WARNING: This article contains sensitive topics related to the ongoing conflict in Palestine. Those in need of support can contact the Mental Health Crisis Line: 613-722-6914 (within Ottawa) and 1-866-996-0991 (outside Ottawa), the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line: 613-238-3311, or the Youth Services Bureau 24/7 Crisis Line: 613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775 (toll).
More than 150 people cupping wax candles gathered in support of the Palestinian Students Association (PSA) vigil at the University of Ottawa listening to students share their stories on how the conflict in Gaza has affected their lives.
Names of Palestinians killed during the conflict were written on posters and lined around the University Square’s wooden stage. The day of the protest marked 368 days since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Gaza.
Samar Odeh, PSA president and vigil event co-ordinator, said she wanted to plan something different to honour those lost during the conflict.
“During protests, we are filled with a lot of rage and a lot of want for action,” Odeh said.
Rather than having a protest, she said she wanted to let the community “sit, reflect and hear people’s stories — connect with those stories.”
“I don’t believe one vigil can capture the enormity of this genocide and what is going on in Gaza,” Odeh said. Nonetheless, she said she was grateful for the support from the community to make students feel “safe and heard.”
Obay Alshaer, a fifth-year engineering student at uOttawa, was the first speaker to approach the stage to share his story.
“I was quite reluctant to actually speak today,” he said. As he paced back and forth across the stage, he acknowledged that he had not prepared a script. But, he said he understood the power of stories, and how important it is to share those stories.
“Telling our stories, if that’s going to impact people, then that’s the important thing we need to do,” he said.
Both of Alshaer’s sisters were born in Gaza, but his family moved to Canada before he was born in 2002. Alshaer said his uncle, Eyad Alshaer, was killed in a drone airstrike in Al Mawasi in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2024.
“He went with 11 other men to try and get blankets for his children. That was his act of terror. That was his crime,” Alshaer said.
“I loved him,” he continued. “When I would go to Gaza, he was by my side the whole time, making sure everything was going right.”
“I am more angry that I didn’t have a last conversation with him.”
Alshaer said connecting with his uncle became more difficult as the conflict went on, with their last conversation being months ago.
“It’s the emotions you feel when you wish you could see them again, and know you don’t know what’s going to happen to the rest of your family,” Alshaer said. “The realities they live with. You go there yourself and you see the drones flying 24/7, you don’t think it’s real. At any second that drone can do what it did to my uncle.”
Alshaer said more than 200 of his distant relatives have been killed during the conflict.
He was just one of many students who shared their stories at the vigil.
Yousef Abushaban, a third-year commerce student at uOttawa, was born in Gaza and moved to Ottawa in 2021 to live with his aunt. His immediate family was still in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. They fled two days later.
Abushaban said he lost his cousin, Reem Abushaban, mother of four, on Oct. 9, 2023.
“The house beside hers was bombed and the wall in her house fell on her, killing her,” Abushaban said.
“She was a beautiful mom,” he said. “Coping at this time without a mother is kind of hard and a big responsibility.”
The vigil marked one year since his cousin’s death — a stark reminder of how long it has been without someone loved by so many, he said.
“It’s not just a date on a calendar, it’s a haunting memory of a life stolen, a family shattered and a future erased,” Abushaban said.
“Losing her shattered me.”
Featured Image by Simon McKeown/The Charlatan.
