Leadership from the University\u2019s SJP chapter welcomed attendees \u2014 many donning keffiyeh scarves \u2014 into a buzzing lecture hall Friday evening to kick off the three-day conference.<\/p>\n
University SJP members introduced attendees to the chapter by providing background about the group\u2019s recent activity. The members noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University, which ultimately resulted in the passing of a campus-wide referendum in 2018.<\/p>\n
The University SJP members also drew attention to the congressional district that much of the University is in, which is represented by US Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who has expressed support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.<\/p>\n
The conference is NSJP\u2019s ninth since the organization\u2019s establishment in 2010. It was themed \u201cBeyond Struggle: From Roots to Branches Towards Liberation\u201d and addressed the growing visibility of Palestine in mainstream politics with several workshops, panels and sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a new turf for Palestinian organizing,\u201d said conference attendee Alex Salah, noting the election of Omar and US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., both of whom have publicly spoken about the Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always existed in the grassroots political context,\u201d Salah said. \u201cWith the emergence of Palestinian voices and those in solidarity with the Palestinian people in this more electoral space, as organizers, it\u2019s important to understand to be tactical and strategic in how we engage with these spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to several guest speakers, the conference also featured a panel of experts who discussed the importance of approaching the Palestinian struggle in relation with other forms of oppression, such as anti-blackness, as well as the oppression of Kashmiris and Kurds, among other people.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian movement is an intersectional justice movement, meaning it is advocating for the liberation of all oppressed people, experts on the panel said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Intersectionality] has always been part and parcel of our work\u2026\u201d said Raphael Eissa, a member of the NSJP steering committee which organizes the conference. \u201cWe also know that the struggle against oppression extends beyond a single people. It\u2019s always been central to our work, and that\u2019s how we grow as a movement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many pro-Palestine student organizers face difficulties from their university administrations when it comes to hosting pro-Palestine events. Though pro-Israel groups called on the University of Minnesota to condemn or cancel the conference, the University did not respond to such requests. However, a small group of people formed Saturday outside of Tate Hall \u2014 where workshops were taking place \u2014 in protest of the conference, leaving Israeli flags and posters in front of the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still standing resilient trying to persevere despite the attempted intimidation,\u201d Salah said.<\/p>\n
The love for Palestine and its liberation supersedes the fear of being oppressed, he said. \u201cI hope what people get out of [the conference] is the affirmation and validation they need to continue this work despite the struggle,\u201d Salah said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leadership from the University\u2019s SJP chapter welcomed attendees \u2014 many donning keffiyeh scarves \u2014 into a buzzing lecture hall Friday evening to kick off the three-day conference. University SJP members introduced attendees to the chapter by providing background about the group\u2019s recent activity. The members noted the success of past divestment campaigns at the University, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":17451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-lectures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17452,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17450\/revisions\/17452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}