 "Photo: Annie Budnick")
While a fragile ceasefire continues in Gaza and with reports emerging that the humanitarian situation is worse than expected, Boston College students gathered on Thursday night to conduct a vigil for all of the crisis' victims. The event was sponsored by the Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC), Amnesty International, ResLife, and the Arab Student Association. The service included prayers of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Islamic origin.
Alexandra Saieh, A&S '09, and Scott Jelinek, A&S '10, said that they were inspired to organize the vigil after visiting the West Bank and Israel with a BC immersion trip. Malak Yusuf, A&S '09, Jamal Halepota, A&S '09, and Cathleen Chopra McGowan, A&S '10, also helped to organize the event and lead prayers at the vigil.
Eve Spangler, associate professor in the sociology department, spoke at the vigil about her experience as a secular Jew in America, and how the crisis in Gaza has forced many American Jews like herself to think in new ways about their relation to their faith. She shared a story about Rabbi Hillel, an important first century Jewish scholar, who was said to have told a young man that the whole of the Torah's wisdom can be found in meditation upon the principle that one should not do to others as one would not have others do to oneself.
Dr. Rev. Bonnie, a minister in the United Church of Christ, spoke of the efforts the Church of Christ has made to help affect change in the region. She said that the church urges comprehensive peace in the Middle East and quoted passages from the books of Isaiah and Matthew that foresee a time when there is no longer war. "As a denomination we rejoice in the power of God to make all things new," she said. "I am glad we are all here, and our hearts are with the people in conflict."
Before asking for peace and a resolution of conflict in the region, Rev. James Fleming, S.J., said, "My comments are in the form of a prayer."
"We wanted to be as apolitical as possible," Jelinek said. He said that they organized the vigil for all victims of the Gaza crisis, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Saieh said that they wanted to bring together all the faiths represented on BC's campus, united in prayer for those who are affected by the turmoil in Gaza.
"Scott and I and Malak went on the BC immersion trip to Israel," Saieh said. "When we were at the vigil all we could think about was the families we had met and what they'd been going through for the last 60 years."
Saieh and Jelinek said that their experience in Israel and the West Bank gave them a different perspective on the events there. "We saw a lot of different things," Saieh said. "We visited refugee camps; we talked to families whose homes had been demolished."
"We were there during the heat of the recent conflict," Jelinek said. He was most afraid for his personal safety, he said, when near members of the Israeli Defense Force or with Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
"Especially if you're of Arab descent or a Muslim you get treated horribly," Saieh said. Jelinek said that when the 13 students who were on the trip passed through the airport, five students were specifically chosen from among them for interrogation, a process which Jelinek said lasted for four or five hours. Saieh said that one of the students had to open his e-mail account and show his e-mails to security officials.
Jelinek said that the group's experience in the West Bank was very different, and that, if he could have, he would have spent all of his time among the people there, who he said were friendly and welcoming. Saieh said that a Bedouin family of Palestinian origin but with Israeli citizenship welcomed the group into their home and served them tea.
Saieh and Jelinek were struck by the living conditions they observed. "It's nothing compared to even the slums of India," Jelinek said. Saieh said that under such conditions it is impossible for the Israeli military to strike at targets without inflicting civilian casualties. She said that the weapons used can also have lingering health effects that kill long after an attack.
Saieh said that they were not able to visit some of the areas most embroiled in conflict, due to safety concerns. "We were also restricted to where we were allowed to go in the West Bank," she said.
Saieh and Jelinek also said that their perceptions of how events from the region are reported have been newly informed by their visit. "The civilian population and how that's been represented … it's really depressing to see how little that gets covered," Saieh said.
Saieh said she thought that the vigil was a good way to begin to bring the campus community together over the issue. "We did our best to bring as much of the campus community," Jelinek said.
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