The Harrisburg Palestine Coalition on Monday announced it would host a five-day vigil to remember the lives of Palestinians lost in the war in Gaza.
In a press release, the coalition said the five-day observance, which is set to begin on Saturday, will include a “Reading of the Names.” Volunteers plan to read the names of more than 60,000 documented victims of Israel’s war in Gaza, the organizers said. The list of names include those of 18,457 children.
The coalition said the vigil will demonstrate “communal mourning for the victims of…ongoing genocide, solidarity with those still living, calls for an immediate end to the genocide and occupation of Palestine, and for an end to all material and political support from the United States of America to the genocidal settler-colony of Israel.”
Organizers said the “60,000+ victims make up only a fraction of the true current death toll,” which they note, experts and academic reports estimate to be in the hundreds of thousands.
The two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, which triggered that nation’s retaliation on Gaza will be marked on Oct. 7. Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel on that day and took more than 250 hostages in a savage attack.
In the two years since launching its attack on Gaza, Israel has come under global condemnation and increasing isolation for causing famine in Gaza and committing genocide.
The Gaza Health Ministry on Sunday said the death toll in the war on Gaza has topped 66,000 Palestinians — many of whom were women and children.
Earlier this month, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The resolution issued by the International Association of Genocide Scholars adds to the list of human rights groups accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, including two leading Israeli rights organisations, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.
A growing list of nations — 143 of 190 UN members at the most recent count — have recognized Palestinian statehood, including Canada and Great Britain.
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were meeting at the White House on Monday, with a new plan to end the war in Gaza a prime focus of that meeting.
The Harrisburg Palestine Coalition has for months called for an end to the war and for the U.S. to divest itself of Israeli interests. The coalition has for months held protest demonstrations in front of the General Dynamics plant in York County. The manufacturer is considered one of the biggest weapons manufacturers in the world and supplies the Israeli military.
The five-day vigil will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at various locations across the Harrisburg region, including:
Saturday, Oct. 4: Chocolate Town Park, Hershey
Sunday, Oct. 5: Walnut Street Bridge, Harrisburg
Monday, Oct. 6: Gettysburg, specific location TBA
Tuesday, Oct. 7: Penn Square, Lancaster
Wednesday, Oct. 8: Capitol steps, Harrisburg