Penn community plans to commemorate Oct. 7 anniversary with vigils, memorials, and rallies

The Penn and Philadelphia communities are planning a range of programming to recognize the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel — including memorials, protests, and events in remembrance of the victims of the conflict in the Middle East. 

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostage. The anniversary also marks one year since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, during which Israel’s retaliation and subsequent siege on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly two million people, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Penn Hillel and the Penn Israel Public Affairs Committee are organizing a full day of programming to commemorate the anniversary of the attacks and honor those still being held hostage in Gaza. Events will primarily be held at Hillel's Steinhardt Hall and will include a five-hour reading of the names of the 1,200 victims of the attacks in Israel, an all-day art installation in memory of the lives lost, and a processing space, according to the Penn Hillel website.

Hillel will also screen a film titled "Screams Before Silence," which depicts the events at the Nova Festival, an all-night rave attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. And at 6:30 p.m., Hillel will hold a memorial ceremony on Steinhardt Hall's second floor, preceded by a community dinner.

"We will gather in community to mourn the lives lost on that day and throughout the war ever since," an event notice read. "We will hear from Jewish + Israeli students, we will sing, and we will reflect together."

Penn Chabad will also host an event, titled “Israel’s Resilience and Strength,” at 7 p.m. to “honor those we lost and bring more light into the world with unity.” It will also organize a Mitzvah Wall on Locust Walk "in memory of those who perished, and in the merit of those still being held in captivity."

The Muslim Students Association will hold a memorial on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the ARCH building to “mourn and remember the innocent lives lost in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria.” The event will be open to the public following half an hour of prayers. 

The Philadelphia coalition of Students for Justice in Palestine, which launched last month, is organizing its first-ever action on Monday at 2 p.m., with a rally and march starting at Drexel University’s campus at 30th and Market streets. Several of the group's co-organizers, including the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition, were instrumental in organizing the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Penn’s campus last spring. 

In an event titled "One Year of Genocide," Philadelphia SJP is now calling on participants to skip class and call out of work to "protest one year of the Zionist entity's genocide in Gaza" and in support of "the student intifada."

Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine has announced three upcoming events, set to begin on Tuesday and take place throughout the week. These include a movie night, a teach-in on Lebanon and Palestine, and a zine-making workshop. All PAO events require registration.

On Oct. 9, University of Texas at Austin professor David Rabban will host an event at the Graduate School of Education presenting and critiquing the judicial application of the First Amendment to campus expression. Drawing from his new book, “Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right,” Rabban will discuss how his analysis applies to free speech controversies on campus following Oct. 7, 2023. He will explore academic freedom as a First Amendment right for professors, universities, and students, and its relationship to broader free speech law.

Beyond Penn's campus, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History will on Monday open a weeklong exhibition featuring artifacts from the Nova Festival, including “burned cars, bullet-riddled bathroom stalls, and personal belongings from victims of the terrorist attack," according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The exhibit is supported by ex-officio University Board of Trustees member and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.