Student orgs host vigil for Palestine

A young woman stood in front of a lecture hall, singing the unofficial anthem of Palestine. People who filled the room in seats and against the walls hummed it silently with tears falling down their cheeks.

The Palestinian flag hung on a whiteboard, battery-powered candles below it.
This was the scene Monday night, when students and faculty members crowded into the basement of Armstrong Hall to attend a vigil for Palestinians in Gaza, in the wake of renewed conflict in the region.

“Over 50 families have been wiped off,” said Johnny Hazboun, the president of the Southwest Asian & North African Student Union and Students for Justice in Palestine. “There are videos of children writing their names on their hands, because when they get bombed someone can know who died so they can report who died.”

Hazboun opened the event with a moment of silence for those killed in Gaza during what he called “genocide.”

“Even animals don’t do this to each other,” he said. “If you go to the fucking forest, animals don’t do this to each other.”

As of Tuesday morning, 2,750 people have been killed in Gaza due to Israeli Air strikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

During the event, students recounted how the war in Israel and Palestine has affected them and their families.

Hosted by the SJP, SWANA, the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Purdue Arab Society, the vigil included a call for donations to the Palestine Child Relief Fund. According to their website, the PCRF is the primary humanitarian organization in Palestine that delivers medical relief and humanitarian aid where it is needed.

Standing at the front of the lecture hall, sophomore Abla Abumahfouz tearfully recounted how she had lost several of her family members in Palestine.

“I used to be numb to it initially,” Abumahfouz said. “I’ve grown up hearing about my relatives dying.”

But after recent events, something has changed for Abumahfouz, she said.

“All these videos and pictures have been coming out and just seeing all these babies (and) teenagers dying,” she said. “It could be my younger sibling. It could be me. It’s heartbreaking seeing people our age die.”

Abumahfouz said the war has affected her family, but it has also affected her academic pursuits at Purdue.

“I stopped pursuing industrial engineering because it was associated with the engineering school, and now that they create weapons for Israel, knowing that we create these prototypes to bomb my people,” she said, “I refuse to be a part of that.

“I’m ashamed to be a Boilermaker.”

When asked what her message was to the Purdue administration, she said they had to do better.

“Actually acknowledge what is going on instead of trying to tiptoe around what is going on,” she said.

Adam Irshaid, a senior in the college of liberal arts, said he was upset by what he calls a lack of outreach from Purdue for Palestinian students.

“(Purdue President) Mung (Chiang) showed up to the vigil that was held for the people of Israel, but I don’t see any of the admin here,” Irshaid said.

The vigil for the people of Israel took place last week outside the front of the nursing building, according to previous Exponent reporting. Among the attendees was David Sanders, a Jewish professor and member of the West Lafayette City Council, and Provost Patrick Wolfe.

Last Thursday, the Office of the Dean of Students released a statement to members of SWANA offering to “provide support.” Contact information for ODOS and Counseling and Psychological Services was provided at the bottom of the email.

But Irshaid said the university’s response still wasn’t enough.

At a protest on Thursday, Hazboun said members of SWANA had to reach out to Purdue before getting a response. But an email to Jewish organizations on campus was sent out with Purdue being asked, he said.

“We want to be proud of Purdue, but it’s not fulfilling its end of the role,” Irshaid said after the vigil.