Vigil highlights Mideast violence

As the bloody violence in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians rapidly escalates, students have begun addressing these political issues here on campus. The Penn Arab Student Society held a vigil Friday afternoon in front of Van Pelt Library focusing on the anger of the last two weeks that so far have claimed 84 lives, mostly Palestinian. Engineering sophomore Rashid Tuweiq said the vigil was meant to "look at how confrontation happened." "These are people who have died, and people are speaking out about it," he said. But PENNPac, the student Israeli lobby, also made their presence known during the event. The group passed out information about the conflict in Israel and the representation of the Israeli government by the media, saying they wanted to present both perspectives on the violence. Organizers for PENNPac, who would not speak for attribution, said they had suggested having a joint vigil with PASS since they also wanted to mourn those who were killed during the conflict. But PASS apparently refused the offer, with organizers saying they wanted the event to focus on the Palestinian victims. And other participants were outraged that PASS posted signs proclaiming that "[Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Barak is a killer," a statement they feel is not only very political, but offensive. But PASS said they just wanted to voice their opinions. "We hope to send a message to the whole community and inform people by giving an example," Wharton sophomore Ahmed Al-Hammadi said. For the last 11 days warfare has overwhelmed Gaza and the West Bank. The violence started after Israeli ultranationalist Ariel Sharon demonstrated at Jerusalem's Temple Mount -- a sacred shrine to both Muslims and Jews. This act set off some of the worst protests and riots in recent years, with the entire Mideast peace process now on the brink of collapse and the region close to all-out war. On Friday, though many students passed by the vigil, organizers estimated that roughly 50 people actually stayed to hear what PASS members had to say. And many of these opinions sparked numerous debates amongst PASS and PENNPac. Topics ranged from how to effectively stop the rioting in the Middle East to the rights each party has to their own country, and what role religion plays in all of this. Tuweiq maintained that the vigil was "not political, but humanitarian," though he admitted that at times it "inevitably turned political." One other point of contention between the two groups was that PASS's timing for the vigil coincided with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. While PASS recognized this concern, they claimed no disrespect was intended. "The timing of our vigil is meant... to juxtapose the religious commitment to repentance and peace in the Jewish community against the political inclination towards violence in the Jewish state," PASS's official statement said. "However, being that Yom Kippur is among the most revered days for the Jewish community, we have to be sensitive to the fact that this is a religious holiday," it went on to say. This is the reason why, PASS said, it decided to hold the vigil on Friday as opposed to today.