The Stanford Israel Association (SIA) led a memorial in Meyer Green at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday to commemorate the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel.
Speakers gave personal reflections, while tealight-bearing attendees joined in to pray and sing Hebrew songs. The event was co-sponsored by the Jewish Student Association (JSA), Hillel at Stanford and Chabad at Stanford.
Gil Werta, an Israel Fellow at Hillel, recalled his feelings from two years ago while speaking at the memorial.
“That morning, I didn’t just wake up to a new day. I woke up to a new reality,” he said. “I was filled with rage at Hamas, the terrorist organization.”
In the attack, 1,200 Israelis were murdered, with around 250 kidnapped. Forty-eight hostages currently remain in captivity.
During the rally, Werta scaled these numbers by population to draw a comparison to if the attack had been perpetrated on the U.S., stating it would be the equivalent of 44,400 Americans being killed by terrorists on a single day, 10,000 Americans taken from their homes and held captive, or “about fifty 9/11s.”
In another speech, Taryn Thomas ’26 said she originally felt pressured by social media hashtags and slogans to support the Palestinian side. Her perspective changed, she explained, when she saw an immersive exhibit in Los Angeles showing the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israelis.
“We saw the shoes left behind in the desert. We heard the screams and recorded calls for help. I was confronted with the truth no social media post could capture,” Thomas said.
The exhibit led her to apply for a Hillel program that allows Stanford students to fly to the West Bank to learn from those living in the conflict. On her fourth day there, she said, she clasped her head in fear and whispered prayers when Houthi missiles flew overhead.
“For the first time, the bubble of my American privilege was violently pierced,” Thomas said. “I came back a different person. I was accused of betraying the cause, of being a sellout, but the refusal to even entertain the idea that I had learned something, that the world was more complicated than their catchy slogans allowed it to be, confirmed the necessity of my journey.”
Two attendees of the memorial described Thomas’ speech as “powerful.”
“This is what we wish for: that everyone will have the chance to see for themselves the truth and the real Israel,” said Liat, an attendee who requested to only be identified by her first name. She also encouraged people to see Israel for more than just stereotypes and war, but for its food, culture and traditions.
“Don’t just follow the trends and the slogans,” Liat said, “When touring Israel, you will see how Israel is welcoming and how people just want to live.”
As Hillel’s “Rally for Hostages” took place, Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) also arranged a gathering in White Plaza called “All Eyes on Gaza” to remember Palestinian lives that have been lost in the ongoing war.
“Israel has broken numerous ceasefires, several have returned hostages safely, so really this is a matter of holding Israel accountable for its truly genocidal acts,” SJP organizer Amanda Campos ’26 said.
Campos claimed that Israel has committed apartheid, genocide and displacement against Palestine since 1948. She also questioned why Hillel’s vigil focused only on the 48 hostages still held by Hamas when Israel holds an unconfirmed number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
“Palestinian lives matter,” Campos said. “And that’s what we’re focused on with our vigil: honoring martyrs that have been genocided, starved and killed.”
Some attendees at the Hillel memorial felt shocked by the SJP vigil, comparing it to the idea of people celebrating Bin Laden on Sept. 11.
“Some people are celebrating today,” some attendees who requested to remain anonymous said. “This is ridiculous. This is support of terrorist organizations, which is actually unlawful.”
Thomas called on the memorial’s attendees and the greater community to find unity despite this polarization.
“Today is a day of remembrance, but let it also be a day of resolve,” Thomas said. “Let us resolve to rebuild the bridges burned by hate. Let us ensure our divisions soften into empathy instead of hardening. Our communities have so much to learn from one another and even more to gain by standing together.”
This article has been updated to reflect that multiple student organizations co-sponsored the rally.