Approximately 40 University of Pennsylvania students and faculty gathered last Friday to participate in an “interfaith vigil” for the “martyrs” of Israel’s alleged “genocide” of the Palestinians.
According to a post on Up Against the Occupation’s Instagram page, there’s been “over five hundred days of unimaginable genocide in Gaza” for which “there are no words describe the depth of [the] continued heartbreak.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian, which notes that organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch agree the situation in Gaza is a “genocide” (but doesn’t mention any groups that disagree), reports the event was organized by Penn Faculty, Staff & GradWorkers for Justice in Palestine, Philly Socialists, and the Philly Palestine Coalition.
The groups were informed by university officials they “did not have a reservation for the event area” and had to move somewhere else deemed “satisfactory.”
According to university guidelines, non-academic events must get approval from Penn’s University Life at least two weeks in advance.
[Vigil] programming included several moments of silence, songs, and speeches from organizers. In one speech, an organizer underscored the right to mourn Palestinian lives that have been “silenced, brutalized, and disrespected.”
“It is out [sic] right to make faith when a soul has departed from this Earth,” the organizer continued. “It’s a human right to be laid in peace, to have your body respected as the soul leaves it.”
They also expressed their “hat[red]” for having to “call everyone here brave.”
“I shouldn’t have to tell you, you are brave for coming here to mourn,’” the organizer said.
Two pastors of the Germantown Mennonite Church also spoke in “solidarity” with the organizers of the vigil. The pastors described the Church’s upcoming “Holy Week” and what mourning means for “folks from the Christian tradition.”
“Our streets exalt God,” one pastor said. “They pray for the mosques and the houses every time the bombing begins.”
Another vigil attendee said “We want to […] honor the Palestinian martyrs murdered by the Zionist enemy.”
On Instagram, vigil participants were advised to “cover up with more than a face mask” (to “protect the health and safety” of others), to “leave their Penn ID at home,” and “not engage” with Penn administrators and law enforcement.
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IMAGE CAPTION & CREDIT: Part of the U. Penn interfaith vigil advertisement; Up Against the Occupation/Instagram
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