Echoes of solidarity lingered in Gordon Hall as Palestinian stories touched the hearts of the Queen’s community.
Approximately 180 students and community gathered on Nov. 29 to show their solidarity with Palestine during a community vigil on campus. Organized by the Queen’s chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), the vigil in Grant Hall was centred around paying tribute to martyrs in Palestine.
The word martyr is translated to “Shahid” in Arabic. Invoking martyrdom is a form of mourning and shows solace in the taking of innocent lives.
“You’re gathered here today to feel the pain and sorrow of what it means to be Palestinian, in both the land and as people, feel the helplessness attributed to Palestine. To be stuck in a nightmare that can’t be undone, can’t be erased,” Layth Malhis, ConEd ’24, said during the vigil.
Speakers offered prayers from the three Abrahamic religions to emphasize a collective hope for peace to be restored in Gaza.
SPHR created a slideshow featuring the names and the stories of the martyrs documented by We Are Not Numbers (WANN). WANN is a youth-led Palestinian non-profit project in the Gaza Strip dedicated to sharing stories and advocating for the human rights of Palestinian people. WANN highlights all martyrs not just as statistics, but as individuals with distinct identities and ambitions.
“Numbers are impersonal and often numbing. What they don’t convey are the daily personal struggles and triumphs, the tears and the laughter, and the aspirations that are so universal that if it weren’t for the context, they would immediately resonate with virtually everyone,” WANN states on its website.
Palestinians who lost their lives were described as having love and care for their families, education, and their lives by Malhis. The vigil worked to humanize Palestinians, something often lost in mainstream narratives.
“These people have lost their innocent family and we’re trying to justify it to people across the world why they should look at us as humans,” Malhis said.
For Malhis, collective silence isn’t an option.
“We’re determine to break the chains of oppression and build a future where the word Palestine is synonymous not with suffering but with the land and its people, free from the river to its beautiful sea,” Malhis said.
Corrections
A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the approximate number of attendees as 100 instead of 180, and said the event was held in Gordon Hall instead of Grant Hall. Incorrect information appeared in the Dec. 1 issue of The Queen’s Journal.
The Journal regrets the error
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