers and the song. It brought back the importance of the pain and suffering going on in Israel,” Oriana Gutierrez, ‘24, told The Spectator.

On Wednesday, students reassembled to place 900 Israeli flags in rows across Stemmons Plaza. When Hillel had ordered flags on October 9, rising Israeli casualty rates had not yet exceeded that number.

(Students place 900 flags on Stemmons Plaza. Source- The Spectator)

All 900 flags were placed within an hour, at which point another memorial service began a few hundred yards away, in the Center for Global Learning (CGL).

Titled “A prayer for victims in Palestine,” the event was sponsored by the Student Association for International Learning (SAIL) and a group of Palestinian students. Around 40 students and faculty members attended the service.

(Students attend a prayer service for Palestinians. Source- The Spectator)

“The last few days have been tragic, so many lives lost,” began Mohammed Mourtaja, ’25, in a speech at the event. Mourtaja’s family lives in Palestine. “Me and other Palestinians on this campus have already lost friends, family members. The situation in Gaza cannot be described in words. But what I find most astonishing, and what I think all of us agree upon, is that we cannot dehumanize people. We cannot dehumanize Palestinians.”

“But for the past 16 years,” Mourtaja continued, “ Palestinians in Gaza have not been recognized for their suffering.”

Describing recent Israeli airstrikes on the Gazan side of the Egyptian border, Mourtaja told the crowd, “I want you all to know this: Israel on live TV is violating international law. No matter what you think, no matter what you believe, that is not acceptable.”

Mourtaja said that “the coverage of the US media in the last five days has been terrible, to the fact that they are literally calling for genocide of Palestinians.”

He also criticized the Iraq War, saying that “so many American lives were lost…in a war that was based on a lie. So many Iraqis also lost their lives.”

Returning to the present conflict, Mourtaja said, “I want to recognize the lives lost on both sides. My father taught me that when I see the number of people killed on screen, that’s not true, because their value is much more bigger. They have memories, stories: Israelis, but also Palestianians. Recognizing Palestinian lives is important.”

Mourtaja concluded, “Please, as we recognize the lost lives on the Israeli side, you must do the same for Palestinians who have been suffering of [sic] occupation since 1967.”

Gabby Kogan, ‘24, the president of W&L Hillel, attended the Palestinian prayer service.

“I appreciated the part about lost lives on both sides,” Kogan told The Spectator. “It appeared to be a little bit more political in nature, but like I told Mohammed after the service, I offered my condolences and hope that we can keep it civil on campus.”

Minutes after Kogan talked with The Spectator, a student (who refused to identify herself) approached Kogan and called her and two others “disgusting for what you said to Mohammed.”

The Spectator has not received any reports of further confrontation on campus, though several W&L Public Safety officers attended each activity.