By Briana Keenan and Aliyah Siddiqui
Staff Writer and Nation and World Editor
With the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, students around campus have experienced a shared sense of grief and pain. The College’s Chabad and Muslim Student Association (MSA) both hosted events on Oct. 12 to provide a safe space for students to discuss the events in the Middle East.
The College’s Chabad hosted an event called “Unite for Israel.” Members of the community were invited to pray, learn about available resources and hear perspectives from Jewish students.
“I felt sick to my stomach,” said Kivi Greenbaum, the College’s rabbi. “It was like my insides deep, deep down wanted to come out.”
“This is no accident,” said Kay Einstein, a freshman biomedical engineering major and member of Chabad.
When speaking to the community at the event, they mentioned that one of the Israelis that was kidnapped is an 85-year-old wheelchair-bound Holocaust survivor.
“Her family — while desperately holding out hope — does not believe she will survive,” Einstein said.
At the beginning of the event, representatives from the Dean of Students office and Campus Police discussed resources that are available to students should they need extra support during this time. Dean of Students Jordan Draper mentioned UWill and “Let’s Talk,” which are resources that offer 24/7 teletherapy counseling and peer group therapy sessions, respectively.
“I want you to look at Campus Police as a resource too…don’t hesitate to call,” said Chief of Police Timothy Grant.
Romy Zemer, co-president of Chabad and a junior nursing major, thanked everyone for their support and said the organization is a “safe space for everyone.”
“The story of Israel is complex, but the pain we feel is simple,” she said. “Our ability to come together in the face of adversity is something we, the Jewish people, have too much experience with.”
Benjamin Roytman, a sophomore accounting major and Shabbat coordinator for the Chabad, reinforced these sentiments and spoke about peace.
“We stand for peace, empathy and for a better future,” he said. “As a global community, we must strive to build bridges of understanding.”
In order to acknowledge the conflict, Rabbi Greenbaum had students read Jewish prayers and played a video for the attendees. The video was something he suggested turning to for advice, and it showed how the conflict between Israel and Palestine has lasted for a very long time.
“I think we’re all asking the same thing, ‘what can we do?’” Rabbi Greenbaum said. “The first thing we do is pray.”
Shoshana Frank, a junior psychology major, and Jacob Newman, a freshman undecided major, read prayers in Hebrew and English to commemorate those lost, injured and suffering in Israel.
“It gives a lot of comfort during times like this,” Frank said. “This is not a matter of religion, but Hamas is a terrorist group.”
Eitan Halevi, a sophomore biology major, said that he has a Palestinian friend and grew up knowing that they “shouldn’t” be friends. He said people need to challenge what they learn.
“The horrors of war are true for both sides,” Halevi said. “True peace is not the path for the weak…peace takes sacrifice and patience.”
A similar sentiment was echoed by the e-board of the MSA, which hosted a different type of event to reflect on the ongoing war: a Palestine Teach-In. The hopes for the event was to teach the campus community about the history of Palestine and to add context to the story that may not always be highlighted in the media: the story of Palestine’s colonization and occupation.
“We asked everyone in the beginning to come in with an open mind, an open heart and hear the history and then put your efforts into believing whatever you think is right,” said Shaheed Zaki, president of the MSA and senior marketing major.
“Our hope was to have a reliable source of information that would dispel any myths or misinformation in the media and also give [attendees] the education that is missing in our schools, our classrooms and our community regarding the history of Palestine and occupation,” another MSA e-board member who wished to remain anonymous added.
The event featured Dr. alma khasawnih, associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies. khasawnih started the teach-in by explaining how the presentation would be grounded in the fields she studied, such as critical cultural studies and Middle East studies, as well as her own experiences as a Palestinian and Arab. This background, she noted, made it particularly difficult to lead the teach-in.
“As I think about my personal story, it becomes really hard to do a teach-in about Palestine because it means that I need to. It means that there is something that is missing,” khasawnih said. “How do I talk about the necessity for my life? The fact that I deserve life or that all Palestinians deserve life when we are in a context that is so singular in its support, that uses language like human animals that need to be caged, where there is no access to water, electricity, fuel, basics, food. So I am in that context.”
khasawnih went on to discuss the attack that occurred on Oct. 7 and media coverage of the Israel-Gaza war, noting how the media portrays a “single story” that strips Palestinians of their humanity and often glosses over or ignores the injuries and death that Palestinians also endure. khasawnih shared statistics, an infographic and video regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict to give historical context to the current situation as well as demonstrate how Palestinians have been affected by occupation throughout the years, including how Gaza has been called an “open-air prison.”
Following the video, a discussion took place in which several students shared their experiences of coming from families whose nations had been colonized, noting the common struggles in advocating for their lands.
khasawnih also briefly described the history behind the creation of Israel, going back to World War I with the Sykes-Picot Agreement that partitioned the region including Palestine to make European colonies. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was written, which expressed British support for a “Jewish home in Palestine.” Jumping forward to 1947, the United Nations created a Partition Plan that divided Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with Jerusalem being under international rule. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence from Britain with 77% of the land. Here, khasawnih told the story of her mother and her aunt, who were five and three and a half at the time, and how her grandparents sent them to Damascus once occupation began.
“My grandparents shipped them, they sent them out to Damascus," khasawnih said. "My grandmother is from Damascus, and she sent her children to stay with her family there.”
khasawnih ended the teach-in with a spoken word poem by Rafeef Ziadah titled, “We teach life, sir.” Although performed in 2011, the poem struck a chord with those who attended the event, leaving many crying or holding back tears. Ziadah, who was serving as Palestinian media spokesperson during an Israeli war with Gaza, wrote the poem in response to a journalist who asked her, “Don’t you think it would all be fine if you just stopped teaching your children to hate?”
“We teach life, sir,” Ziadah said in the poem. “But today, my body was a TV’d massacre made to fit into sound-bites and word limits.”
Another part of Ziadah’s poem that was particularly striking when covering the event was the line in which Ziadah described how journalists spoke to her about covering the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“And just give us a story, a human story,” Ziadah said. “You see, this is not political.”
The reality, however, is that the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza is political. Due to this politicalization, many students who attended the Palestine Teach-In were apprehensive or unwilling to be interviewed, citing fears of being doxed or being personally attacked. These fears were further substantiated by the threats both groups experienced, necessitating security to be at both events.
Despite these threats, however, Chabad and MSA will continue to hold events regarding Israel and Palestine to educate and provide support to students. Continuing this conversation is critical to facilitating compassion and respect regarding such divisive issues.
