As the one-year anniversary of the start of the Israel-Hamas war approaches, approximately 100 students and community members gathered for the International Day of Action at the Bernie Milton Pavilion in the Ithaca Commons on Saturday, Oct. 5.
This event is part of the larger International Day of Action movement created by Shut it Down for Palestine —— an international fundraising movement created for Gaza. Pro-Palestine organizations across North America and Europe have united to mark the day in support of the Palestinian cause.
The event aimed to foster solidarity between multi-faith organizations and raise awareness about Palestinian liberation. It was co-hosted by six organizations — Ithaca Committee for Justice in Palestine – Jews for Mutual Liberation, Jewish Voice for Peace at Cornell, Students for Justice in Palestine at Cornell, the Coalition for Mutual Liberation, Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America and the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the Finger Lakes.
According to Yihun Stith ’26, a spokesperson for CML, the International Day of Action gave the Ithaca community an opportunity to reflect on the past year.
“The International Day of Action is an event for all of us to come together to mourn, to celebrate, to kind of show the community that has been growing since last year, … and I think it’s a real show of power how the community has grown,” Stith said.
Momodou Taal, a pro-Palestine international graduate student whose second suspension puts him at risk of being deported if his second and final appeal is denied, condemned the U.S. government’s financial and military support to Israel.
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After being suspended in the spring for helping organize the pro-Palestine encampment on the Arts Quad, Taal’s was suspended a second time after shutting down a career fair attended by defense contractors L3Harris and Boeing. His suspension currently bars him from campus.
Taal criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ “abysmal job” working towards a ceasefire, discussing a 26 billion dollar bill passed by the House to provide financial support to Israel for its defense and security needs and Biden’s approval of over 100 individual weapons transfers since Oct. 7, 2023, to the Israeli military.
“This is America’s war on the Palestinian people with all the death and destruction. We still want to despair,” Taal said. “It is time that we lose our fear, being proud of standing on the right side of history.”
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Michael Margolin, a Jewish Educator in a local synagogue and a member of JML and Reform Jews For Justice, spoke about the shared humanity of all people affected by the Israel-Hamas conflict, calling for an end to U.S. military support for Israel.
“I believe choosing life and choosing the mutual humanity of Palestinians and Israelis and Lebanese people and Iranian folks and Syrian folks and Yemeni folks in that region means that the U.S. has to stop funding and providing weapons to Israel,” Margolin said. “We need an international arms embargo on Israel so that Israel stops destroying the region and provoking a larger war.”
Multi-faith organizers led prayers and rituals at the event, with Ithaca CJP’s Jews for Mutual Liberation group sharing a Tashlich ritual, a Jewish New Year ceremony to cast off the sins of the past year. As Rosh Hashanah had just concluded, the Tashlich ritual held special significance, allowing participants to reflect on renewal and liberation at a time of both personal and communal introspection.
Margolin explained that people will participate in Tashlich by writing messages on a Post-it based on the prompt “where we will cast off the things that are holding us back from engaging in mutual liberation in the water.”
Participants cast off these messages by throwing the Post-its in the water, which was represented by a bowl of water from Cayuga Lake. Afterward, people could write their hopes and messages on another sticky note and pin them to a tree drawn onto a canvas sheet.
Margolin discussed the importance of making conscious, compassionate choices during this crucial time.
“One of the lines that we’re going to say on the high holidays is that, it comes from the Torah, that God put in front of the people, a choice — blessing or curse, life or death,” Margolin said. “And the encouragement is to choose life.”
Correction, Oct. 7, 12:00 p.m.: A previous version of this article incorrectly described Michael Margolin’s position in a local synagogue.