A crowd of about 500 attended a vigil led by Cornell Hillel at Ho Plaza to mourn, remember and pray for Israeli hostages on Monday night, the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.
There was a somber mood among the Cornell students and Ithaca community members gathered there, some carrying Israeli and American flags and many holding candles. Hillel President Melanie Schwartz ’25 and Cornell Chabad Co-President Abbey Charlamb ’25 gave opening remarks before leading a moment of silence.
“We … pray for the safe return of every single one of the remaining hostages, to send comfort to those grieving loved ones and to send courage and strength to our brothers and sisters in the IDF defending the State of Israel,” Charlamb said.
Prof. Yuval Grossman, physics, thanked Cornell for support that went beyond the Jewish community after the events of October 7.
“Working for peace is the only way forward,” said Grossman, who is Israeli-American.
The crowd stood silent as the names of the 101 hostages still in Gaza were read aloud. Some vigil-goers broke into tears as a TV played a video of Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s eulogy for her son Hersh, a hostage killed by Hamas.
Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi, Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives Josh Riley and Republican candidate for the New York State Senate Mike Sigler were in attendance.
“I’m here to support the community as people are coming together and mourning,” Riley said.
“It was beautiful,” Sigler said of the Ho Plaza vigil. “I loved the reading of the names. I think that’s important.”
A simultaneous vigil hosted by Cornell’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace outside Bailey Hall drew about 50 mourners. Hasham Khan ’26, a speaker for SJP, opened the event.
“I do know that people on this campus realize that there is a deep-rooted injustice going on in the world, and we are directly contributing to it,” Khan said. “When I use my voice to say, ‘maybe we should not be contributing to this genocide,’ I was told … that it’s not true. I was told that this is antisemitic. I was told that I am supporting terrorism by supporting the people of Palestine. And I just did not understand … why people’s right to liberty and self-determination was so controversial.”
Sam Poole ’28 of JVP emphasized remembering both Israeli and Palestinian lives lost.
“I have the deepest respect for people in Hillel and Chabad who are holding their vigil, and I join them in their mourning,” Poole said. “I think we need to have our own space because it’s important to recognize that it’s not just the Jewish community that’s been harmed by this.”
Graduate student Aziz Ali attended the Bailey Hall vigil to join a community where collective grief could be acknowledged and discussed in an open circle.
“I truly believe that our ability to grieve is not a zero-sum game,” Ali said. “People can mourn and grieve for themselves and also mourn and grieve for others.”
Max Troiano ’28 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].