Student Union
- By Esha Sarai
Gravestones of Parkland Victims Revive Anguish of Mass Shooting
On what would have been Alyssa Alhadeff's 15th birthday, her mother wore her high-top black Converse sneakers to the cemetery.
Instead of a birthday celebration, Alyssa's friends and family gathered to unveil her tombstone.
Alyssa and her best friend, Abigail Price, shared a May 1 birthday. Standing next to Alyssa's mother, Abigail thought about the plans they made to leave school early and have their nails done.
"Instead of me hanging out with her," Price told VOA, "I'm here, looking at her tombstone.
"It's really sad."
Alyssa was one of 17 people killed on Valentine's Day by a shooter using a high-powered assault rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The past two months have been filled with national media attention, marches across the country, and talk about gun control in the United States. But in Parkland, the family and friends of the dead are still in the early stages of grieving.
Alyssa's tombstone is the first of three to be unveiled of Marjory Stoneman Douglas students in the Star of David Memorial Garden Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At the weekday unveiling, nearly 100 people joined Alyssa's family, all dressed in white and blue, at the family's request.
The rabbi read a prayer for Alyssa. Her father, Ilan, sniffled, adjusted his yarmulke, and took a deep breath.
"Alyssa, we miss you so much," he said to his daughter's tombstone.
Gesturing at the crowd around him, he said, "Look at how much you had an impact on people."
Ilan's voice cracked slightly.
"To all of Alyssa's friends: Do not hide in the shadows. Alyssa would not want that. Get up and start living. She'd want you to live for her, and be your very best."
Her two younger brothers — ages 10 and 13 — tentatively unveiled her tombstone, gingerly pulling the sheet and blue tape off the freshly cut stone.
"Our sweet Alyssa, we held you in our arms for a little while. Now we hold your bright soul in our hearts forever!" the stone reads.
Her friend, Kai Thomas, played "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa on a small speaker. Alyssa's mom, Lori, opened a small box, and a dozen butterflies flew through the cemetery.
"We were … kneeled down and looking at Alyssa, and a big yellow butterfly flew by," Lori said of the burial, held days after the mass shooting. "And we felt like it was a sign that Alyssa was OK, and that she was happy."
After the service, family and friends met up at one of Alyssa's favorite places, Deerfield Beach.
Thomas smiled as he talked about the girl he called his best friend, imagining her telling him to stop crying and enjoy the beautiful day at one of her favorite places.
"She would have laughed. She would have just giggled, 'Stop crying for me, come on, Kai.' "
WATCH: Stoneman Douglas Victim's Life Celebrated
Parents of Alyssa's friends handed out cookies iced to look like soccer balls, under a tent bearing the Parkland Soccer Club's logo and #PlayForAlyssa.
Alyssa's brothers ran into the ocean, the younger one wearing a bright orange surf shirt. Under the nearby pier, her friends used colored markers to write birthday messages to her on white kites.
A rainbow of messages floated above the bittersweet celebration on the beach.
"Happy Birthday Lyss Lyss," "Fly high, Angel," "I miss you so much."
VOA's Beth Mendelson contributed to this report.
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Police arrest 33 at George Washington University protest encampment
Police in Washington cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, arresting 33 people, authorities said.
Arrests were made on charges of assault on a police officer and unlawful entry, the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department said.
A congressional committee canceled a hearing on the university encampment Wednesday. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith had been scheduled to testify about the city’s handling of the protest before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
University parents and faculty members gathered Wednesday afternoon for a press conference to condemn the handling of the protests by police and school leaders.
“The university clearly does not value the students at all and has endangered the safety of our children by unleashing officers dressed in full riot gear to assault and spray our children in their eyes with pepper spray,” said Hala Amer, whose son participated in the campus protests.
Police said they dispersed demonstrators because "there has been a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest."
American University professor Barbara Wien said she stayed in the encampment with GW students. She described the student protesters as democratic and peaceful.
Police started to shut down the tent encampment after dozens of protesters marched to GW President Ellen Granberg's on-campus home on Tuesday night. Police were called, but no arrests were made.
Speakers at the conference called for Granberg’s resignation because, they alleged, she refused to meet and negotiate with student protesters.
“You keep inciting violence and ignoring the students,” Amer said about Granberg in an interview with VOA after the conference. “It will just lead to more violence. You need to talk to your students.”
GW officials warned students that they could be suspended for engaging in protests at the school’s University Yard, an outdoor spot on the campus.
"While the university is committed to protecting students' rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawful activity, with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations," a GW statement said.
More than 2,600 people have been arrested at universities across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Associated Press.
Students are calling on their university administrations to divest investments from Israel or companies with ties to Israel. Demonstrators have gathered in at least 50 campuses since April 17, carrying signs that read "Free Palestine" and "Hands off Rafah."
Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost city, where most of the territory’s population has clustered. The area is also a corridor for bringing humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, while shutting off the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Israel said Wednesday that it had reopened Kerem Shalom.
The nationwide campus protests started in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza that began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel warned it could "deepen" its operation in Rafah if talks failed to secure the release of the hostages.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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