Student groups gather a year after Oct. 7 to remember lives lost

Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, a man takes a picture of SJP’s “Apartheid Wall” representing the wall that divides the Gaza Strip and Israel, on McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

On Monday, Oct. 7, students from Students for Justice in Palestine and the Jewish Student Union held separate remembrance ceremonies at the University of Maryland for those killed on and following Oct. 7, 2023.

A representative from SJP says the names of some of those who have died in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, on McKeldin Mall, Oct. 7, 2024, at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

A week before, a federal judge overturned the university’s ban on student events for Oct. 7, allowing both groups to conduct their scheduled activities as planned.

Two people hand out SJP fliers at McKeldin Mall before the vigil on Oct. 7, 2024, University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

At the University of Maryland, College Park, on Oct. 7, 2024, two people wearing “Never forget 10.7.2023” shirts confront a SJP supporter handing out fliers on McKeldin Mall. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

One of the many attendees at SJP’s vigil Monday was graduate student and Outreach and Events Coordinator for the Maryland Initiative for Language and Equity, Lindsey Allen.

“It’s a f---ing genocide,” Allen said.

A student with SJP holds up a kite on Oct. 7, 2024, with the Palestinian flag colored on at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

A child runs towards a man flying a kite inside the closed-off area on Oct. 7, 2024,  at the University of Maryland’s McKeldin Mall, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

“It’s just disheartening, and I truly believe in solidarity, even if it’s not my people,” Allen said, “I should be visibly a participant, and reject [UMD’s] silence.” 
“We said this would never happen again…[and] as a member of  [minority] categories, I can’t just sit here and let that go unvoiced and unnoticed,” added Allen. 

A child helps set up prayer mats on McKeldin Mall during a break in SJP’s vigil for prayer at the University of Maryland, College Park, on Oct. 7, 2024. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

A Jewish Voice for Peace member lights a candle while giving a speech at SJP’s vigil on McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

An attendee at SJP’s vigil on Oct. 7, 2024, looks towards speakers during the ceremony on McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

Security and police were present all day as a preventative measure to ensure both groups were safe while conducting their events. The upper half of McKeldin Mall and Hornbake Plaza was enclosed with barriers, and those entering were required to walk through metal detectors and bag checks.

A police officer on Oct. 7, 2024, watches the commemoration of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 at Hornbake Plaza, University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

One of many security guards present during SJP’s daylong event on Oct. 7, 2024, at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

Sonya Krpishpn, the mother of a university alumnus, said that they were at the JSU vigil to support the community that supported their kids.
“We’re grateful to [the Maryland Hillel] for giving our kids the framework that they can be with other Jewish students that experience the same issues.” 

A man sits on the outside of the JSU vigil on Oct. 7, 2024, wrapped in an Israeli flag, listening to speeches and prayer at Maryland Hillel, University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion).

During Oct. 7, 2024, a barrier is present at one of the entrances to the tribute to hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, has a poster of the faces of hostages with the demand, “Bring them home now!” located on the Hornbake Plaza at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

A group of attendees at JSU’s vigil on Oct. 7, 2024,  lit candles before entering the Maryland Hillel parking lot where the vigil was held at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

A man on Oct. 7, 2024,  overlooks the JSU vigil at Maryland Hillel at the University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

On Oct. 7, 2024, with two flags, the Israeli flag and an altered American flag, a man on the outer edge of JSU’s vigil looks toward the speaker stage at Maryland Hillel, University of Maryland, College Park. (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion)

Krpishpn expressed surprise at SJP’s decision to host a vigil on Oct. 7.

“It’s totally inappropriate because it’s a mourning day for Jewish people,” Krpishpn said. 

“To me, the Pro-Palestinian gathering on Oct. 7 is approximately the same thing as if [the] KKK would hold a peaceful vigil on Martin Luther King Day,” she said. “Or if Al Qaeda gathered for 9/11 on campus.”