CHAMPAIGN– Vigils and gatherings were held around the country and in Champaign Monday to mark one year since an attack by Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel.
Hillel and the Chabad Center came together on the University of Illinois Quad to mourn those lost and those still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. An estimated 101 people are still in captivity including seven Americans, the State Department said in a press briefing.
Sabrina Fellinger is a student with Hillel. “This is for us, it’s like a second holocaust,” she said. “This is a day that we will always remember.”
Singer Tamar Sara Capsuoto flew in from Israel to sing personal songs on her experiences living in the Gaza envelope at another vigil held over the weekend at Sinai Temple in Champaign.
Attendees also read the names of the hostages that still remain in Gaza.
Organizers gave out lawn signs that encourage voters to defeat an Urbana ballot referendum that says the U.S. should withhold military funding to Israel.
In the year since Israel retaliated against Hamas with a ground and air bombing campaign, more than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza including thousands of children and women.
Ghada Abdullah is a therapist who led a small healing circle to honor those individuals.
“That feeling of injust and powerlessness,” she explained. “You know, we’re all trying to hold on to hope, which, after a year, it’s not, it’s very hard.”
Nearly 150 protesters rallied in support of the Palestinian people outside the Champaign County courthouse in Urbana on Saturday.
They pushed for people to vote “yes” on the referendum in a push to deny further military funding to Israel. Next week, the party for socialism and liberation will start canvassing to get the word out on the referendum ahead of the November election.
Both sides say they need space to cope and want an end to all the death and suffering.