Hundreds of people covered Turlington Plaza for a vigil in honor of Israel on Monday night, most with candles in hand. Israeli flags draped over the outdoor staircase and shielded the shoulders of many like capes. Some wore yarmulkes with pride while others sported the Star of David around their necks. People exchanged soft smiles and borrowed flames until the crowd was completely luminous.
Many of the vigil’s attendees, like myself, have family and friends living in Israel, who are suffering through the heinous horrors of terror attacks led by the terrorist organization Hamas whose goal is to eradicate Israel and the Jewish people.
The large-scale and unprecedented attack against Israel on the Israel-Gaza border was launched Oct. 7. Since then, over 5,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza, over 1,200 Israelis have been murdered and almost 3,000 have been injured.
Earlier Monday, I called my mom between classes. I shared how the routine I had become accustomed to suddenly felt foreign. Absorbing the news coming from Israel, I felt disassociated. About 10 minutes later, a notification popped up on my phone from my mom.
Gazing back at me was an image she sent of two of my cousins who were called back to reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces. Arm in arm, my cousins wore smiles so big I hardly noticed their green army uniforms.
During the testimonies by several fellow Jewish students and community leaders at the vigil, chaos erupted. I watched as people began screeching and running for their lives. The shock and fear left me frozen.
I felt the tight grip of my friend’s hand around my wrist as he pulled me down from the ledge my feet felt cemented to. The stampeding crowd’s hollering overwhelmed the words of encouragement that my friend shouted as we ran. I tripped over shoes, some in pairs and some standing alone that were abandoned as people rushed into school buildings and into the streets of Gainesville.
A sixth sense for potential danger is a learned trait. Many Jews are inclined to be extremely cautious of their surroundings, especially when practicing or showcasing religion publicly. Everyone that night had the initial instinct to run. It was almost like a threat was expected.
The fear aroused for Jews around the world is a fraction of what the people in Israel are currently experiencing. The barbaric massacre of Jewish people on Oct. 7 marks the largest number of Jews murdered in a single day since the Holocaust.
Innocent civilians, including defenseless infants and children, women, the elderly and even Holocaust survivors, are being kidnapped from their homes, raped, tortured and slaughtered for being Jewish. Not only are they being completely violated, they are dehumanized while the terrorists film the wicked acts they commit and celebrate behind the camera. What happened to the promise of the post-Holocaust words “Never Again?”
As I study journalism, I have become vigilant about word choices and the implications they have on creating a narrative. Now more than ever, I struggle to find solace in the field as I watch the truth of the inhumanity that Israel just suffered drowned out by a crashing tide of anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic media.
The current state of war in Israel is not a debatable political issue but a human rights issue. No person should ever endure being a victim of terrorism, especially to this extent. Whether a person agrees with Israel’s policies and the validity of her history is not a concern in response to savagery.
No justification is valid when it becomes a matter of the complete violation of human rights. The mistreatment of innocent civilians by Hamas is a crime against humanity and raises a major concern about morality. The damage and exploitation Hamas has wrought on the Palestinians who are their own people is unacceptable and deserves a column of its own.
After much contemplation, I decided that my contribution to the cause is through my words, critical in the knowledge we acquire and in the formation of our beliefs. The only way to combat the negativity and false narratives controlling the media is to counter it with the opposite.
The beauty of humanity lies within the human desire to sacrifice for the greater good. On a smaller scale, the demonstration at the vigil of hundreds of candles being lit from one flame provides a deeper insight into the power of community. It is embodied through the two soldiers with their entire lives ahead of them who remain strong and they wear smiles on their faces as they head off to an unprecedented war with incredibly high stakes, both personal and national. It is demonstrated through my friend running back for me every time I fell behind, despite fearing for his own life as much as I did for mine.
A fundamental principle of the Jewish faith is the value of a human life. In Judaism, to save one life is considered equivalent to saving an entire world; to destroy one life is to destroy an entire world. Every person is considered to have inherent worth, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, class or race. This Jewish value is held in such high regard that it sets the groundwork for the strength of the Jewish community. The power of unity has sustained us for generations when all else failed.
There is a reason the Jewish people are still standing today with hope and resilience. Despite centuries of discrimination, hatred and oppression, nobody can ever take away our strength and pride as a people. Against all odds, we will continue to survive and thrive.
Am Yisrael Chai - The People of Israel Live
Molly Seghi is a first-year journalism major at UF and a Fall 2023 Avenue Reporter. When not writing or journaling, she can be found at a live music event or working on her podcast “An Aural Account.”
