by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

More than 100 Claremont Colleges students and staff occupied the south lawn of The Claremont Colleges Library on the first day of the fall semester Monday for a 12:15 p.m. vigil in observance of the lives lost in the war in Gaza.

The action was organized by 7C Staff for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian liberation group of Claremont Colleges staff members.

Students and staff articulated the war’s devastation on Gaza and its educational infrastructure.

“On this first day of classes, we mourn the tens of thousands of Palestinian students, staff and faculty who have no classrooms, no libraries, no workspaces to go back to,” said a masked speaker at the beginning of the event who did not give their name.

Claremont Colleges students and staff wrote messages on index cards and tied them to trees along Eighth Street near The Claremont Colleges Library at Monday’s vigil in remembrance of the lives lost in the ongoing the Israel-Hamas war. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Another speaker, who was wearing a mask and did not provide their name, said all 12 universities in Gaza have been destroyed in the war, which is now in its 11^th month, and some 94 Gazan university professors have been killed.

Other masked speakers voiced their disapproval over the Claremont Colleges’ handling of last year’s divestment and ceasefire protests.

After a moment of silence, participants were invited to write messages on index cards, which were tied to trees along the turn at Eighth Street adjacent to the library.

Claremont Graduate University student Steph R. said she attended Monday’s vigil to show solidarity with students and protest U.S. government aid to Israel. The message on her index card referenced a July advisory opinion from the United Nations’ International Court of Justice that found Israel was occupying Palestinian territories unlawfully, and was also aimed at pushing Pomona College to drop the charges against 19 students who were arrested for misdemeanor trespassing after an April 5 sit-in at Alexander Hall.

A vigil in remembrance of the lives lost in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war was held Monday outside The Claremont Colleges Library. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo