Vigil Mourns Mideast Victims

As violence continued in the Middle East yesterday, the Society of Arab Students (SAS) held a tearful vigil on the steps of Memorial Church to mourn the victims of the latest round of strife between Palestinians and Israelis.

"There are a lot of Palestinian students [at Harvard] who have relatives affected by the violence," said SAS Vice President Rita Hamad '03, a vigil organizer.

About 150 people gathered on the church's cold and windy steps to hold candles and listen to speakers describe the experiences of those affected by the violence.

According to the Associated Press, at least 88 people, almost all of them Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, have died in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank since violence erupted Sept. 28.

SAS President Rayd K. Abu-Ayyash '01 said the vigil was solely for mourning the violence and was not political in nature. He noted that the ASA and Harvard Hillel held separate vigils, but said holding separate events wasn't a sign of antagonism between the two groups.

"It is not because we do not stand together, but simply that different people need a different outlet to mourn," he said.

He also said SAS and Hillel would discuss in the coming weeks how the two groups would be working together on campus.

Participants and organizers of last night's event said they were satisfied with the vigil, which drew a wide variety of students.

Lisa A. Setrakian '04, whose family is partly Lebanese, said the vigil "was absolutely successful, especially the volume of non-Arab participants which speaks so highly of what people's faith can accomplish."

"It brought the Harvard community together," one organizer said.

Allegra Pacheco, an Israeli human rights lawyer, gave an introductory speech at the vigil, describing what she called a "chain of suffering and violence" in the Middle East.

"I'm scared for the Palestinians of Israel," she said. "Even in yuppie Tel-Aviv, Israelis are rioting and yelling 'down with the Arabs.'"

Jane L. Risen '01, a member of the "Seeds of Peace" program that runs Arab-Israeli peace camps for young people, read comments from friends of a 17-year-old Arab graduate of the program killed in the violence last week.

"What has the world come to--there are no answers," said one camper in a letter read by Risen.

SAS students then read letters and e-mail messages from young witnesses of the violence, including a Palestinian girl living in Jerusalem who said she had seen a two-year-old child shot.

"I hope I live to see one generation of Palestinian children have a normal childhood," she said via e-mail.

Deema B. Arafah '03, whose family is Palestinian, said that the most important thing Harvard students could do would be "to talk to friends, roommates and share with them the emotionality of the situation."

"It's very easy for people to become emotionally charged. They should let the truth reside within their hearts and not make this larger than it already is," she said.

Andrew F. Khouri '03 said "the most important responsibility is to be 100 percent objective. Both sides must admit that each side has made mistakes."