'A visual reminder of what we are fighting for': UNC Arab Student Organization co-hosts vigil for Palestine

More than 100 pairs of children's shoes lined the steps of South Building on Thursday evening.

In front of the colorful sneakers, sparkly flats, fuzzy boots and pink floral sandals stood a crowd of about 200 people. Candles and posters with the names, ages and faces of children killed in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war sat between the pairs of shoes. Behind them, a projection was cast on South Building proclaiming the phrase, “WE REMEMBER" along with the names of children killed in the war. 

The projection and shoes were part of a vigil held by UNC and N.C. State chapters of the Arab Student Organization to mourn the more than 30,000 Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Malak Dridi, the president of UNC ASO, said the projection on South Building included the names and ages of some children who were less than 1 year old.

“Let this be a visual reminder of what we are fighting for,” N.C. State's ASO president Jamal Mohamad said to the crowd. “We don't want to see any more Palestinians lose their lives from the Israeli bombardment.”

The vigil began around 7:15 p.m. when Mohamad and Dridi addressed the crowd. They thanked attendees for coming together in mourning and directed attention to a donation table, which displayed QR codes to the UNC ASO’s Venmo account and various GoFundMe sites for families in Palestine.

Dridi and Mohamad then took turns introducing seven Palestinian speakers from the community.

The speakers included students from UNC and N.C. State alongside community members from the Triangle. Some prepared structured speeches while others improvised, but they all shared personal stories of loss and anger over the war in Gaza.

“Behind every number in Gaza, there was a very wonderful story,” a speaker who had grown up in Gaza said. “They are wonderful people who deserve to live.”

Another speaker said they are struggling with survivor's guilt and feelings of helplessness, anguish and misery over the war.

“I'm stuck having to fight through these stages of grief because I refuse to reach acceptance," they said. 

Aidan Nance, a UNC senior who attended the vigil, said the event was moving and she hoped it would act as a call to action.

"The speakers, they kind of – not that it ever went out – but they reignite the fire, within at least me, to go harder and fight harder than I ever have before,” Nance said.

ASO members passed out candles to the vigil attendees, many lighting their wicks with each other’s flames. At 8:10 p.m., Dridi and Mohamad led a moment of silence for the lives lost before concluding the vigil.

“We must mourn, but we must also act at the same time,” Dridi said.

She and Mohamad listed demands for their universities to meet by May 1. First, they demanded university divestments from Israel paired with statements of condemnation from both chancellors regarding Israel's action in Gaza and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate. They also called for the discontinuation of all study abroad programs in Israel and the creation of commissions to investigate both N.C. State and UNC's investment vehicles.

Additionally, Dridi and Mohamad demanded that both universities’ Undergraduate Senates introduce resolutions calling for divestment from firms that conduct business with the Israeli government or military, are headquartered in Israel or are listed in the Israeli stock exchange – similar to a recently passed resolution from the UNC Graduate and Professional Students Senate.

Mohamad said both ASO chapters co-hosted the vigil because they are fighting for the same things as a community.

He said if they can point the universities toward change and help humanize their Palestinian students, it would be very meaningful to their communities.

After the vigil, attendees left their candles on the steps of South Building. 

“It was just raw,” Nance said. “It was emotional. It was moving. It was something I'm very happy to be a part of.”

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