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Rutgers University Students Pay Tribute to Hate-Crime Victim
May 01, 2006Comments (1) | Add | E-mail this to a friend  Near the end of a busy semester, Rutgers University students took pause early last week to remember a young French Jew, a victim of a senseless crime – someone who could have been them. Spearheaded by Rutgers Hillel President Danielle Josephs, the tribute honored Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old salesman who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in a Paris suburb in February, by bringing together a diverse group of students, university faculty and administrators, congressmen, performance artists and representatives of the French government to stand in solidarity with Halimi's family and stand against hate crimes.
A coalition of student groups, such as Rutgers Hillel, the United Black Council, the Central and South American Alliance, the RU Sikh Association and the Islamic Society, worked together to plan the touching memorial and invite a distinguished slate of speakers. New Jersey Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, Reps. Rush Holt and Frank Pallone, Rutgers Vice President of Student Affairs Gregory Blimling and Francois Delattre, the consul general of France in New York, joined the approximiately 250 people in attendance to speak against the hatred behind heinous crimes.
"This really isn't a Jewish thing. This is an issue that crosses all ethnic lines," Josephs said. "It was the right thing to do, and it was unacceptable for this incident to go unnoticed."
"It was an incredibly moving event. The most significant thing was that Danielle pulled together the top elected officials in the state, had them introduced by members of a variety of ethnicities and really made the whole thing not just about Ilan, not just about anti-Semitism in France, not even just about anti-Semitism generally, but about the cancer of hate and why it is the business of all civilized people to fight the scourge of hatred in all its forms," said Michael Granoff, a member of Hillel's International Board of Governors and Board of Directors.
The tribute is just one part of a four-part initiative Josephs organized after reading about Halimi's death in the New York Times during her spring break. Horrified by both the murder and the fact that the story was getting little notice in the American media, she immediately began drafting a proposal and met with the French ambassador to the United States, Jean-David Levitte, who gave her several ideas and pledged the support of the French government.
Back on campus, Josephs convened a 30-member student committee that planned the tribute and a university-wide public-relations campaign that blanketed the campus with fliers, posters and tables about the incident. The committee is also working to establish an annual award in Halimi's name that will be given to a Rutgers student or faculty member for his or her efforts toward human rights. In addition, the students have collected 5,000 signatures on a letter of support addressed to Halimi's parents, which a delegation of committee members will deliver to his family in Paris at the end of May.
"[Last week's] tribute was so touching, but this is not the end of the road. This is the beginning of a long Ilan Halimi tribute on campus," Josephs said.
The Rutgers University Ilan Halimi Initiative is still collecting signatures for its letter to the Halimi family. Visit www.RUIlanHalimi.org to show your support and add your name.
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