Bombs began falling as rising sophomore Georgina Blackett studied at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and its Center for Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES), July 12.

Caught in the midst of a large, international conflict, Blackett was fortunately unhurt, and July 14, with a “relatively calm” evacuation that was “without event,” she left Lebanon.

“The worst part was deciding to leave,” Blackett said. “No one thought Israel would go as far as they went in the destruction of Lebanon, and Beirut especially. I wanted to stay to finish my program, to maintain the sense of normalcy that my teachers were trying to uphold.”

On July 12, Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three. Israel responded with bombing raids in Lebanon, an air and naval blockade, and small ground action, resulting in Hezbollah’s rocket bombardment of Israel. Hundreds of largely Lebanese civilians have also been killed since the ongoing conflict began.

As the violent battle increases in Israel and Lebanon, and Blackett witnesses the developing news from her two-week home, student groups have begun to speak out on both sides of the issue, championing both political and humanitarian causes.

Stanford students have formed a group, Light for Lebanon, in response to the situation. The group is comprised of the Lebanese Student Association at Stanford, Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, the Organization of Arab Students in Stanford, the Islamic Society of Stanford University, the Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN) and Stanford Amnesty International.

“Light for Lebanon believes that every human life is sacred,” said rising senior Tala Al Rahami, co-president of Coalition for Justice in the Middle East. “Over 400 Lebanese civilians have already been killed. The situation is worse than people expect and yet, many people sit still and are unmoved. We believe there must be a ceasefire in order to make sure that no more lives are lost. We believe that violence doesn’t justify violence and that violence can never create peace.”

Light for Lebanon sponsored a protest in San Francisco and began donation drives. The organization also held two vigils in Palo Alto for the victims, each drawing several hundred people.

“We had a projection of people who had died and different issues pertinent to the crisis,” said graduated senior Mohammad Subeh, Islamic Society president and former MSAN president. “We used the candles to create a shape of a cedar tree, which is a symbol in Lebanon. A lot of children were there, holding up signs. We had more speakers this week, and four children who had just recently returned to the Bay Area, who shared their thoughts and their experiences.”

Jewish student groups have also responded to the attacks, taking a different stance. Hillel has sponsored a national petition that’s made its way to Stanford students, which encourages UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to support what it calls Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah.

Jon Katz, Senior Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow with Hillel, said that he hoped Hillel would respond to the attacks by fostering dialogue about the situation on campus.

“In this difficult time, Hillel at Stanford is working to provide Stanford students with opportunities to come together and discuss these complex issues,” he said.

Rising sophomore and member of the Jewish Leadership Council Amie Baron has been working as an intern with the Haas Fund’s Jewish Life Program, which seeks to bridge Bay-Area Jewish and Muslim populations.

“I’ve been extensively researching existing and emerging opportunities for constructive dialogue between these two groups,” she said. “With the tragic surge of violence in the Middle East, I believe that exploring means for collaboration is extremely timely and essential.”

Baron said that the Jewish community on campus has been meeting both formally and informally to understand the conflict and discuss a response, “recognizing that Israel’s existence and security is essential to the Jewish community, [as well as] that hate is unfortunately rampant in the Middle East and stands as a solid road block to peace, and that both Israel and Lebanon are now home to hundreds of thousands of Jewish and Arab refugees.” Many students in the Stanford community, she said, are deeply troubled and personally affected by the violence.

Light for Lebanon and the groups behind it also hope to develop more dialogue in the coming year.

“Some of the plans are still in formation, but mostly this summer there’s been a lot of efforts to directly deal with the short-term fix like fundraising, raising awareness and calling for a cease fire,” said Omar Shakir, last year’s MSAN president. “But concerned students are starting to form coalitions about longer-term ways we can raise awareness about issues at Stanford. This will be a huge issue throughout the year. Some students have emailed us just outraged about the situation, and we’re looking beyond band-aid situations like fundraisers to prevent this kind of aggression from happening again.”

As Light for Lebanon organizations and Jewish student groups gear into action, divergent views about the nature of the conflict have emerged on campus. Rising senior David Cohen, board member of the Stanford Israel Alliance noted that though the organization does not take stances on Israeli policy; he personally believes Israel must defeat Hezbollah.

“Unfortunately, fighting a war means there will be civilian casualties, especially against forces like Hezbollah that use human shields, launch rockets from next to people’s houses, etc.,” he said. “If the rest of the world will not let Israel defend itself against de-occupied areas for that reason, it will be very difficult for Israel to ever withdraw from more territory.”

Katz also agreed with Israel’s decision.

“Like any sovereign nation, Israel has a right and duty to defend itself to maintain the safety and security of its citizens, whether they be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or of any other religion, race or culture, so that those citizens do not have to live in fear of threats from Hezbollah across the border,” Katz said.

However, he also mentioned his sadness over the “tragic loss of civilian lives on both sides of this conflict.”

Shakir, on the other hand, raised concern against U.S. financial and military support of Israel.

“We as Americans are directly responsible, and we as American students here at Stanford are very concerned that our government is tied behind this,” he said. “As citizens of this country, we don’t want our name associated with the terrorism that’s happening.”

Professor Hilton Obenzinger, associate director for Honors and Advanced Writing at the Stanford Writing Center, spoke at one of the Light for Lebanon vigils and condemned what he called “a brutal, stupid war” that was actually part of American foreign policy.

“Israel says Lebanon needs to enforce United Nations resolutions to disarm Hezbollah,” he said. “It’s laughable for Israel to speak about enforcing U.N. resolutions when it regularly ignores any pertaining to the Palestinians.”

The crisis holds a personal connection for many Stanford students, including those from the region.

“I, as an Israeli, feel very bad that Lebanon citizens die, and I blame Hezbollah for using the innocent people as a shield,” said Haim Permuter, a PhD student in Electrical Engineering from Israel. “Why do they hide in buildings with people? Why do they fire rockets that are only used for hitting civilians from villages and from their bases? Hezbollah has no responsibility for those people. They are just a terror organization that benefits from the killing of people. As stated, it is a very sad story both for Israel and Lebanon.”

Other students, like Blackett, are facing the crisis of the attacks in person. PhD student in Electrical Engineering Mohamad Charafeddine, a Light for Lebanon organizer and president of the Lebanese Student Association in Stanford and Organization of Arab Students in Stanford for the 2005-06 year, commended the Bechtel International Center for emailing students to make sure they and their families were safe, including one student he knew who was unable to return to campus for an internship because of the bombings.