Tuesday, Oct. 13, students organized a vigil in the Sir Christopher Wren Building courtyard to mark three years since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and other militant groups in Southern Israel and Israel’s bombing and siege of the Gaza Strip. Students for Justice in Palestine, William and Mary Fighting for Immigrant Rights and Equity, the Muslim Students Association, the Middle Eastern Students Association and Wesley United Methodist Campus Ministry sponsored the event.
Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 attacks has killed more than 74,000 people, including thousands of children, according to Gaza health officials.
The vigil was held in conjunction with the National Students for Justice in Palestine’s annual Oct. 7 vigil and week of rage. Over 90 people attended the event, which included testimonies by those connected to victims, a moment of silence for victims in Palestine and of other Israeli attacks and interfaith prayers. Candles were lit during the gathering in remembrance of those killed by Israeli attacks.
Co-President of the College of William and Mary’s SJP chapter Aya Ezzahi ’27 opened the event by sharing the stories of several people killed in the Gaza Strip.
“Do not let these lives, or any of the other ones, be reduced to numbers,” Ezzahi said.
Ezzahi also shared Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s poem, “Think of Others.”
“As you think of others far away, think of yourself. Say, ‘If only I were a candle in the dark,’” she said.
MSA co-Presidents Safa Taraouat ’28 and Aleezay Malik ’27 shared their perspectives and prayers.
“We must remind ourselves that what is happening in Palestine is not normal and should never, and will never, be normal,” Taraouat said. “It is not normal to worry that every prayer could be [your] last, and it is not normal for us to watch a genocide happen right before our eyes with nothing but apathy.”
MSA then held a Janazah, or funeral, prayer for the deceased. Attendees of all faith traditions were invited to remember, grieve and honor the lives lost in the Gaza Strip.
The College’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter has co-hosted the vigil and helped organize prayers in previous years. JVP was not present at this year’s event and has been largely inactive over the past year, with its last event held in 2025.
SJP Vice President Maryam Elgindy ’28 was disappointed by JVP’s absence.
“We tried to include everyone by inviting attendees in during the prayers,” Elgindy said. “But I’m disappointed we weren’t able to include a Jewish prayer.”
Fellowship Chair Bryson Hetzel ’28 and Small Group Chair Turner Lott ’28 represented WCM. They shared a prayer written by Firas Abedrabbo from the Palestinian Roman Catholic Church of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
“Protect especially the children of Palestine,” Lott said. “Protect also the children of Israel, who are exposed not only to dangers from without but also to the even deeper dangers of fear, dehumanization and hatred from within. Open their hearts and enlighten their consciences.”
Hetzel said conversations of solidarity with Palestine do not belong to one religion or people group.
“This is not just a ‘Muslim’ problem or a ‘Jewish’ people’s problem,” he said. “It is everyone’s problem, and it includes Christians. Being Christian, we care about the injustices of the world.”
Several attendees reflected on the importance of vigils as spaces for community grief and remembrance.
Student Assembly President Nico Giro-Martin ’27 connected the vigil for Palestine with the J. Doe vigil hosted by Someone You Know and SA the previous week.
“In holding these moments where we’re allowed to come together, it’s like a retrospective that allows us to think together,” he said. “It allows us to sit in a space and recognize that a lot is happening. It can be worrisome, it can be tiring, but we’re all in it together.”
RJ Kloecker ’27 echoed a similar sentiment.
“One thing that really touched me is just being able to look around and see all the burning flames and realize that each one of those is a person who deeply and meaningfully cares about not only the people on this campus, but the people across the world.”
