RICHMOND, Va. -- The Palestinian Student Organization at VCU held a vigil Thursday night in Monroe Park in Richmond to pray for those who have been killed during the Israel-Hamas War, educate others about the realities they say the Palestinian people face, and warn against Anti-Muslim rhetoric they said could lead to hate crime — like the recent slaying of a six-year-old boy in Chicago.
"This type of rhetoric breeds hate crimes like what happened in Chicago and it makes it unsafe for students on campus," Zaid Mahdawi, President of the American Muslims for Palestine Richmond Chapter said.
President Joe Biden referenced the killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois to delivera forceful denunciation of antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Biden brought up the case of Wadea Al-Fayoume during a televised nighttime address from the Oval Office.
Authorities say the boy, who was Muslim, was stabbed 26 times Saturday by his landlord in response to escalating rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.
Wadea’s mother was critically wounded.
Biden said it’s difficult to “stand by and stand silent when this happens,” adding that “we must without equivocation denounce” antisemitism and Islamophobia.
The White House said that after the speech, Biden and his wife, Jill, spoke with Wadea’s father and uncle to offer condolences along with prayers for his mother’s recovery.
In his address, the president also spoke about the war in Ukraine against Russian forces, appearing to try to link the two conflicts in the framework that urges nations to have restraint and aim for peace.
On Thursday Biden said, "We must denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia."
Biden said, "To all of you who are hurting, I want you to know, I see you."
"You belong, and I want to say this to you: You are all American," the president said.
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Back at VCU, another vigil is planned for Monroe Park on Sunday.
"We strive at VCU to be an inclusive campus and diverse campus," Mahdawi said.
VCU President Michael Rao said in an October 13 statement that he's met with student leaders and advisors of VCU’s Muslim Student Association, Hillel at VCU, the Palestinian Student Organization, Black Muslim Collective, and Jewish Life at VCU.
"It remains heartbreaking that innocent civilians — Israeli, Palestinian, American and many other nationalities — have been killed, injured and had their homes and communities destroyed. We must always place the highest value on all human lives anywhere they are," Rao's statement read. "Second, I emphasized that all members of the VCU community must feel safe, welcomed and respected on campus. This is a priority."
Israel strikes southern Gaza as Palestinians brace for a ground invasion
Israeli airstrikes are hitting southern Gaza, an area swelled by civilians who fled there from the north on Israeli instructions.
Meanwhile, Israel began evacuating a sizable town near the Lebanese border in the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil.
Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy airstrikes in the southern city of Khan Younis, where civilians had been told to seek safety amid Israel's bombardment of areas closer to the Israeli border. Ambulances streamed into Gaza’s second-largest hospital, already overflowing with patients and people seeking shelter.
The U.N. secretary general is at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza seeking to find a way to get badly needed aid into the enclave.
The war, which is in its 14th day on Friday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that 4,137 Palestinians have been killed and more than 13,000 others wounded.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel.
In addition, 203 people were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, the Israeli military has said.
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Currently:
1. U.S. President Joe Biden meets with European leaders to assure them the U.S. can deliver wartime aid to Ukraine and Israel.
2. In Nir Oz, a quarter of the residents are dead or missing after the Hamas attack
3. The current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and push prices higher.
4. Egypt and other Arab countries typically don’t want to take in Palestinian refugees.
The director of Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, says generators in the hospital are operating at the lowest setting to provide power to vital departments that cannot function without electricity, while others work in darkness.
The hospital is prioritizing intensive care, nursery, dialysis, oxygen generation, obstetrics and gynecology, heart care and the blood bank, Mohammed Abu Selmia said.
“I don’t know how long it will last. Every day we evaluate the situation,” he said.
The number of wounded coming to the hospital is so high it’s difficult to identify them, he said. Water is scarce, and patients with chronic diseases and cancer are suffering.
Asked what medical supplies were needed most, he said all medicines related to emergency care, intensive care and operations, obstetrics and gynecology, and dialysis medications.
Doctors can’t treat patients without these supplies, he said. “We cannot function without it.”
Israel says almost 30 children among hostages taken by Hamas
Nearly 30 of some 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are children, the Israeli military said.
More than 10 are over the age of 60, it said in a statement.
Authorities have no information about the location of more than 100 missing Israelis, it added.
US intelligence estimates 100 to 300 died in hospital blast
An unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment delivered to Congress estimates casualties in an explosion at a Gaza City hospital on the “low end” of 100 to 300 deaths.
That death toll “still reflects a staggering loss of life,” U.S. intelligence officials said in the findings, which were seen by The Associated Press.
Officials were still assessing the evidence, and the estimate may evolve.
The explosion at Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital on Tuesday left body parts strewn on the hospital grounds, where crowds of Palestinians had clustered in hopes of escaping Israeli airstrikes.
Officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza quickly said an Israeli airstrike had hit the hospital.
Israel denied it was involved.
The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.
President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials already have said that U.S. intelligence officials believed the explosion was not caused by an Israeli airstrike.
Thursday’s findings echoed that.
The U.S. assessment noted “only light structural damage” to the hospital itself was evident, with no impact crater visible.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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