SINCE 1891
THE THE BROWN BROWN DAILY DAILYHERALD HERALD VOLUME CLVIII, ISSUE 44
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2023
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
WHAT’S INSIDE
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Rainn Wilson discusses ‘The Office,’ spirituality in banter-filled lecture KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
SEE WILSON PAGE 14
METRO Community members process escalating violence in Israel, Gaza R.I. coalition raises
Students attend vigils, seek out community to grieve loss of life in Israel, Gaza BY SAM LEVINE AND KATHY WANG UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS
Content warning: This article contains descriptions of violence and discussions of death. Early Saturday morning, Hamas, the militant group that controls much of the Gaza Strip, launched an attack on several cities across southern and central Israel. Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries, broke through the fencing that surrounds Gaza into Israeli territory and launched a wide-reaching assault by land, air and sea, the Associated Press reported. The Israeli military has retaliated with
continual strikes on Gaza and has blocked deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity. This escalation of Israel’s decades-long blockade, which security analysts predict will be followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, will not pause for humanitarian aid until the release of the approximately 150 hostages captured by Hamas during its attack, Israeli officials have said. According to the Associated Press, the recent Hamas terrorist attacks and Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 3,200 people, primarily civilians. The violence, students told The Herald, has reverberated through campus, leading students to seek community and space to mourn. On Friday morning, the Israeli military also ordered the evacuation of the approximately 1.1 million Palestinians currently living in northern Gaza. A United Nations spokesperson has called the evacuation order “impossible” and warned of “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
ON-CAMPUS ACTIVISM
“With this weekend’s horrific and devastating attacks by Hamas on Israel and the tragic loss of life that has ensued — including and especially the impact on civilians in both Israel and Gaza — my thoughts are with the individuals and families most directly impacted by the violence and those who remain in fear as the conflict persists,” President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 wrote to the Brown community in an email Tuesday afternoon. “We began with outreach to students with connections to the region and will continue to support these students for as long as needed,” she wrote. The violence in Israel and Gaza this week has profoundly impacted many Brown community members. Gidget Rosen ’24 woke up on Saturday morning to discover the extent of the attack on Israel. Her first instinct was to text everyone she knew in the country. “I wanted to know that people were okay,”
she said. “I have family in Gaza, and multiple members of my extended family have died in the past few days,” wrote one student of Palestinian descent, who wished to remain anonymous for safety concerns, in a message to The Herald. “Hearing them talk about it makes me realize how familiar death is to them — they seem so used to it.” “The ones who are still alive have had their homes destroyed, they have no food and no water, and nowhere to go. It is incomprehensible,” they added. Amitai Nelkin ’25 was observing Simchat Torah — a holiday during which many Jews do not use electronics — over the weekend. News of the attacks slowly reached him by word of mouth, but “there’s really no way that we could have understood the horrors that had occurred,” he said.
awareness around issues of domestic violence
SEE COALITION PAGE 5
METRO
CPC approves most requests for contentious Wickenden proposal SEE WICKENDEN PAGE 5
POST-
SEE REACTIONS PAGE 3
CAMPUS LIFE
Student groups reflect, com- Talk for Tomorrow holds vigil ment on Israel-Hamas war for Palestinian, Israeli deaths Student groups criticize President Christina Paxson’s response to escalating violence BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER Content warning: This article contains descriptions of violence and discussions of death. Violence in Israel and Gaza has sparked intense outcry from Brown community members, with several campus organizations holding vigils to commemorate the loss of civilian lives. Several student organizations have released statements of mourning while simultaneously condemning what they identify as the root causes of the violence. Brown Students for Israel has criticized pro-Palestine groups on campus for their characterization of the recent violence. Meanwhile, groups including Students for Justice in Palestine and the newly-formed
Talk for Tomorrow have condemned what they say is a one-sided response from the University. On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel. The attacks by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries, triggered a declaration of war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli military has responded with continual air strikes on Gaza and by intensifying its years-long blockade of the Strip, completely cutting off food, water, fuel and electricity. Last Friday, Israel ordered one million civilians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive. A United Nations spokesperson has called the order “impossible” and warned of “devastating humanitarian consequences.” Israeli officials have said that its retaliation will not pause for humanitarian aid until the release of
SEE ACTIVISM PAGE 16
Community members shared religious prayers, anonymous student testimonies BY SAM LEVINE UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR Content warning: This article contains descriptions of violence and discussions of death. On Wednesday evening, Brown community members gathered on the Main Green to light candles and recite Jewish and Muslim prayers to mourn victims of the recent escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza. “This week has been an incredibly painful one for our Palestinian, Arab, Jewish and Israeli friends at Brown. It has been heart-wrenching and disturbing to witness what has been broadcast and shared with our world,” a vigil organizer said in a speech. “We wanted to make a space for our communities to stand together rather than let ourselves be divided.” Wednesday’s vigil was organized by Talk for Tomorrow, a new campus group of anonymous Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian
and Arab students at the University. Earlier this week, the group shared an open letter addressed to President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 which “unequivocally” condemned Hamas’s attacks on Israel as well as “Israel’s inexcusable acts in Palestine.” The letter urged Paxson “to protect Palestinians and those advocating for Palestinian rights on campus” and to expand her response to the recent violence “to include the condemnation of the Israeli state’s inexcusable acts.” On Oct. 10, Paxson wrote in a letter to the Brown community that “with this weekend’s horrific and devastating terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel and the tragic loss of life that has ensued — including and especially the impact on civilians in both Israel and Gaza — my thoughts are with the individuals and families most directly impacted by the violence and those who remain in fear as the conflict persists.” Paxson was in attendance at the beginning of Wednesday’s vigil but departed before its conclusion. University Spokesperson Brian Clark declined to comment
SEE VIGIL PAGE 14
SEE PAGE 8
ARTS & CULTURE
SEE PAGE 12