Shepherd University graduate student Shelby Daugherty greets passersby at the Vigil for Peace in front of McMurran Hall on Friday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — “We’re all people, and we all deserve to live a life free of fear from other people harming us. It doesn’t matter which side you’re walking on — we all share that common ground of being human. It’s really important to me to raise awareness for our oneness and for the deservingness of love we all have,” said Shepherd University graduate student Shelby Daugherty, as she held up a sign saying, “Ask me about unconditional love.”

Daugherty was one of about 40 Shepherdstown residents and Shepherd University students to attend a Vigil for Peace in front of McMurran Hall on Friday. She, along with the Shepherdstown Friends Meeting, organized the event.

“The Shepherdstown Quakers and then, of course, me in myself are very spirit-led individuals, so we let this come together in the way that we felt we wanted it to,” Daugherty said, after pointing out attendees who were waving flags for both Israel and Palestine at the vigil. “The reason we have multiple perspectives [represented here], is because all human lives matter and people cross each other because of historical things and patterns that need to be broken. If we don’t give people that collective light to be understood, then there’s no way that we’re going to be able to find any reason to stop.”

The goal behind Friday’s vigil was to draw attention to the need for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip. Daugherty noted that a ceasefire resolution had already been adopted by Shepherd University. Another ceasefire resolution, this time to be made by the Martinsburg City Council, was being called for by three Shepherdstown-based vigil attendees representing the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).

“We, as working people of West Virginia, realize that we have more in common with the people of Palestine than we do the millionaires and billionaires that are running our country,” said PSL organizer Ryan Kidwiler. “So we have to stand with Palestine.”

A group of the vigil attendees sing John Lennon's "Imagine" in front of McMurran Hall on Friday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

Fellow PSL organizer Sarah Hodder agreed wholeheartedly with Kidwiler.

“Those millionaires and billionaires are funding the genocide — profiting off the killing of innocent people,” Hodder said, referring to facts such as that the market value of America’s biggest arms companies rose by $23 billion, immediately after the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.

Kidwiler made it clear, however, that standing against those profiting from the continuation of the conflict, who were acting against human rights interests, did not mean he or his fellow vigil attendees also opposed the people of Israel.

“People try to equate what is going on is anti-Semitic. That’s not the case at all,” Kidwiler said. “What we stand against is Zionism, the occupation and displacement of Palestinian people from their lands. We stand with working people all around the world, including Palestinian people.”

The members of the Shepherdstown Friends Meeting in attendance largely agreed with Kidwiler’s viewpoint, placing the majority of the blame for the continuation of the conflict on the nation of Israel, with little discussion about the Palestinian militant group which governs the Gaza Strip and instigated the conflict, Hamas.

A Vigil for Peace attendee waves to cars passing by The Wall on Friday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

“We are very upset with what’s going on in Gaza, on both sides,” said Bill Telfair, of Shepherdstown. “Somehow we need to come to a two-state solution. A two-state solution has been negotiated three times in the past and has been turned down by Israel every time.”

Mike Proser, who led the Shepherdstown Friends Meeting’s portion of the vigil’s organization, agreed with Telfair’s comparison to what the people in Gaza are experiencing to being “worse than a prison.”

“We’re trying to raise awareness — we have a sign here that has a number for people to call their Congress members on. Talk to your Congressmen. Ask them to pay attention to what the United Nations is doing to try to negotiate a ceasefire,” Proser said. “We’re looking for a ceasefire, mainly, in Gaza and in the Middle East, in general.”

A major presence at the Vigil for Peace could also be seen from the Shepherdstown Ministerial Association, some members of which had personally visited the area of the current conflict in years past.

“I’m just here to pray for peace and support the cause,” said Rev. Andrew M. Switzer of St. Agnes Catholic Church. “I honor both my Jewish brothers and sisters and my Palestinian ones, too. What’s happening there is a tragedy.

“I’ve been there — I’ve been to the Palestinian side and I’ve been to the Israel side,” Switzer said, noting that although his visit to the region was several years ago, he could still notice the tensions between the two people groups. “We’ve got to encourage peace and non-violence and work through our issues. It’s very important right now, that even while we’re calling for a ceasefire in Palestine, we also have to be really care about anti-Semitic rhetoric in our country right now — to me, that’s pretty critical. We need to watch the language we use and try to be really conscious and careful about that.”