More than 100 University of Michigan students and community members gathered on the Diag Wednesday afternoon for a rally marking six months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Student representatives from Wolverine for Israel, Michigan Hillel, Chabad House and the Jewish Resource Center spoke at the event, and Rabbi Alter Goldstein recited Psalm 122, a prayer for peace.
On Oct. 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, which Israeli officials said resulted in about 1,200 casualties and 240 hostages being captured by Hamas. LSA junior Evan Cohen, president of Wolverine for Israel, said in his speech that the purpose of the rally was to commemorate the lives lost in the attack and call for the safe return of the hostages.
“We’re here today to remember the atrocities of six months ago and to rally to bring our hostages home,” Cohen said. “As Jews, we always manage to find the light. We know the morally right from wrong and we stand proud with our Jewish values. Continue to take care of one another. Continue to donate to humanitarian efforts in Israel.”
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA junior Ryan Silberfein, chair of the governing board at Michigan Hillel, said she believes the rally provided a space for pro-Israel community members to come together on campus.
“We have to walk through protests almost every week on this campus that are very upsetting to a lot of us,” Silberfein said. “Another aspect of (the rally) was being able to show people that we are still here on campus, whether or not we are disrupting classes, we are still here, and while other people get to protest too, we want to show that we can do a peaceful rally as well.”
The rally was met with some resistance, as a group of about 15 pro-Palestine students stood on benches and held up signs including messages such as, “Anti-Zionism ≠ Anti-Semitism” and “Jewish Students Say: Down With Imperialism.”
In an email to The Daily, Social Work student Cora Galpern, outreach chair for the U-M chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, said the phrases on the signs were meant to highlight how the Jewish and Palestinian struggles are connected.
“Our signs emphasized the intersection between Jewish safety and Palestinian liberation, drew attention to the thousands of Palestinians being held hostage in Israeli prisons and highlighted the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism,” Galpern wrote. “We chose this messaging because it was consistent with the values that Judaism has instilled in us — that every life is sacred, that we must welcome the stranger, and that Tikkun Olam (repair the world) is an obligatory and ongoing practice.”
In an interview with The Daily, Engineering junior Jonathan Bandel, president of Chabad at Michigan, said the organizations behind the rally saw it as a way to publicly reaffirm their support for Israel.
“We’re also just trying to show that nobody will intimidate us and that there’s always going to be two sides of every story,” Bandel said. “We’re going to stand firm with our stuff, and we’re always going to do what we think and what we believe in.”
Attendees at the rally held up Israeli flags and posters with the faces of hostages on them. Engineering freshman Ella Mendelson told The Daily she attended the rally to stand against rising antisemitism.
“I wanted to show support for my people, and I am fortunate enough to be able to be on this campus and be able to come out and attend one of these rallies,” Mendelson said. “I wanted to be here to show the side that doesn’t get talked a lot about, which is that we are just truly a peaceful people, peacefully protesting against antisemitism.”
In a later interview, Cohen said the rapidly evolving nature of the Israel-Hamas war requires a strong focus on student support and an emphasis on inclusion.
“This conflict is continually evolving, and our campus also continually evolves,” Cohen said. “Our biggest focus is to support our students — support them, help them, make them feel like they have a place on campus and ensure that they don’t feel intimidated and feel safe.”
LSA sophomore Dani Portnoy, Jewish Resource Center president, said the three organizations at the rally — Hillel, Chabad and the JRC — are available to provide support to Jewish students.
“We’re strong — we’re not going anywhere,” Portnoy said. “Hillel, Chabad and the JRC are here for Jewish students to support them in any way they need during this time.”
Daily Staff Reporter Arnav Gupta can be reached at arnavgup@umich.edu.