Students at the University of California, San Diego on Monday marked the anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack with two events: a memorial held by Students Supporting Israel and a vigil organized by Students for Justice in Palestine.
Both events were held on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people at a music festival and took another 251 as hostages – the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust and an assault that ignited an intensive Israeli bombing campaign that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Back in May, tensions flared surrounding the conflict on UC San Diego’s campus and dozens of students were arrested over a pro-Palestinian encampment. On Monday, the memorial brought reflection and openness to conversation.
“Our organization and I personally hope that, you know, everyone will be able to resolve this conflict,” said Drew Jeter, president of Students Supporting Israel at UC San Diego. “This event is to pay tribute to people that that died, the innocent lives that died and the people that are still dying today because this conflict is not resolved.”
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The group organized the memorial featuring a table with 101 chairs representing those who are still being held as hostages. Jeter said it was also intended to serve as a place for nuanced conversation.
“The whole point of our event was to raise awareness for October 7th, but also to allow us to talk directly with people that may have a different viewpoint,” he said. “And I feel like that will be something really positive for the community.”
Another student who supports Palestinian statehood stopped by the event to engage in conversation – sharing that he agreed with the need for open dialogue, hoping above all for peace.
For their part, the California chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations called for a ceasefire and the end of U.S. military aid to Israel.
“Enough is enough. Enough seeing children being murdered while the world watches helplessly or callously,” CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush said in a statement, in part. “The U.S. cannot remain complicit in war crimes as the Israeli government continues to cross every conceivable line of morality and legality.”
Students at the memorial Monday painted their conversations as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “in a microcosm,” seeing their ability to find common ground as a bright spot on a somber day.
“We're happy to talk about our point of view,” Jeter said. “We're happy to listen to other points of view, but the number one thing definitely is just that we need to make sure that we're all able to talk to each other in a civil way.”
