About 200 attend the vigil at Colby College for those killed in Gaza

WATERVILLE – About 200 people gathered at Colby College Monday evening for a vigil honoring those who died in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Those who spoke during the gathering, organized by campus groups Colby Action for Palestine and South Asian Society, called the armed conflict a genocide against the Palestinian people and mourned those killed.

Members of the Colby College community listen to poems read during the “Vigil for Palestine” at Colby College in Waterville on Monday evening. About 200 people attended the vigil. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Most of the people in the crowd were students, although it appeared some faculty or staff were present.

“Tonight we honor the people – the men, the women, the children – who were killed as part of this genocide and in a larger pattern of violence against the Palestinian people by settlers and colonial powers,” said the opening speaker and closing remarks.

After the vigil, the speaker identified herself to a reporter as “Princess I.” She then said that wasn’t a real name when another organizer said attendees weren’t allowed to provide identifying information to the news media.

“We also recognize that today is Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Princess I said in the opening speech. “And our thoughts are with the generations affected by this genocide.”

The war was reportedly sparked by a raid into southern Israel on October 7 in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

The health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip says Israel has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians since then, according to the Associated Press.

In recent weeks, students on college campuses across the country have taken a stand against the war.

Some protests and encampments on campuses in states such as Massachusetts, New York and California have resulted in arrests. Columbia University and the University of Southern California have canceled their main ceremonies scheduled for this month.

But college campuses in Maine were largely spared from the unrest, the Portland Press Herald reported. The demonstrations were mostly small and peaceful.

Monday’s vigil in Colby began at 7 p.m. on the courtyard steps in front of the Miller Library.

A dozen people spoke during the hour-long meeting. Most read poetry in English written by Palestinian authors.

Following the speakers, dozens of names of Palestinians who died in the war were read out.

A speaker addressed criticism of the protesting US college students.

A member of the Colby College community, who did not want to give his name, collects candles at the conclusion of the Vigil for Palestine Monday evening at Colby College in Waterville. About 200 people attended the vigil. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The world is suffering from “a plague of indifference,” said the speaker, who did not give her name.

“Palestinians are people – people with lives,” the spokesman said.

As the sun set around 8 p.m., 10 students participated in the Islamic sunset prayer known as Maghrib.

The focus of the gathering was primarily on the victims of the conflict, rather than demands previously voiced by a pro-Palestinian group on campus. In the closing remarks, the person was identified as “Princess I.” called on the Colby community to take action.

“The silence in Colby has gone on for too long,” said Princess I.

Last week in Colby, the group Colby Action of Palestine, one of the organizers of Monday’s vigil, called on the school in an email to take several actions that would sever ties with Israel.

Colby President David A. Greene and the administration responded that they would consider meeting with the group but had “no intention of simply giving in to threats and arbitrary deadlines from an anonymous group.”

It was unclear who sent the email because it came from an address outside of Colby, college administrators said.

The group later responded that it had not made any threats. It also said it disagreed with Colby’s criticism of his anonymity.

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