Madison Students for a Democratic Society organized a candlelight vigil at Library Mall Oct. 7 to remember the lives of Palestinians killed in Gaza.
The United Nations declared that Israel has been committing four genocidal actions in Gaza since the Hamas attacks that occurred Oct. 7, 2023.
The vigil was announced on Oct. 5 via Instagram in a shared post with the organizations Jewish Voice for Peace, Code Pink, Trans Resistance Action Committee, Palestinian Solidarity Committee and Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine.
The post encouraged community members to join these groups in remembering Palestinian “martyrs” through listening to individual stories of those who lost their lives in Gaza and speeches shared by members of the represented organizations.
MSDS member Everett Penne said the organization decided to host the vigil because they believe it’s more important than ever before to fight for the end of genocide in Gaza and unite these different communities on the UW campus voicing support for Palestine into a single voice.
“There was a lot of energy left over from Students for Justice in Palestine, one of the student organizations, which has been the target of university repression, and [MSDS] really wanted to step in and fill that role as much as possible,” Penne said.
SJP’s status as a Registered Student Organization was suspended in July after University of Wisconsin’s RSO Committee determined they violated five different university policies.
Penne said MSDS knows they could become the target of free speech suppression by the UW administration by taking up the mantle of some of SJP’s prior work.
UW assistant vice chancellor John Lucas said the university’s decision was due to SJP’s conduct violations rather than viewpoint in an emailed statement.
The decision followed an investigation and hearing on disruptive activities related to a rally that was co-sponsored by the group, which was already on disciplinary probation, according to Lucas.
“We’re not going to back down just because the University threatens us,” Penne said. “UW Madison students, and frankly, the broader US populace stand with the people of Palestine and recognize what’s going on is a genocide.”
The vigil is a part of MSDS’ Week of Action, consisting of a different event each day from Oct. 6-10.
The SDS organization as a whole is directed at dismantling U.S. imperialism, Penne said. SDS believes Israel is acting on behalf of the U.S. as a colonial project, Penne said.
Achieving the right to self-determination for Palestine is SDS’ ultimate goal, so they will stand in support with any terms Palestine may choose to accept to achieve self-determination, Penne said. SDS as an organization does not recognize the statehood of Israel, though.
“They are occupiers, they are settlers,” Penne said. “It’s [SDS’] belief that we should not give them more credence than necessary.”
