
Julian DeLucia
Ithacans for Israel held a memorial remembrance of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and Ithaca College Students for a Free Palestine held a vigil on the escalation of genocide of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war Oct. 8.
Ithacans for Israel held a memorial remembrance of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and Ithaca College Students for a Free Palestine held a vigil on the escalation of genocide of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war Oct. 8.
President La Jerne Cornish briefly visited both events and told organizers that she could not stay because of the ongoing Fall 2025 Board of Trustees meetings. Officers from the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management were present outside of both events.
Memorial for Oct. 7 attacks
About 20 people attended the IFI memorial from 6-7 p.m. at Free Speech Rock outside of Philips Hall. Junior Ben Epstein, president of Ithacans for Israel, opened the memorial by holding a moment of silence for the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks.
In the Oct. 7 attacks, 251 hostages were taken. 148 hostages have been released in exchanges or deals, including eight who were dead. Israeli forces have retrieved 51 bodies of hostages. Eight hostages have been rescued alive. As of Oct. 9, the Israeli military believes that there are still about 20 living hostages in captivity, and around 25 bodies that have yet to be recovered.
Rebecca Lesses, associate professor of Jewish studies in the Department of Philosophy, said she was in Ithaca during the Oct. 7 attacks and remembers watching the violence in horror. She said there are ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas taking place in Egypt.
“I pray that these negotiations succeed and that the hostages, living and dead go free,” Lesses said. “I pray that the war will end and begin to grow silent.”
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a truce and exchange of hostages and prisoners Oct. 8.
The Anti-Defamation League recorded 9,354 antisemetic incidents across the United States in 2024, representing a 344% increase in antisemitic incidents over the past five years. Of the recorded incidents of antisemitism, 58% of them were incidents of anti-Zionism. In 2019, 8% of the 2,107 antisemitic incidents recorded by the ADL were incidents of anti-Zionism.
Sophomore Lucy Marcus said antisemitism has not just risen, but has exploded, leaving Jewish students afraid to do things that show their identity like wearing the Star of David.
“Jewish people once again stand alone, isolated and riddled with the fear that we are in danger purely due to our identity,” Marcus said.
Epstein said that over the past two years following the Oct. 7 attacks, he has had to grapple with questions surrounding his beliefs, convictions, faith and the rise in antisemitism.
“We must keep our faith, and most importantly, we must keep our humanity,” Epstein said. “If we lose our humanity, what do we have? It is when a culture loses its basic ability to hold compassion, that culture falls apart.”
The memorial ended with attendees standing up, singing in remembrance of the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks and placing rocks in front of a banner of the hostages — a Jewish tradition for paying respect for the deceased.
Vigil for escalation of genocide in Palestine
About 20 people attended ICSFP’s vigil for escalation of genocide in Palestine from 7:30-8:30 p.m. on the quad between the Campus Center and the Fitness Center. The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, said Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in a Sept. 16 report.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health estimates that Israel has killed over 67,000 Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war. Senior Quincey Fireside, president of ICSFP, said that Israel represents colonialism and that the liberation of Palestinians is the destruction of colonialism.
“That grief is overwhelming,” Fireside said. “It is world shattering. It is heart stopping. It has changed, at least for me, how I go about my life every second of every single day and above that is my overwhelming desire to liberate the living.”
Senior Marshall Long, co-vice president of ICSFP, said seeing videos of animals in Gaza makes him reflect on his love for his own cat and contemplate how many people in Gaza have lost their animals.
“Genocide is not just a destruction of people,” Long said. “It’s a destruction of life, culture, land and of all creatures, big and small. The State of Israel has deprived the world of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of animals. I ask tonight that we mourn not just the immense human factor, but also mourn the animals murdered.”
Fireside said that Oct. 7 is not the two–year anniversary of the start the genocide, saying that it began before then, but it is the anniversary of them feeling ashamed of their Jewish identity for the first time.
“Zionists will say that to hate Israel is to hate Jews,” Fireside said. “It’s not the case, that’s not what it is. Israel has totally destroyed and bastardized what it means to be Jewish. Judaism is an inherently liberatory faith. We have named principles in our faith about repairing the world and liberating people.”
The vigil ended with the attendees getting in a circle to hold hands and say prayers for and actively think about the people in Gaza.
Sophomore Nolan Swinwood attended both the IFI memorial and the ICSFP vigil. He said the genocide in Gaza cannot be excused by the Oct. 7 attacks, but it is important to mourn what happened that day to the Israeli people.
“It’s important that we connect with each other as more than students, but rather as human beings,” Swinwood said.