| | Hannah Tyler/The Lantern | | On Friday, students held a candlelight vigil to remember the inhabitants of Gaza. |
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Gaza's supply of electricity and humanitarian aid was cut off Friday after Israel declared the area a "hostile entity."
A group of Ohio State students held a candlelight vigil the same day to demonstrate their concern for the residents of Gaza.
"We just wanted to show that we feel grief for all those being affected, Palestinians and Israelis alike," said Jamal Abdellatif, a senior in exercise science and president of the OSU Committee for Justice in Palestine.
Gaza's estimated 1.4 million inhabitants were left without fuel, food, medicine and other essential items once all three border crossings between Israel and Gaza closed on Friday.
The United Nation's World Food Programme described the situation as a "food crisis" and attributed the deteriorating situation to the restrictions of goods, according to the UN's Web site.
The vigil took place on the corner of 15th Avenue and High Street from 5:30 - 7 p.m. Students stood in a small, shivering group holding white candles and a Palestinian flag. Many drivers honked their horns while passing and a few curious spectators stopped to ask questions.
For Rami Arafah, a senior in social work, answering questions was the most important part of the night.
"I was hoping people would ask. I wanted to have the opportunity to inform people about what's really going on in Gaza," he said.
Arafah is a Palestinian-American and said he is passionate about the rights of his people. He said most of what people hear about the conflict in Gaza relates to religion, which reveals a small part of a much bigger problem.
"This is not a Jew against Muslim issue. You can take a stance on this matter no matter what your religion is," Arafah said.
The diverse group of students at the vigil demonstrated this point. Abdellatif said of the 25 students who showed up, most were not Palestinian and many were not Muslim.
"It was touching to see people coming together as human beings in support of a common cause," he said.
Hannah Tyler can be reached at tyler.94@osu.edu.
2008 Woodie Awards
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 14
Jason
posted 1/30/08 @ 10:36 AM EST
I wonder if anyone is having a candlelight vigil for Israel considering the rockets that have been raining down on them for months (as many as fifty a day). (Continued…)
billyzenko
Ben
posted 1/30/08 @ 1:41 PM EST
It's also interesting that Israel remains responsible for the people who have elected a government that is committed to Israel's destruction. The mainstream media has handed hamas a PR victory, with little mention of the rockets that have been raining down on Israel for YEARS, not for months. (Continued…)
Emmett Hoveh
posted 1/30/08 @ 5:57 PM EST
Always the first thing people come up with is "how come nobody feels sorry for Israel? What about the rocket attacks on Israel?"
The answer is the disproportionate level of brutality dispensed by the IDF. (Continued…)
Elijah
posted 1/30/08 @ 6:02 PM EST
The far right in the U.S. and Israel are working to ensure that a viable Palestinian state will never be a reality in Eretz Yisrael. It doesn't matter who is in power. (Continued…)
Dave
posted 1/30/08 @ 8:21 PM EST
So, according to Jason and Ben, Israel is the brutalized victim...of a few dozen shepherds. Well, so what guys? Is it full scale invasion time? Maybe a little genocide would clear the problem up? What of it?
Emmett Hoveh
posted 1/31/08 @ 7:24 PM EST
Ben: pointing to other countries and saying "look what they're doing! It's way worse!" is not dealing with the issue at hand. Other nations' aggression toward their own citizens is a completely different topic. (Continued…)
Brandon G
posted 1/31/08 @ 11:34 PM EST
Why is Israel even responsible for the Gaza strip? The Palestinian people asked for the Israelis to leave the Gaza strip, and they did. What was the result? The destruction of greenhouses. (Continued…)
friedman.178
Sarah
posted 2/01/08 @ 2:04 PM EST
Amen Brandon G.
AM YISRAEL CHAI!!
Peacenik
posted 2/14/08 @ 11:21 AM EST
Peace. Treaty. Now. All both sides want to do is point fingers and shoot rockets at each other instead of something productive like actually sitting down to work out a viable solution. (Continued…)
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