The Muslim Students Association hosted Taher Herzallah, the associate director of outreach and community organizing for American Muslims for Palestine, to lead a workshop with around 15 students on educating people about the history and rights of Palestine March 21 in Gibson 211. AMP is a “grassroots-based organization dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine” and taking political action to change American foreign policy.
AMP publishes educational material about Palestine and shares them with the public, as well as holds campaigns, lectures and workshops. Herzallah acts as a link between AMP and student activism groups, and he is also responsible for facilitating national coalition building and establishing more AMP chapters.
“[Herzallah] is young himself, a relatively recent graduate of college, so he can kind of understand the environment we’re in,” said Al Ahmed, a fourth-year Curry student and president of the MSA. “He himself has been a part of different initiatives in Washington. I know he’s been very loud in his advocacy for the issues of Palestine. We’re really honored to have him.”
Herzallah is one of the “Irvine 11”— while a student at UC Riverside, he and 10 other Muslim students were arrested in 2010 for disrupting the speech of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at UC Irvine. The protest resulted in the quarter-long suspension and two-year long probationary period of the Muslim Students Union at UC Irvine. Herzallah and five other protesters were also arrested in in 2017 for protesting the appointment of David Friedman as US ambassador to Israel at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Throughout the workshop, Herzallah emphasized the significant impact student organizations have had in altering public opinion towards Palestine.
“After 10 years of student mobilization, of grassroots organizing, of political advocacy of media campaigns, of information campaigns… I got the news today that the vast majority of Democratic presidential candidates have now announced that they will not be attending the AIPAC conference,” Herzallah said.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is one of the largest pro-Israel lobbying groups in the United States that spent $3.5 million lobbying in 2018. AIPAC hosts an annual policy conference that encourages attendees to lobby their representatives to advance the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Grace Kendall, a second-year College student and member of Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine, echoed the sentiment that individuals can spur action.
“I think anyone can make a change,” said Kendall. “It can be something small but it can lead to something big.”
Herzallah discussed how students could make a difference and also made it clear that it was more important now than ever students get involved in supporting Palestine because the crisis is dire.
“It’s never been this good politically in America, but it’s never been worse in Palestine,” he said. “The United Nations came out with a report a couple years ago saying that Gaza would be unlivable by 2020. Then they amended the report saying saying, ‘Sorry, Gaza is already unlivable.’”
The original report Herzallah is referring to is titled “Gaza in 2020: A Liveable Place?” and was released in 2012. The report concludes that “to ensure that Gaza in 2020 will be ‘a liveable place,’ on-going herculean efforts by Palestinians and partners in such sectors as energy, education, health, water and sanitation, need to be accelerated and intensified in the face of all difficulties.” In 2017, the UN released a second report, “Gaza Ten Years Later,” which said that Gaza’s deterioration was occurring at a faster rate than originally predicted.
Gaza is occupied by Israel, which controls the Gazaean borders and prevents people and goods from getting in or out. There is no potable water, broken sewage and only 4-6 hours of electricity per day in Gaza, which has ruined education and industry, according to Herzallah.
The living conditions in Palestine is one factor that brought many students to this event.
“Just this past week, two of my friends went to Palestine on a visit and got attacked by IDF soldiers,” said Yasmeen Refai, a second-year College student. “I got to see real life footage of what it’s like for the Palestinians to be living under occupied territory and how awful life is for them, and how they’re only striving to get equal rights.”
MSA stands with Palestine because the organization supports its Palestinian members and strongly opposes the oppression and murder of innocent people, Ahmed said. He explained that the Israel-Palestine conflict is mainly a humanitarian crisis — however, this is often obscured by the media. “If people knew what was actually happening, no one would support that,” Ahmed said.
However, there is uncertainty among students surrounding how much of this conflict students at the University understand.
“I don’t think U.Va. students are well-informed because a lot of them don’t take the time to go to events… where they hear about someone else’s perspective or learn about a certain conflict or issue,” said Hisham Al Samarrai, a second-year College student. “I wish everyone would come out of their comfort zones and go to these different events and see what it’s like to be on the other side.”
Ahmed added that minority groups around grounds must continue to raise awareness for issues pertinent to their communities.
“Even though I try my best to know what’s happening, there’s so much, myself included, for everyone to learn,” Ahmed said. “ And that’s why I feel like these events are so important. There’s no end to learning and growing as a person.”
The workshop also focused on effective advocacy techniques to take action for Palestine. Herzallah discussed how activists could avoid accusations of anti-semitism by working with Jewish organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace and encouraged students to focus on the concrete facts of the conflict in order to effect change, like that the U.S. signed the largest military aid package ever with Israel in 2016, giving them $38 billion over the next ten years.
Herzallah also invited students to join AMP for the 5th annual Palestine Advocacy Day, which will be in Washington D.C. from April 5-8. The event will include conversations with policy experts, Capitol Hill staffers, and grassroots organizers on how to challenge US foreign policy towards Palestine. The group will also lobby three members of Congress and their staff and practice various advocacy techniques.
“There’s nothing better than speaking truth to power … speaking truth to us is a main pillar of who we are,” Herzallah said. “If we are not engaged in speaking the truth, that means that there’s something wrong. And if we are afraid to engage in speaking the truth, for whatever reason, that means we have a deficiency...even if it makes people angry… it doesn’t matter. That’s something that has to be done. That’s our obligation. That’s our duty.”
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