Today marks the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. In the days leading up to the anniversary, communities across Maryland have already begun commemorating the 1,200 Israeli citizens who were killed in the deadly attack and called for the return of hostages.
Locals with Palestinian ties are also gathering Oct. 7 to call attention to the human toll of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which has killed more than 41,000 people and displaced 1.9 million, according to the Associated Press.
Banner reporters are covering how the conflict is impacting communities in Maryland, which has some of the country’s largest Jewish and Muslim populations. Monday night, we attended a vigil at the University of Maryland, College Park and a community gathering at the Beth El Congregation in Baltimore.
11 p.m. ET
At University of Maryland: Hundreds gather peacefully
By the time the interfaith vigil for the lives lost in Palestine started, the crowd at McKeldin Mall had swelled to a few hundred. They were called to attention by a chant of “Free, free Palestine!”
The controversial event hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine was ultimately a peaceful one, despite the contentious road to get here.
As the vigil kicked off after 6 p.m., the tone was somber: Palestinian students recounted their families’ time in Gaza and the trauma they had endured. A speaker read “If I Must Die,” first in English and then in Arabic, by Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian professor and poet killed by an airstrike in December. A senior read off names of those killed in Palestine for eight minutes, before revealing at the end that each name belonged to a child who hadn’t reached their first birthday. Organizers took a break so participants could pray.
At 8 p.m., Maryland Hillel hosted a vigil “to mark the one year anniversary of the October 7th massacre in Israel.” Participants filled a parking lot holding electric candles, mini Israeli flags. Many wore blue shirts that declared “Never Forget” with the Oct. 7 date below.
Speakers at the event echoed many of the same messages heard at the pro-Palestinian vigil earlier in the evening. They wanted people to treat their lives as if they mattered, spoke to the pain of mourning friends and family and expressed frustration at feeling that no one cared about their plight. They sang songs and lifted candles together, sharing in their grief and expressing support for the state of Israel.
10:30 p.m. ET
Israeli woman tells Beth El of life upended
More than 1,500 members of the region’s Jewish community and local and state politicians somberly gathered Monday night at Beth El Congregation of Baltimore for a ceremony on the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
One of the most captivating speakers of the evening was a young Israeli woman named Yahel now living in Baltimore. An organizer said Yahel’s last name was being withheld for security reasons.
Yahel told the stories of family and close friends who were taken as hostages. They did not all make it back home, she said.
The congregation broke out in applause as Yahel urged: “We must, must keep the hostages in the forefronts of our minds, feel them in our hearts and continue the conversation.”
— Jess Nocera
8:15 p.m. ET
‘We stand with you forever’
Applause erupted as U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin said at the Beth El ceremony, “These hostages never should have been taken. We demand their immediate release without conditions.”
Gov. Wes Moore expressed support to the congregation and Baltimore’s wider Jewish community.
“We stand with you now. We stand with you always. We stand with you forever,” Moore said, adding that on behalf of the state he denounced the Oct. 7 attack.
— Jess Nocera
7:10 p.m. ET
Beth El ceremony features elected officials
The Beth El event is getting underway, and many elected officials are attending, with some expected to give remarks.
Among them: Gov. Wes Moore, retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, state Comptroller Brooke Lierman, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, and numerous members of the Baltimore City and County councils and state delegates and senators.
Former Gov. Larry Hogan and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, both of whom are running for the seat held by Cardin, also are in attendance.
— Jess Nocera
6:30 p.m. ET
At University of Maryland, College Park: A quiet start to a controversial event
A few hundred campus community members gathered on the grass as Students for Justice in Palestine began the vigil that almost didn’t happen.
The event had been canceled in early September after it received initial university approval. The University System of Maryland and the College Park campus decided they would not allow special events on Oct. 7 unless they “support a university-sponsored Day of Dialogue.”
The student group filed a federal lawsuit challenging their event’s cancelation. A judge sided with the students, allowing the vigil to move forward as long as organizers asked participants to identify themselves and followed university security’s crowd control measures.
Monday evening, most participants were on blankets, talking or listening to speakers, some with their laptops open to squeeze in assignments. Others stood in a circle around the main group, and still more were nearby flying kites with rainbow tails bearing slogans like “Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea.”
Throughout the day, students heard speeches and attended teach-ins from groups like Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, said Holden Zeidman, a member of the student group and senior at the university.
— Maya Lora
6 p.m. ET
At Beth El: Crowds gather to remember
An hour before Beth El Congregation’s event for the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, a steady stream of community members made their way through the metal detectors to head into the sanctuary.
Before reaching the metal detectors, they were met with five panels of photos of hostages. Some had updates in blue that read “murdered,” “murdered in captivity,” or “released.”
Ahead of entering the sanctuary, which seats 1,500 people, attendees were handed a yellow ribbon as a sign of support and solitary for the victims of the attack that day.
— Jess Nocera
3:30 p.m. ET
At Johns Hopkins: Students stage a walkout
Students walked out of Mudd Hall chanting “Free Palestine” to start their short protest march around 2:10 p.m. Brian was one of the students leading the group with a megaphone in hand. As students gathered in the Freshman Quad near the center of campus, Brian yelled “this is not business as usual” and that the killing of thousands is “not normal.”
”There won’t be business as usual until we win justice,” Brian yelled.
He also accused the university of contributing to the oppression of Palestinians and for hosting a talk with an engineer from Northrop Grumman on Tuesday.
During the small gathering, a student read a poem from a Palestinian poet, a Jewish Goucher College student shared how he isn’t welcome in a Jewish group at his school since he supports Palestine and students spray painted a statue that once said “Don’t whitewash genocide” to “Resist. Free Palestine” in red paint.
— Kristen Griffith
3:00 p.m. ET
At Johns Hopkins: A safe space for protesters
A junior, who only wanted to be identified as Brian, said he and fellow students want to demonstrate that the campus is a safe space for pro-Palestine protesters to organize. He’s wearing all black with a black mask and a black and white keffiyeh around his head.
The study-in, he said, was a tactic used by protesters at Columbia and Harvard universities. He wants to show solidarity with them as well as with the people in Palestine and Lebanon.
“So far, things have been quite tame,” Brian said around 1:45 p.m.
Security officers are inside the building, and Brian said he saw campus police officers outside.
— Kristen Griffith
2:35 p.m. ET
One year since Oct. 7, Maryland’s Jewish and Palestinian communities grapple with fallout
Survivors of the Nova music festival as well as Gaza natives delivered public speeches to Maryland crowds on Sunday. Banner reporters Daniel Zawodny and Tim Prudente were among the hundreds who convened to listen to the living histories.
2:30 p.m. ET
Moore calls for unity
Gov. Wes Moore called for unity Sunday while acknowledging the deep pain felt by both Jewish and Muslim communities around the state.
“I humbly ask that we extend each other the grace required to navigate this difficult situation together — as one Maryland and one people,” Moore said in a statement.
— Lillian Reed
2:10 p.m. ET
U.S. Senate candidates Hogan, Alsobrooks navigate complex Middle East policy
By Pamela Wood
One year ago, the world was shocked when Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israel in Gaza, killing hundreds, capturing hostages and launching an ongoing war.
In the months since, the violence has escalated, causing tens of thousands more deaths, forcing millions to flee their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis and enveloping Lebanon, and soon possibly Iran. The scale of violence presents a complex policy challenge for the two candidates who hope to be Maryland’s next U.S. senator, Republican Larry Hogan and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks.
Although both are experienced elected officials — Hogan was governor for two terms and Alsobrooks is the Prince George’s County executive — neither has delved deeply into international policy. Now they’re facing one of the most challenging and divisive policy discussions as Election Day approaches.
2:00 p.m. ET
Study-In at Johns Hopkins University
About 40 or 50 people are occupying space inside Mudd Hall at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Some are wearing masks and a couple are wearing keffiyehs. It’s pretty quiet except for the machines from the Daily Grind, a coffee shop in the same space.
Students are keeping to themselves with a few passing out white papers. Some have stuck them on the back of their laptops. “Israel bombs, JHU pays,” reads one.
A paper with the words “Education in Gaza ends with bombs, not diplomas” is pasted on a statue in the middle of the room.
— Kristen Griffith
1:50 p.m. ET
Three friends, brought together by war, reflect on a year after Oct. 7
By Hugo Kugaya
Three women, previously unrelated.
Except that they are residents of Baltimore, a small city in the big scheme of things, in a world that is figuratively getting smaller just as their city literally is as well.
They were joined about a year ago after a war broke out on Oct. 7 far away from their homes but close to their hearts and minds. A war that really started a long time ago and not only hasn’t ended, but has gotten larger and bloodier.
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