On Oct. 7 at 7 p.m., students, faculty, community members, and religious leaders gathered in front of Geisel Library for a vigil in honor of the lives claimed by Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. At least 200 individuals were in attendance.
UC San Diego’s student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine, promoted the information for the vigil on their social media. “There is no back to school in Gaza,” digital flyers for the event read.
The vigil began with chants led by an unidentified speaker.
“We will honor all our martyrs. All our children, sons, and daughters,” the speaker started. The crowd repeated the chant.
Seven speakers from various organizations spoke at the vigil. Between each speaker, a single anonymous individual read the names of Palestinian infants, all less than one year old, who have been killed by Israeli attacks since Oct. 7. More than 300 names were listed. The speaker noted that the names read filled just five out of the 500 page list of children who have been killed.
“Oct. 7, 2023, has changed the lives of millions of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims globally. … We deserve the right to mourn this day,” the first speaker stated. “We’ve seen Palestinian bodies in plastic bags, we’ve seen Palestinians burning to death. … Israel’s massacres don’t leave people intact.”
Several student and community organizations were present in support. These included UCSD’s Palestine Solidarity Committee, Jewish Voices for Peace at UCSD, the Muslim Student Association at UCSD, and Healthcare Workers for Palestine San Diego. Multiple members of administration and Allied Universal security patrolled the area.
“This has been one year of never-ending grief and 76 years of never-ending struggle. Grief is not exclusionary. … It belongs to every single human on Earth. Palestinian grief should never be sidelined. We mourn for the dead, and we fight like hell for the living,” a representative from JVP stated.
“We call on students to reflect on how our tuition dollars are funding this genocide, how our Chancellor ignores this genocide for his own financial gain,” they continued. “To swear to yourselves and to each other that you will never stop fighting for liberation, because none of us are free until we all are.”
The majority of attendees abided by the vigil’s advertised masking requirement, despite a new anti-masking protest policy established on Aug. 19 by the University of California Office of the President. Spare masks were handed out by individuals in attendance.
“They’re actively doing things to suppress us. You see, the policies that they have been putting out over the summer … this only means that our movement has gotten so strong that they feel the need to put out these crazy responses,” an unaffiliated speaker stated.
“For 12 months, 365 days, we [have] witnessed the mass murder, genocide, displacement, and ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The year of slaughter. The year of bombing schools, mosques, churches. The year of being told that we do not, in fact, see what we see,” an unidentified third speaker said.
Speakers shared testimonies of Palestinians and read out children’s wills.
“I want to see more Muslims stepping out and getting out there and [fighting], whether they’re in Palestine, Uyghur camps, or anywhere else in the world where oppression reigns,” a representative of MSA at UCSD addressed Muslim students in a speech. “As Muslims, our responsibility goes far beyond protests and actions. Islam teaches us to stand for justice no matter what the consequences.”
“Lebanon and Palestine, Together until Victory” a sign held together by multiple individuals read.
Following a wave of pager blasts triggered by Israeli military in Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force continues to target alleged Hezbollah targets in the state through cross-border airstrikes. Hezbollah has responded in attacks of a similar nature. On Oct. 1, 2024, the Israeli military began its ground offensive into southern Lebanon. The attacks have forcefully displaced over 1.2 million people.
Throughout the vigil, the presence of SJP was not explicitly announced. On May 1, 2024, the Center for Student Accountability, Growth, and Education received a report alleging that SJP “may have engaged in behavior that is reasonably likely to lead to conduct threatening health or safety and disruptive activity incompatible with the orderly operation of campus.” The University responded by issuing a Cease and Desist order. SJP’s case remains open and under review, but the order prohibits all organization-related activities.
Throughout the vigil, multiple copies of a zine titled “(Dis)orientation” were distributed by a few attendees. The zine’s first page read, “We invite you to join us in the process of unlearning.” Copies include a breakdown of the University of California Police Department’s budget, figures of UCSD’s investment in arms manufacturers, and timelines on UCSD’s history of student activism. The zine further highlights testimonies from the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and details the reality of a post-militizaried university campus.
A day before the event, Tritons for Israel issued a statement on their Instagram account condemning the vigil.
“An event like this on such a painful day for Jewish and Israeli people, before any defensive efforts that led to lives lost in Gaza, is disgraceful and its allowance should be reconsidered,” the statement read. “Our community deserves at least this day to mourn after a full year of immense and obvious Jew hatred on this campus by SJP and its student and faculty supporters.”
After the vigil, one of the speakers commented on the organizations that planned this event.
“FYI to the administration in the room, we are not SJP. We are only a group of students who are passionate about Palestine.”
