"The conflict in the Middle East is not a 'natural disaster.' We cannot respond to it as we would respond to a terrible earthquake," Gribetz says. "It is rather a 'political disaster' that is being carried out by human beings and so it is senseless to criticize a rally about a political conflict for being 'too political.'"

SAS members' strong disagreement on fundamental issues such as who was the cause of the violence served as a main reason for their decision to have "a presence" during the HSI rally.

"We just felt that we couldn't agree with the principles on which they based their rally," says Rita Hamad `03, current president of SAS. "We wanted to show people that you can't mourn the deaths of all civilians and then support the organization that is causing the majority of those civilian deaths."

Despite the SAS claim, Gribetz says HSI's political support for Israel includes support for its army and its soldiers.

"One cannot determine which side is acting morally or justly simply by looking at the death tolls on each side," Gribetz says. "When a large mob attacks a few soldiers, more members of the mob are likely to be killed than soldiers, but that does not mean that the soldiers are to blame for the mob's attack."

"We felt that Israeli soldiers were just as worthy of being mourned as any other life," Brody adds.

And while the two groups did not directly interact during the simultaneous events, HSI members say they had been weary of the SAS event beforehand, which they felt was a "definitely a counter protest."

"We told the deans we thought it was a bad idea and that it might potentially increase tension on campus," Brody says. "We were committed at all times to not do something that would be inciting."

But Harvard Islamic Society (HIS) President Zayed M. Yasin `02 said the events did show the polarization that the conflict had caused on campus.

"There was definitely a lot of tension there," Yasin said.

The Politics of Division

The conflict on campus caused by the crisis half a world away was clear to outside observers.

"I was upset by the separate vigils," said Nathan Perl-Rosenthal `04, the current co-chair of Hillel's Interethnic committee. "I thought that was a hideous picture, and that it was unnecessarily and incredibly divisive."

In addition to the tensions between HSI and SAS, both organizations say they have also had to overcome disagreements within their groups.