Candlelight Vigil for Palestine

media release: On Friday, June 4, at 8:30pm Central Time, students of UW-Madison will lead a candlelight vigil at the Library Mall at the bottom of State Street. The vigil, led by UW-Madison’s Students for Justice in Palestine organization, will be held to honor and mourn the more than 230 Palestinians, including at least 65 children, that were murdered in the month of May as part of Israel’s bombing campaign of Gaza.

For each life lost, a candle will be lit and carried from the Library Mall, down State Street to the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. At the Capitol, speakers from Students for Justice in Palestine and its endorsing partners will deliver speeches to honor those killed in Gaza, and condemn the United States’ ongoing funding of the Israeli military.

Although the Students for Justice in Palestine organization took a leading role in organizing this vigil, the event was also endorsed by several other activist organizations. Endorsers include Rebuilding Alliance, Reshaping Madison Together, the Dane County chapter of Our Wisconsin Revolution, the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, and Madison Socialist Alternative.

Student organization endorsers include the Indian student Association, the Pakistani Student Organization, the Young Democratic Socialists of America, the Malaysian Student Organization, the Muslim Sorority, and the campus chapter of Amnesty International.

Below is a tentative schedule of the event:

Memorial Library

5 minutes: SJP introductions

10 minutes: Open Mic 

10 minutes: Speeches

5 minutes: Information about candle walk 

30 minutes: Walk to capital

Capitol

10 minutes: Reading names of the lives lost

20 minutes: Calls to action

Currently, the lineup of speakers includes the leading members of Students for Justice in Palestine, a representative from Democratic Socialists of America, and a representative from Madison Socialist Alternative.

Students for Justice in Palestine and its partners demand an end to US funding of Israel’s military. This funding pays for the murder of Palestinians in Gaza and the destruction of their homes and infrastructure. It makes all US citizens complicit in the repression and apartheid that Palestinians face across Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Occupied West Bank.