Five-College Hillel will be holding a vigil tonight in memory of recent victims of terrorism, and in support of the state of Israel.

The vigil will be held on the lawn of University of Massachusetts Hillel House, located at 388 North Pleasant Street in Amherst. It will begin at 7:00 p.m.

“The speakers [at the vigil] will be of different religions, races, and nationalities,” said Dan Yagudin, a student coordinator of UMass For Israel, and an organizer of the event. “What we’re trying to do is show the broad backgrounds of Israel supporters.”

The state of Israel has seen its share of violence in the past week. Yesterday, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up outside a luxury hotel in downtown Jerusalem, wounding five. Last week, 26 Israelis were killed and dozens wounded after a round of shooting and suicide bomb attacks. And on Oct. 17, Israeli Minister of Tourism Rechavam Zeevi was assassinated. Israel has since stepped up attacks on the government headed by Yasser Arafat.

“It’s important to stand against terrorism whenever it occurs,” Yagudin said. “And we feel that this gives students a chance to stand alongside one of the United States’ most important allies in the Middle East during this difficult time.”

“In such a small community, when something of this magnitude happens, you’re bound to be affected personally,” he added. “26 deaths in Israel is the equivalent of a thousand in the U.S.”

One of the speakers, Yagudin said, personally knew one of the victims.

“There will probably be more people in the crowd who either knew the victims, or someone who knew the victims,” he stated.

The University of Massachusetts is not the first university to hold a vigil in honor of victims of the recent terrorism. Yesterday a vigil was held at Princeton University, in which members of the Princeton community memorialized the victims of the violence in Israel.

“We really want to take a stand and raise awareness that not only does terrorism affect Americans, but it’s also a problem the Israelis have been dealing with for decades,” Eric Wang of the Princeton Committee Against Terrorism told The Daily Princetonian. “We’ve been thinking a lot about what’s been happening at home, but we want people to think beyond just the United States.”