SJP holds vigil honoring Palestinians killed by the Zionist entity on the two-year anniversary of the intensified genocide

On Oct. 7, Claremont SJP hosted “Vigil for the Martyrs” to commemorate the two year anniversary of the Zionist entity’s escalated genocide in Palestine. The vigil was held at the Pitzer clocktower from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., during which organizers read poetry, broadcasted the names of those martyred during the genocide and wrote notes to honor those killed by the Zionist entity. 

As of the writing of this story, the Zionist entity has killed at least 69,182 people, with at least 20,179 of them being children. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 90% “of Gaza’s current population of 2.1 million people has been displaced, lacking access to sufficient shelter, food, life-saving medical services, clean water, education and livelihoods.”

The vigil was a part of a larger series of events hosted on Oct. 7 by different 5C organizations in recognition of the anniversary the Zionist entity’s escalated genocide in Gaza.

“We’ve gathered here today with many kinds of grief,” an SJP organizer said, in the first of many speeches and poetry readings. “We grieve the violence that Israel inflicted and continues to inflict upon Palestinians supported in full by the US government in our tax dollars. For over 77 years, the Palestinian people have faced violent occupation…and systemic erasure of Palestinian history and culture at the hands of the Zionist entity,” they said.

Organizers then drew a connection between Palestinian liberation and indigenous displacement in the United States.

“We are currently standing on the unceded land of the indigenous Tongva people, which was stolen through genocidal violence. The Tongva are still here and this land is still stolen,” they said. “When we call for the liberation of Palestinians, we understand that we are calling for the liberation of all oppressed peoples everywhere because we know that nobody is free until everybody’s free.” 

Attendees then read poems by Refaat Alareer, Mosab Abu Toha and June Jordan, poems they had written themselves and a passage from “Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal” by Mohammed El-Kurd. 

“Every child in Gaza is me. Every mother and father is me,” a speaker read out, quoting Mosab Abu Toha. “Every house is my heart, every tree is my leg, every plant is my arms, every flower in my eye, every hole in the Earth is my wound.”

Another attendee read out a statement from Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif that was published after his murder by the Zionist entity on August 10, 2025. Al-Sharif was an Al Jazeera journalist from the Jabaliya refugee camp in Northern Gaza, well-known for his documentation of the genocide in Gaza through media work and social platforms. In August, Al-Sharif, was killed by the Zionist entity in a targeted attack along with the three other Al Jazeera journalists. Since the onset of the genocide, the Zionist entity has killed 270 journalists and media workers. 

“If my words reach, you know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice,” a speaker said, reading from Anas Al-Sharif’s message. “I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.”

Programming ended with attendees writing notes and leaving flowers for those killed by the Zionist entity at the clocktower.

This article was published on Nov. 17, 2025 and backdated to Oct. 7, 2025 for browsing convenience.