
Torch Photo / Malak Kassem
The Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) held an interfaith vigil for Palestine, honoring the over 40,000 civilians who were killed since Oct. 7, outside of the D’Angelo Center (DAC) on Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m.
The event was meant to serve as a “space for reflection, respect and remembrance” to “honor the martyrs and stand in unity with those impacted,” according to their Instagram.
“I feel like it’s important to recognize our martyrs because many people were affected, not only Palestinians but also Americans who were affected and people on the other side as well,” said Nina Juaidi, a member of the PSC executive board.
“We want to remember everybody.”
During the vigil, students displayed art and posters symbolizing solidarity with the Palestinian people. They also lit candles and placed flowers near a Palestinian flag.
Several board members of PSC spoke and prayed at the event, and read aloud a list of names of Palestinians who have been killed since Oct. 7.
For the first half of the vigil, about 15 students were in attendance, including many PSC board members. Later on, a group of about 10 men from Neturei Karta International (NKI), an organization of “Jews united against Zionism,” joined the vigil.
The group was not invited to the vigil, according to PSC.
PSC told The Torch it assumed that NKI heard about the event from their Instagram post.
“We are here after one year of genocide,” Rabbi Yosef Rosenberg, a member of NKI told The Torch. “And instead of stopping the genocide, they are expanding and going in starting to occupy Lebanon, so I feel it’s crucial to come out and say it’s not in our name and it’s not in the Jewish religion.”

Rosenberg said he felt the need to speak out because, “[Israel is] using my religion, my identity, to justify crime, which my religion forbids.”
About 20 minutes after the group arrived at the vigil, St. John’s Public Safety announced that members of the NKI had to be escorted off campus, as they were not authorized to be there.
After the vigil ended, PSC posted a statement on Instagram decrying Public Safety’s presence at the rally writing, “At 6:55, just twenty-five minutes into our peaceful vigil, a public safety officer arrived, immediately talking on his phone…without any effort to understand what was happening, he referred to our vigil as a ‘protest.’”
The officer mistook the vigil as a “Jewish vs. Palestinian protest,” according to the statement.
Representatives from NKI wore Keffiyehs, a scarf symbolizing Palestinian solidarity, with Palestinian flags on them.
“I’m shocked, scared and deeply traumatized by what happened during our approved vigil,” Bezu Berhanemeskel, vice president of PSC, told The Torch, “Public safety acted on hearsay, completely changing the atmosphere of what was intended to be a peaceful event.”
PSC said they view this encounter as a threat to students’ freedom of speech.
“I now feel scared to express my voice on campus, and it’s evident that it isn’t safe for us to do so,” Berhanemeskel said.
Brian Browne, University spokesperson, told the Torch that Public Safety was responding to multiple reports of a gathering in front of DAC due to concerns about an outside group. Browne said that after assessing the situation, Public Safety asked the outside group to leave campus.
“The St. John’s students who were participating in a prayer vigil continued the remainder of the event,” Browne said, “The Division of Student Success will continue to work with student organizations hosting events to ensure they can do so without issue. The Department of Public Safety provides safety and security services every day of the year to create and maintain a safe and secure living and learning environment for our campus community.”
PSC is holding a rally on Oct. 11 at 1:40 p.m. in “solidarity with Palestine and all oppressed peoples” at the Great Lawn.