Boston University Students for Israel and BU Hillel held a memorial at Marsh Plaza on the first anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023, to honor those lost in Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“Today is to memorialize,” said BUSI Vice President Livia Prince. “For us, it’s not a political thing. It’s a personal thing. It’s not the headlines. It’s more than that for us.”
On Oct. 7 last year, Hamas — a militant group designated by the United States as a terrorist organization — led an attack on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people and took approximately 250 hostages, according to the Associated Press. 100 are still in captivity.
The attack was “the biggest massacre of Jews in one day since the Holocaust,” said BUSI President Shayna Dash.
BU has approximately 4,000 Jewish students — the largest undergraduate Jewish population at any private university, according to Hillel International — who continue to grapple with the effects of the Oct. 7 attacks.
The student-led memorial at Marsh Plaza featured photo displays of victims, survivor testimonies on laptops and a remembrance board where visitors could put stickers of victims’ names. A vigil for lives lost in the attack was also held at 5 p.m. at the plaza.
BUSI began planning the event early in the semester with an intent to memorialize those who died on Oct. 7 and educate others about the current conflict.
“We were up at 4:45 in the morning. At 6 a.m., we had all hands on deck,” Prince said. “It shows on days like these that, despite all the hardships, despite all of our personal connections … we’re here. We’re standing up.”
The event was co-sponsored by BU Hillel, a chapter of an international organization for Jewish students.
“BU Hillel is truly the backbone of the BU Jewish community here, and we cannot thank them enough for their support during this time,” Dash said.
Some BUSI students had personal connections to individuals that were killed in recent attacks.
“A very close friend of mine, Gili Adar, from my gap year program that I did in Israel, died at the [Nova] music festival, and I think all of us have very personal connections,” Prince said.
Senior Lauren Freedman spoke about her connections to the Israeli Defense Force soldiers she met through Birthright Israel, a cultural program, last summer.
“I was immediately reaching out to them for the weeks following [Oct. 7],” Freedman said. “I’m still in communication with them today. Every time there’s an attack, they let us know that they’re safe.”
Dash said BU President Melissa Gilliam came to the memorial and spoke with members of the BUSI executive board.
“I think that symbol of the presidency in the high administration showing a genuine sense of empathy is pretty spectacular,” Dash said.
Junior Gabby Finkelstein said she thanks Gilliam for coming, but still feels frustrated with Gilliam’s efforts to support Jewish students.
“It’s hard and frustrating for me to see her come to these events, yet still allowing all these other SJP events and antisemitic things to happen on campus,” Finkelstein said. “You can’t say one thing and do the other. It’s disheartening.”
Freedman said she wants to see the University do more to support Jewish students.
“I think BU needs to be doing a lot more [to] help with Hillel and help with other Jewish organizations in order to ensure that Jews on campus feel safe,” Freedman said. “Because I know that a lot don’t.”
Wellesley College student Abby Horwitz drove 30 minutes to attend the vigil after seeing a post on social media.
“Finding a pro-Israel community in the Boston area has been difficult,” Horwitz said. “We all want peace in the Middle East, we all want our hostages back home and we just like to see the Jewish people thrive in our homeland.”
Since Oct. 7, the climate of BUSI has changed as the club and its members have faced additional struggles, Prince said.
“I think we’re all different people,” she said. “I can’t remember me before Oct. 7, really. I didn’t have so many of the stresses that I have now.”
