Nydia del Carmen, Contributing Photographer

On Thursday afternoon, students walking toward the Schwarzman Center were met with protesters lying down on the ground in Beinecke Plaza to represent Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.

In the center of the protest was a long list with names of civilian casualties making up the Palestinian flag. 

“60 foot long list, color coordinated for ages, representing the Palestinian martyrs in Gaza who have been killed by Israel since Oct. 7,” Yalies4Palestine, a student group supporting the rights of the Palestinian people, posted on its Instagram page. “Color blocks represent the over 4,000 killed who have not yet been named by the Palestinian Health Ministry.” 

Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,400 Israelis. Israel responded with airstrikes and a siege of Gaza, as well as a formal declaration of war against Hamas. According to health officials in the Hamas-run territory, Israel’s attacks have killed more than 10,800 people in Gaza, Reuters and the Associated Press reported last night. United Nations experts have characterized Israel’s actions as “collective punishment” in violation of international law.

Protestors at Yale on Nov. 9 wore black face masks and traditional Palestinian scarves. Some of them held signs with statements announcing, “Palestine will be free,” “Yale must divest,” and “end Yale complicity, ceasefire now.”

The speakers of the protest read aloud the names and ages of Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war.

“They deserve all of this, we must carry their dreams,” a speaker at the protest, who declined to give their name due to safety concerns, said. “Their parents, their brothers and their sisters, their uncles, and their aunts and their friends. We must carry their dreams with us.”

The Schwarzman Center is located at 168 Grove St. 

Correction, Nov. 9: The text of this article has been updated to clarify that United Nations officials have characterized Israel’s response as “collective punishment.”