Students for Justice in Palestine, Building Brotherhood and the Muslim Students Association hosted One Ummah: United in Liberation Friday to unite Muslim communities around issues on campus affecting the University’s Muslim students.
The event had over 300 attendees and discussed Palestinian liberation, Islamophobia on campus and the University’s divestment from Israel. The event included a panel discussion and a catered dinner aimed to unite campus community members.
Panel members included University graduate student Taher Herzallah and a Gazan couple, Minnesota State University, Mankato professor Dr. Jehad Adwan and Minneapolis teacher Fatma Abumousa.
Food was provided for attendees by Football Pizza, The Golden Nuts and Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co.
Event organizer Ali Abu-Atieh said the event was a way for Muslim students to connect after recent incidents of Islamophobia on the University’s campus and to discuss the conflict in Gaza.
“This is a way that we can come together and rejoice in our Islamic faith and in our cultural identity,” Abu-Atieh said. “We wanted to bring light to what’s been happening in Palestine and get more people aware.”
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning, “the whole community of Muslims bound together by ties of religion.”
“We had 10 endorsements from 10 different Muslim student groups,” Abu-Atieh said. “To bring us all together under the banner of one Ummah is basically an embodiment of what the idea is, the idea of community and coming together.”
The event was sponsored by groups including the University’s Al-Madinah Cultural Center, the Arab Student Association and many others.
Herzallah said he decided to speak at the event because he is deeply impacted by the situation in Gaza.
“I thought it was a very motivational event,” Herzallah said. “It was inspirational hearing different speakers talk about the experience, and I thought that was very important for the community and what needs to be done next.”
Herzallah said nothing should stop students from participating in advocacy work for Palestine as it is rooted in their beliefs.
“Fighting for justice and enjoining the good and forbidding the evil is part of our duty as Muslims,” Herzallah said. “That for me is the crux of the message we’re trying to send today.”
Herzallah said events like these are the most crucial element of the continuation of pro-Palestinian advocacy on campus.
Mohamid Hagi and Mohammed Al-madani are the co-owners of Qamaria Coffee Co. in Little Canada, Minnesota, another caterer for the event. Hagi and Al-madani said they loved to sponsor this event because they love Palestinians and getting more connected with their community.
Graduate student Mohamad Asmar’s family owns the Palestinian store The Golden Nuts and said catering the event was the simplest thing his family could do for Palestine.
“It means a lot that people still care about the situation going on in Palestine,” Asmar said. “I hope this brings peace and keeps us together as a community and an Ummah.”
Event attendee and second-year University student Maira Shah said she came to the event because she is passionate about Palestine.
“Just listening to the speakers the first time was so powerful and emotionally evoking,” Shah said. “I felt so many things that I really haven’t felt for a long time just hearing these speakers talk about their own experiences.”
Omar Elkhateeb, another attendee and first-year University student, said it was great to see so many different communities come together in support of a common cause.
“I love the diversity in speakers and how we got multiple different opinions,” Elkhateeb said. “We have viewpoints talking about what we could possibly do so that we ourselves can help out over here 6,000 miles away.
