The Tisch library roof was once again illuminated by burning candles last Thursday night, as students gathered for Tufts' second pro-peace vigil since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict took a violent turn last month. Approximately 80 students, including almost 20 from Brandeis University, took part in the event, mourning the victims of the violence in a show of support for peace in the Middle East.
"The kids that are killing and are being killed are our age, so they're sort of our peers," said sophomore and event organizer Zoe Hastings. "It's really important for American kids to stand together against violence. It's important for us to show our support for peace."
Always tense relations broke down in the region on Sept. 28 after hawkish Israeli politician Ariel Sharon visited Haram-as-Sharif, an Islamic and Jewish holy site in Jerusalem, known to the Jews as the Temple Mount. The Palestinian Authority is negotiating for control of the site and Palestinians interpreted Sharon's visit as a showing of Israeli resolve to maintain its sovereignty in the disputed territory. The violence began in Jerusalem, but has spread rapidly to the Gaza Strip and West Bank, bringing the death toll to over 140 men, women, and children.
With the names and ages of the victims laid out in front of them, students listened to speakers, took turns speaking themselves, and wrote down their own perspectives and feelings on the conflict.
Rabbi Jeffrey Summitt, director of Tufts Hillel, was the first to address the crowd, remarking on how fragile the idea of peace is for both Israelis and Palestinians, he encouraged students to speak with one another about the conflict. He also read from an article by Rabbi Alan Fram that talked of how the Jewish holiday of Sukkot is supposed to promote security, but was shattered this year when violence broke out.
"My wishes are for peace and strength for us all," Summitt concluded.
Rayd Ad-Ayash, a Palestinian Harvard student who had participated in the "Seeds of Peace" program, followed Summit. The "Seeds of Peace" program is a two-month summer camp designed to bring Arab and Israeli children together to create friendships and break down stereotypes.
"It is not enough for us to just wait and have our leaders get together for some crunched five-day period and come up with some document," he said. "That's not the way it should be working. Peace is a lot more difficult than we thought it was."
Other speakers included Arab Student Association President Dina Karam, and sociology Professor Paul Joseph, a member of the peace and justice studies department.
"What we need to do is rethink this whole peace process. There will be no peace without justice," Karam said. Joseph asked the crowd to consider their reasons for attending the event.
"We need to have the courage to look past the immediate cycles of violence and ask how will this end?" he said. After the speakers finished, the students joined hands and lit candles.
"Though sorrow lingers, we have learned that love is stronger than death," Hastings said. The candle lighting was followed by a universal Koranic prayer in Arabic based on the idea of following the true path of virtue so as to stay away from evil, as well as the last verses of the Mourner's Kaddish in Hebrew, which asks for peace for all the world.
"I came because children are dying," freshman Kristen Kamrath said. "The names of the children on the piece of paper in front of me were 16, 17, and 18 years old. I'm 18, and I'm not ready to die."
Daniel Fink, a freshman from Brandeis, commented on the vigil's diverse attendance. "I appreciate the fact that it wasn't pro-Palestine or pro-Israel. It was about peace intrinsically," he said. Though a slight argument broke out after the vigil, students quickly decided to continue discussion at a less solemn venue.
College students across the nation joined in similar vigils, including groups at Amherst, Yale, and Columbia. The University of Houston, Northwestern, Smith, and Mount Holyoke, among others, held similar vigils later in the week.
Sophomores Hastings and Laura Herszenhorn coordinated the event, which was sponsored by the Coalition for Social Justice and Nonviolence, Arab Society, Muslim Society, Friends of Israel, Seeds of Peace, Tufts Hillel, and the peace and justice studies department.
