Balloons on quad highlight human toll of Gaza War

131 balloons filled the Chapel Quadrangle today, not as a sign of celebration, but to call attention to the human toll of the Gaza conflict.

130 of the balloons are black and each represents ten Palestinian victims of the Gaza Conflict, according to a sign placed on the quad. The final balloon is white and stands for the 13 Israelis killed during the conflict, the sign explains.

The Gaza conflict began Dec. 27, when Israel launched air attacks on the territory in response to rockets launched by Hamas. Hamas, a militant organization that controls Gaza, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. About a week later, Israeli ground forces entered the area, withdrawing Jan. 21. Cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas are ongoing.

The Muslim Student Association and the Arab Student Organization joined forces to put up the balloons, said senior Fatema Ahmad, co-president of MSA.

The balloons also help advertise a Gaza teach-in the two organizations are co-sponsoring tonight at 7 p.m. in Social Psychology room 130.

"The teach-in will give people background on Gaza and the Palestinian territories," Ahmad said, adding that the panelists will also talk about the future of the conflict and answer questions from the audience.

Panelists include Palestinian Journalist Laila El-Haddad, Israeli Peace Activist Rann Bar-On, Miriam Cooke, a professor of Asian and Middle-Eastern Studies and Abdullah Antepli, Duke's Muslim Chaplain, according to advertisements for the event.

El-Haddad, Trinity '00 and a former Chronicle columnist, and Antepli last addressed a Duke audience about Gaza Jan. 9 at a Vigil for Gaza, also organized by MSA and ASO.

At that vigil, Antepli condemned Israel's killing of innocent civilians in the Gaza conflict, but called for the Jewish and Muslim communities at Duke to maintain their bonds, echoing a theme both he and Duke Rabbi Michael Goldman adopted when interviewed for a Chronicle article on the Gaza conflict's effects on campus in January.

"I personally believe that what's been done to the victims in Gaza--innocent civilians in Gaza and keeps happening as we speak--is neither acceptable nor justifiable.... But at the same time, we should continue the friendships, partnerships, coalitions and alliances that we have had on this campus and continue to do the common work together as we are part of this one community," he said during the vigil.

During the candle-light vigil, El-Haddad compared the conditions in Gaza during the conflict to those in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 and called for an end to Israeli control over Palestinian territory .

"We must not only call for an end to arms--whether they are Palestinian rockets or Israeli laser-guided missiles--but we must also address the underlying cause of it all. We must demand an end to Israel's illegal occupation," she said at the vigil.

More Chronicle Coverage of the Gaza Conflict: