Young and Empowered: The Future of the Student Movement
Saturday, September 14 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
As students head back to their campuses across the country, this panel will convene Arab American members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at various universities to discuss preparing for and responding to increased repression and violent crackdowns on student activism. Students will share their experiences organizing under the SJP banner, navigating the challenges of mobilizing peers, and facing the harsh realities of state and institutional repression. Zayna Jadallah from Wayne State University, Salma Hamamy from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ali Allam, President of Student Government at UM Ann Arbor, and Sarah Farhan from National Students for Justice in Palestine will discuss how to maintain the momentum built up during the Gaza solidarity encampments in the Spring of 2024. Moderating this discussion is Dr. Nancy Khalil, a distinguished scholar on Palestine and a dedicated advocate for human rights.
Zaynah Jadallah is a proud Palestinian American and a graduate of Wayne State University. She is a passionate advocate for divestment and has dedicated her career to promoting civil rights and civic engagement. Currently working with nonprofit organizations, Zaynah is deeply committed to empowering communities and ensuring marginalized voices are heard and respected. Her activism is rooted in her identity and dedication to justice, making her a powerful voice for change in the Arab American community.
Salma Hamamy is a Palestinian-American student activist and recent graduate from the University of Michigan. She served as the President of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, for three years and was the advocacy chair for the Muslim Students’ Association. Her organizing efforts revolved around having consistent actions that put pressure on the University to divest, mobilizing various departments and groups to form one of the largest student coalitions in the nation, establishing the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, protesting at graduation, establishing state-wide educational programming across all major Michigan universities for Palestine Awareness Week, and more! Outside of student activism, her studies involved pursuing a double major in Biology, Health and Society, and Middle Eastern and North African Studies with a double minor in Law, Justice, and Social Change and Arabic.
Ali Allam is a junior at the University of Michigan studying Political Science and Information Analysis. He helped organize the effort to pressure Bloomfield Hills Schools to recognize Eid as a holiday and has worked on political campaigns in Detroit and Hamtramck. He was elected Vice-President of the University of Michigan’s LSA Student Government on an openly pro-divestment platform with over 2000 votes. He also serves as co-chair of the Muslim Coalition, a union of 30 Muslim-adjacent student organizations on campus working to advocate against Islamophobia. He has researched US healthcare policy and public debt, as well as the development of Islamic thought.
Sarah Farhan (she/her) is a former organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine at Rutgers University. She now works to support student organizers nationally and across Turtle Island as a steering member of National SJP and is affiliated with Palestinian solidarity organizations in the Northeast.
Dr. Nancy A. Khalil is an Anthropologist, Professor, and Activist. She is an Assistant Professor in the Arab & Muslim American Studies Program within the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Khalil’s research has been widely recognized and supported by numerous prestigious foundations, including the National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, MSA National, IIIT, and the Islamic Scholarship Fund. Her research has spanned the complex intersections of religion, politics, and identity within the American Muslim community. She presented at the 2017 Harvard Horizons Symposium on bureaucratic policies that influence the credentialing and recognition of Islamic religious leaders in America.
Dr. Khalil completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology at Harvard University, where she also served as a research associate with the Transnational Studies Initiative and the Islam in the West Program. Dr. Khalil was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University, where she specialized in the racialization of Islam at the Center for Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration. Dr. Khalil serves on the boards of Islamic Relief USA and the Muslim Justice League and is a faculty affiliate at Harvard’s Pluralism Project.
Don’t forget:
September
