On Thursday, January 25, members of Irvington’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) hosted an informational event after school in Norse Hall to spread awareness about the occupation and ongoing killing of more than 29,000 civilians in Palestine. The event was also organized as a fundraiser by the MSA to raise money for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) through the sale of samosas and“Free Palestine” t-shirts.
Similar to previous MSA events, the MSA offered attendees an opportunity to perform the afternoon prayer before getting started with their presentation. Once students were done, the presentation officially began.
During the event, MSA officers took turns presenting detailed information on the historical context of Palestine and statistics on events currently unfolding in Gaza.
“We hope that this raises awareness,” says co-president Faisal Khan (12). “Mainly so that people [at Irvington] can understand that what’s going on in Gaza right now is not something that started on October 7, [rather] it’s been going on for 75 years.”
However, Irvington MSA did face some challenges before the actual event could take place.
“One of the biggest challenges was getting approval from people,” said Khan. “Unfortunately, the real concern was whether the event was going to be safe on campus, where people might get upset about it and try to start something.”
To overcome this, MSA worked with the school administration to ensure the safety of all students involved.
“We wanted to have this event a lot earlier,” says outreach director Muzainah
Uddin (11). “But communicating with them [school administration], coordinating what we would say during the presentation, and deciding on dates just pushed it back a lot.”
Fortunately, after talking with the office and the administration, MSA was able to take several measures to avoid any risks and the event was officially able to take place at the end of January. This included having to carefully research and cite every piece of information that was presented at the event. The slideshow used during the presentation was also made accessible to the audience if anyone wanted to check where MSA received their information.
“This is so important for us because Palestine and the land of Palestine and Jerusalem have a very big significance in our religion,” says Uddin. “[Palestine] is a Muslim-majority area…[the population] being victims of genocide and mass murder is obviously something that concerns the Muslim Student Association.”
While the liberation of the Palestinian people is a cause that deeply resonates with Muslims around the world, the organizers hoped that through the event, all Irvington students regardless of religion received exposure about the truth about the Palestinian struggle.
“I think sometimes living in Fremont so far away from everything, we can…get caught in our own bubble,” says Khan. “So this was really to just burst that bubble and for people to open their eyes to something new.”
The presenters also made sure to include detailed explanations of the difference between anti-zionism and antisemitism, and they pointed out examples of antisemitism in the real world and the dangers it poses.
At the end of the event, a fundraiser took place for the PCRF and the MSA raised a total of $154 from both t-shirt and samosa sales.
“We sold out of samosas,” says Uddin. “We’re very happy with the turnout.”
The organizers hope that awareness events and fundraisers such as these can help students get involved in important issues they otherwise might have overlooked. Looking forward, the MSA hopes to hold similar events in the future due to the impact spreading awareness has.
“I think in the future, we’ll make sure to advertise more and let people know that we have an upcoming event,” says co-president Sara Nabizad (12). “Because with a space like [Norse Hall], we could definitely take way more people.”
