Alan Charles Senitt - SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, London, UK
N 51° 31.336 W 000° 07.717
30U E 699194 N 5711814
This tree was planted as a memorial to Alan Senitt, a student at SOAS, who was murdered in Washington DC in July 2006. The tree is at the south east corner of SOAS close to the Thornhaugh Street entrance to the campus.
Waymark Code: WMPGTE
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/30/2015
Views: 2
The Totally Jewish website has an article about the tree planting that tells us:
Tree Planted At SOAS In Memory Of Alan Senitt.
Community leaders joined family and friends at the School of Oriental & African Studies for last Friday’s ceremony, which was led by Movement for Reform Judaism head Rabbi Tony Bayfield and included the recitation of psalms and speeches by several prominent figures.
The memorial project was initiated and organised by the Centre for International & Diplomacy Studies where Alan had completed a year of a masters degree before travelling to Washington to work as an intern on Capitol Hill.
He never returned to complete the degree. Alan’s mum Karen described the event as “beautiful, we looked at it as a celebration of his life rather than more mourning”.
His sister Emma, who chairs the Alan Senitt Memorial Trust, said: “This tree is a fabulous symbol of the work we are hoping to achieve in Alan’s memory through the Memorial Trust. We plant a tree today which will bed its roots into the ground and live on for many years lending a place for study, shelter and inspiration for the students here at SOAS.
“Just as Alan has laid down the roots for our work, I hope that we can continue Alan’s legacy by educating young people of all faiths to follow in Alan’s footsteps and become active community leaders of the future”.
Among the 40 people gathering last week by the tree – which is situated on the corner of the SOAS building and is marked by a large plaque – were MP Gareth Thomas, Israeli Deputy Ambassador Talya Lador-Fresher and Lord Janner. The peer – with whom Alan worked creating the Coexistence Trust to further dialogue and cooperation between Muslim and Jewish communities internationally – told the Jewish News: “Alan was a remarkable young man and his colleagues and I will always miss him. The tree planting was an appropriate and lasting tribute to his memory.”
Long-term friend Lee Petar recalled how Alan was “always so cheerful and made lots of people smile” while current National Union of Students president Wes Streeting said: “The inspiration that Alan gave to so many continues on throughout the student world and beyond.”
Wikipedia has an article about Alan Senitt that tells us:
Alan Senitt (26 December 1978 – 9 July 2006) was a British political activist whose murder in Washington, DC garnered media attention. He had just graduated with an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
From Pinner, North London, he had previously attended Nower Hill High School and Senitt was a former chairman of the Union of Jewish Students. He stood as the Labour Party candidate in Edgware, North London, in the May 2006 local elections.
He worked with Lord Greville Janner, a member of the House of Lords and vice-president of the World Jewish Congress in 2005, as director of the Coexistence Trust charity. He also worked for the All-Party British-Israel Parliamentary Group and the British Israel Communications and Research Centre. He moved to the United States in June 2006 to volunteer for Mark Warner's political action committee Forward Together.
Senitt was murdered in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. early on 9 July 2006. Senitt, 27, was escorting a female friend home when they were confronted by three males; at least one had a gun, and one had a knife. One attempted to sexually assault the woman while the other two assailants grabbed Senitt, stabbed him and slashed his throat. Then they fled, riding away in a car driven by a woman. Four suspects were arrested the same day. Christopher Piper, 25, was charged with felony murder and attempted sexual assault. Jeffery Rice, 22; Olivia Miles, 26; and a 15-year-old boy whom police declined to identify because he has been charged as a juvenile, were all arrested for murder charges. The juvenile later pled guilty to murder, as well as other charges, and has been sentenced.
On 21 May 2007, Piper and Rice pleaded guilty to robbing and killing Alan, and committing other robberies in the city. They were sentenced 24 August to 37 and 52 years respectively in prison by the D.C. Superior Court.