Protests and memorials in Columbus mark a year since Oct. 7 attack and war in Middle East

Protesters gathered at Ohio State University and Jewish groups held memorials on Monday, one year after Hamas attacked Israel, sparking an expanding war in the Middle East.

The gatherings remained largely peaceful but showed a stark divide in two communities over a conflict happening halfway around the world. OSU police had to separate pro-Israel counter-protesters who heckled the crowd of protestors at the Ohio Union, but that was the extent of any conflict between the two groups.

Ohio State Hillel held a march at 6:29 a.m. Monday to mark one year since the deadliest attack in Israel's history that left about 1,200 people dead and hundreds more taken hostage. The group later held a memorial at their building east of campus that was closed to press.

Jewish Columbus, a organization that helps fundraise for Jewish people in the city, advocates for the Jewish people, and helps do security and antisemitism training also held a memorial.

The group's board president Jonathan Feibel told WOSU over the past year the Jewish community has persevered. He said they are stronger and more hopeful.

"The Jewish community has been here before. We have been attacked before. We have been discriminated against before, over and over again. History repeats itself, but we always rise up and we're always resilient and we're always a hopeful people," Feibel said.

George Shillcock

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WOSU

The pro-Palestinian protestors started gathering around 5:30 p.m. outside the Ohio Union near the same part of campus where OSU police arrested dozens at a peaceful demonstration in April. The group marched through downtown Columbus and the Short North the day before, marking what it called a "week of rage."

They started walking in a circle and unfurled a chain of papers displaying victims of Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza. The country has waged war there since the Oct. 7 attack killing over 40,000 people, many of whom were civilians.

The conflict created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel has started to expand hostilities into the neighboring country of Lebanon.

The crisis sparked protests around the U.S., many at college campuses, including Ohio State.

A few dozen Jewish students showed up Monday, sporting Israeli flags heckled a group of over 100 protesters gathered at the Ohio Union. They accused protesters of supporting rape and blared music into a microphone, trying to provoke a reaction.

They said things like "Take off your mask. You're not a man," "Go join Hamas" and "What about October 7?" A group of protestors placed themselves in front of this group and pretended not to hear them.

OSU police riding bicycles put themselves between the sparring groups as a human barricade. The argument did not escalate beyond verbal conflicts.

The Palestinian supporters waved flags and used familiar chants criticizing Israel for killing so many people in their war against Hamas. One chant went a step further and said "from Palestine to Lebanon Israel will soon be gone."

George Shillcock

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WOSU

The protest ended around 9 p.m. after some Muslim protesters stopped to pray and others drew popular slogans and phrases on the concrete with chalk.

Feibel from Jewish Columbus said he thinks protestors need to recognize what Hamas did a year ago was wrong.

"I would like those groups to reflect on that that Israel wants nothing more than peace and to live in peace without bombs raining down on them. And none of this would have happened if Hamas hadn't brutally raped, murdered and taken hostage our citizens," Feibel said.

Feibel said he hopes demonstrations over the conflict remain peaceful and that both groups can work together to bring peace.

"We're hopeful for the release of the hostages. We're hopeful for peace in Israel, in the Middle East. We're hopeful that we can exist without the threat of the anti-Semitism hanging over our head all the time. And we're hopeful that that the world can repair itself," Feibel said.