On a quiet Wednesday evening at UC Santa Barbara, mourners gathered under Storke Tower to grieve the lives lost — and continuing to be lost — in the Gaza Strip. A mist shrouded the lawn as members of Students for Justice in Palestine carefully assembled a memorial of bouquets, candles, and framed pictures on the tower steps. One member stood silently holding a Palestinian flag high above her head, shoulders draped in traditional Palestinian scarf.
Attendees waited patiently with hushed voices, accepting small Palestinian flags and candles to hold, while others displayed homemade signs.
The reason for the vigil was simple: “This is a safe space for Palestinians to mourn. This is a safe space for all Indigenous peoples to mourn” were the first words from a student spokesperson. And thus began an evening of open poetry and prayer, interspersed with calls for justice and resistance — but mostly it was a time to remember, to lament, to weep.