One year later: What October 7 looked like for U. community
On Oct. 7, 2023, the world, both overseas and here on campus, changed. One year later, Rutgers students organized some of the largest events seen on campus so far.
Rutgers—New Brunswick has the second-largest Jewish population of any public university in the U.S. at approximately 6,400 undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students. The campus also holds a sizable Muslim population of approximately 6,000 students.
On Monday, Students Supporting Israel at Rutgers—New Brunswick (SSI), a newly recognized on-campus student organization, collaborated with several other Jewish student groups for an art gallery to commemorate casualties incurred in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The exhibit at Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus spanned across the greenery. At the entrance on Hamilton Street, students placed more than 1,400 cups with ribbons inside meant to represent the people who were directly affected by the attack. The colors — yellow, blue and black — indicated the status of an individual as either currently held in Gaza, returned from Gaza to Israel or killed on Oct. 7, 2023, respectively.
Large milk cartons and posters labeled "Kidnapped" or "Executed" could be found in the grass and on trees, with the images and names of those held captive or killed by Hamas militants. Many posters also had a small mirror next to text that read, "This could be you."
Maya Brisman, the president of Rutgers Jewish Xperience (RJX) and a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said the mirrors were added to serve as a reminder of one's proximity to potential tragedy. She recalled recently attending a music festival herself, noting that "(it) could have been any one of us."
Farther down the path, student organizations had set up tables with flyers, Israeli flags and blue and yellow ribbons. A large poster facing College Avenue detailed the events of Oct. 7, 2023, by the hour. At the end of the exhibit by Seminary Place, there were other tables available for students to do a mitzvah, or good deed, on behalf of those held captive by Hamas. Available activities included planting flower seeds, making financial donations and writing notes to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.
Signs around Voorhees Mall read, "Zionism liberates," "We are proud Zionists," "By any love necessary" and "Love is louder." Kelly Shapiro, the president of SSI and a School of Engineering senior, defined Zionism as the idea that "the Jewish people have the right to self determine in their ancestral homeland," without limitations on others' claims to the same land.
It was intended to replicate Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Taylor Shaw, a School of Arts and Sciences junior who manages SSI's graphics and social media, said. The Square is a series of artistic works related to the incident, including an empty Shabbat table and a replica of a tunnel used by Hamas. SSI's gallery retained the empty table and a display of dog tags that read, "Bring them home — now!" in English and "Our hearts are held hostage in Gaza" in Hebrew.
A new club on campus
SSI is currently a provisional organization, according to Shapiro. She said the impetus behind the creation of the group was a lack of a student-run organization with the singular goal of pro-Israeli advocacy.
The organization seeks to identify sources of common ground and civility between opposing sides on the issue, Shapiro said. At its first meeting, the club garnered approximately 50 attendees, exceeding Shapiro's initial expectations when she booked a room.
"We literally should have moved rooms because our room was too small," she said. "(In) light of what's going on, I think a lot of students, specifically the Jewish and pro-Israel students, are feeling kind of like, the call to action and feeling like it's their duty to step up and do something."
The venue, which had reportedly been booked since May, was a choice by SSI to maximize visibility in and be "loud … in a rule-following way,” Shaw said.
"We're here to show that we also have a voice too, and that we're not scared … that we're proud to be Zionists, and that we're proud to be Jews," Shaw continued. "And we wanted to show the Rutgers community that."
Reflections from SSI, RJX, FAOC: "This could have been any one of us"
Omer Nativ, a former president of RJX, the president and founder of Fighting Antisemitism On Campus (FAOC) and a Rutgers Business School senior, said she has family in Israel and struggled to sleep and attend classes after Oct. 7, 2023.
She and Brisman said, in the days after Oct. 7, 2023, they noticed Jewish friends, family and peers worried about presenting Jewish, often through religious garments like the kippah and cultural jewelry that depicts the Star of David. Brisman said she pushed back against family and friends who urged her to remove her necklace in public, including on campus.
"I almost cried, and I was like, 'I don't want to take it off. Like, this is terrible … I love being Jewish. I shouldn't have to hide who I am,'" she said. "And I remember it was just really, really upsetting to me. And I was like, 'No one should have to feel this way, Jewish or not.'"
Rabbi Meir Goldberg from RJX said many felt a connection to those being held hostage, emphasizing a goal to ensure these individuals remain in collective memory. Brisman, who grew up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, said she had friends who were in classes with 20-year-old Edan Alexander, from Tenafly, New Jersey, who was captured in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, after volunteering for the IDF.
"The attacks on Israel, the attacks on the Jewish community will not stop us," Goldberg said. "It will just make us stronger and more determined to connect to God and to connect to one another and to be a stronger community."
While Nativ sees the Israeli government as flawed, she pointed out Israel's status as a democracy in the Middle East.
"(The Israeli government is) not considered a terrorist group," she said. "And it's just really heartbreaking for me to go around and (see) people kind of defend terrorists."
An act of protest at Voorhees Mall
Behind the rear wing of Scott Hall on the College Avenue campus, three students were sitting on a bench facing the display of ribbons. One was Rocky Safri, a graduate student at Middlesex College.
Safri, who is of Algerian descent, compared Palestinian autonomy to Algeria's independence from France in 1962. Her grandfather was seized by French militant forces as a prisoner of war, and her parents witnessed Algeria gain sovereign status.
She said her family's relationship with these historical events motivated her parents to take her to pro-Palestinian protests from infancy.
"If the Algerians can be free, then the Palestinians can absolutely be free," she said.
Safri also expressed her upset at the gallery and those involved in its preparation, citing the gap in death tolls between Israel and Gaza.
"They have a table set with the pictures of the hostages, and there's like, maybe 10 chairs, and it's like, over 400,000 people — over 400,000 people," Safri said. "Can you imagine if we were to set a table for all the martyrs of Palestine? We would not have enough chairs or space on this campus."
Safri and others donning Palestinian flags and keffiyehs then walked past the Shabbat table, pointing out IDF soldiers. She said she was referring to the images of those being held hostage, who she claimed were mostly members of the IDF. She referenced counter-protests that occurred at the encampment during the Spring 2024 semester as the reason she did so.
"At this breaking point, right now, on this day, one year into a genocide, I feel absolute rage," Safri said. "I can't really feel anything else when I watch all these people supporting a government that is quite literally murdering children as we speak."
Pro-Palestinian students in hundreds respond through protests, marches and a sit-in
Pro-Palestinian student organizations weighed in on the events first through various posts on Instagram, one of which explained that referring to the events of Oct. 7, 2023, as an "unprovoked attack (ignores) 76 years of brutal and illegal occupation of Palestine."
The same post documents how the groups kicked off their week of events, dubbed a "Week of Rage," by hanging banners from the College Ave Gymnasium during the silent march. The post also contains an excerpt from Rutgers Chabad leaders, in which they referred to Rutgers as "a remote army base" for Israel.
On Tuesday, the groups conducted their own protest against a speaker event scheduled to be at the Chabad House on the College Avenue campus featuring Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, who co-founded Hamas.
Yousef, author of "Son of Hamas" who now purportedly works with the Israeli government, is known for his anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiments. In a video shared by the Rutgers Muslim Public Relations Council, Yousef asserts that, "if (he had) to choose between 1.6 billion Muslims and a cow, (he) will choose the cow."
The event was ultimately postponed to an unknown date, but the protest ensued nonetheless.
Originally scheduled to take place on the lawn outside of the College Avenue Gymnasium, notably close to the Chabad House, the event began as a protest attended by approximately 75 individuals before swelling into a march to Winants Hall on the College Avenue campus attended by several hundred.
At the gymnasium, student speakers led several chants, some of which were more broad, such as "The students united will never be defeated" and "There is only one solution, intifada revolution."
Speakers at the event critiqued the Western perspective of the events of Oct. 7, 2023, as an attack without cause, and the justification of the death and violence that followed. They also attributed changes of this perception to demonstrations shining a light on the Palestinian cause, and asserted that the day was not one of grief or mourning, but one of action.
They also asked attendees to always remember the thousands of individuals who have been killed, and continue to be killed not only in Gaza but also in countries like Yemen, Lebanon and Syria.
"I ask you to make sure they never leave your heart," a speaker said. "The second that Gaza leaves your heart, the second that Gaza leaves your mind, you (have) lost your humanity ... and that's because we know the truth, we know what is right."
Certain chants were more directed at the University, and various demands members of the student community have made of the administration, including "Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest" and "They're killing sons, they're killing daughters/they're killing mothers, they're killing fathers, Rutgers Rutgers, end the slaughter."
Speakers also further commented on Rutgers' response to demonstrations and ostracization of the University’s Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students through purported conduct hearings and false accusations, as well as their approval of Yousef's presentation.
A significantly smaller group of students, some of whom wore "Proud Zionists" shirts, conducted a counter-protest in the form of dancing, singing and chants during that time.
A noticeably smaller group of those counter-protestors moved alongside pro-Palestinian student demonstrators during their march to Winants Hall. Police cars also repositioned themselves along the way to facilitate the flow of traffic and individuals moving down the street.
Approaching Winants, protestors called for University President Jonathan Holloway, shouting, "Holloway, you're a coward, the students have all the power." At the building, one leader taunted him, saying, "Holloway, we're back," a call that was met with cheers. Behind them, members of the Rutgers University Police Department stood, guarding the doors.
As the event progressed, demonstrators locked arms and progressively moved into a circular formation. The group subsequently conducted a brief sit-in where a speaker shared insights about resilience and remaining adamant on the notion that "they will not win."
"I want us to think about how that manifests itself in the world around you," the speaker said. "Because I know what my tradition says, that there is never a point in which those who fight for justice, that they will ever lose."
