Jewish Life held a candlelight vigil in honor of Israeli civilians who were killed by Hamas during the attacks on Oct. 7.

Several speakers attended the vigil on Oct. 19, including Mayor Billy Barlow and Rabbi Yossi Madvig.

Madvig led attendees in Jewish song and prayer while giving a speech about the recent attacks, calling for solidarity and prayers for Israelis. Madvig also pushed for people to donate to charity as a form of taking action.

Madvig condemned the spread of anti-Semitism throughout the world following the attacks and mourned the loss of Jewish life. He said that the 1,400 Jews who were killed by Hamas was the single largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.

Despite the spread of anti-semitism, Madvig said that he has largely seen support from the SUNY Oswego community.

“Most of the stuff I’ve seen has been online,” Madvig said. “Whether on YikYak or Twitter or Instagram, but I haven’t had any personal experiences on campus that were negative.”

Feiga Khutoretsky, the president of Jewish Life, echoed a similar sentiment, saying that most of the anti-semitism they have received has been through social media, while making a distinction between anti-semitism and anti-zionism. Khutoretsky said that some students were expressing fear to say that they are Jewish.

Barlow praised SUNY Oswego for the response he has seen to the Hamas attacks.

“When you watch the news, you see these protests and these so-called rallies on various campuses where they have a real warped, in my opinion, view of the events that took place, where they’re defending Hamas and Palestine and so on,” Barlow said. “It’s nice to see that it isn’t happening here and that we are here tonight standing on the right side of history.”

There was a small, quiet counter-demonstration, and Madvig said that he was happy that people who disagreed came and were respectful. He said that his specific focus of this vigil was those who were killed on Oct. 7 by Hamas, saying that there had not been sufficient time to grieve the victims. Madvig said that if other groups wanted to hold events voicing differing opinions, they should feel free.

Israel’s retaliation following the Oct. 7 attacks has killed over 5,000 Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera. Khutoretsky condemned the killing of civilians by both Hamas and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), saying that even one civilian death is too many.

“People need to realize that support of a people of a land does not always equate to support for the controlling body,” Khutoretsky said.

Madvig, however, said that he blames Hamas for the deaths of Palestinians killed by the IDF. He said that Israel had been put in “sort of a no win situation” that required either forceful retaliation or no response.

“Obviously bad things would happen, civilians would die and so on,” Madvig said. “But that’s all because Hamas puts their things in civilian areas. Under hospitals, under mosques, under schools, next to cemeteries. And it’s tragic and horrible and I wish it weren’t the case.”

Khutoretsky pushed for nuance to take center stage when discussing the topic of the conflict and highlighted the importance of double checking sources and remaining vigilant against misinformation.

On Oct. 26, the U.S. Department of State uploaded a “reconsider travel” advisory regarding travel to the Middle East; it has now been updated to a total “do not travel” statement. As the two governments continue to clash, the international conflict has shown no signs of stopping.  

Photo by: Nicolas Diaz Contreras