By: Isabelle Yang, Staff Writer
On October 18, students joined the MENASA Alliance for Humanity in their walkout to advocate and bring awareness to the struggles the members in the club face.
After certain current events that are taking place worldwide, the club has observed that school administration has failed to equitably address these hate crimes. Furthermore, administrators have not recognized the difficulties that these students face when their home countries are going through traumatic situations, which could resurface past emotions.
Co-presidents Noor Abdullah and Zaynab Masri along with Mr. Yan, the club’s supervisor, decided to take action and plan a walkout. They presented this event to their club members and administrators, AP White and AP Ding. The slideshow included their goals and an explanation of why this walkout is important.
At around 9:50 am on Wednesday, students gathered in center court. Many were holding posters, provided by the club or self-made.
Opening the event with a speech by Abdullah, she conveyed a message similar to the one of Wadea AI Fayoume’s uncle’s speech, which was given after the six year old was killed as a victim of an anti-muslim hate crime. The uncle of the child said, “Our officials need to come out and say something… we need to save our kids”, which Abdullah reiterated, following along the lines of the rest of his speech as well.
Following the speech, Leah Totah, a member of the MENASAA for Humanity club, led the crowd through several chants. As students were released from second period and transitioned to flex, the group continued to protest, raising their posters and calling to be heard.
Afterwards, another speech was given by Nagham Masarweh, regarding the violence currently taking place in Palestine. Masarweh told brief stories of multiple devastating events, bringing awareness to the lives that have been lost and powerfully voicing that, “This isn’t about choosing sides and neither is it about religion, it’s about humanity.”
In addition, Abdullah also gave another speech which called the district to take action and introduced the petition the club has created. Her speech summarized the petition, explaining how members of the club are “…feeling overlooked by the lack of the district’s recognition of the destruction and tragic loss of life that has occurred in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia…”
The walkout ended halfway through flex, so the MENASAA for Humanity club’s current focus has shifted to promoting their petition, which calls attention to the district’s lack of recognition towards students’ struggles relating to current hate crimes worldwide.
