Xavierite Discussion in Action
On Wed. Feb. 21, SXU hosted a Understanding Palestine: Context and Conversation discussion in the Wiseman Student Lounge. Students and staff were able to learn the history and context of the current Israeli war on Gaza.
This event was planned to shed light on the current conditions and reflect on the experiences of those impacted by the Israeli-Palestine issues.
Three panelists spoke on this topic. The first panelist was Mathew Costello, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, SXU.
Costello spoke on why Israel created a situation like this for Palestinians. “SJP has been doing a wonderful job educating people about the Palestinian situation and the history of te Palestinian people. I want to turn this around a little bit and think about why Israel at this point is this way and why we got in a situation like this,” says Costello
The second panelist that spoke was Nina Shoman-Dajani, Ed.D., Assistant Dean of Learning Enrichment and College Readiness, Moraine Valley Community College.
Shoman-Dajani focused on solidarity with Palestine. “I’m focusing on solidarity because we don’t hear enough about it in mainstream media. We are not seeing it on your evening News, unless it’s a short sound bite here and there,” voices Shoman-Dajani.
The third panelist was Saib Othman, Ph.D., Provost at SXU.
Othman spoke on his experiences growing up in The West Bank and how to spread awareness and information on what has been happening.
“I remember where the army regularly came to houses. They would break into houses in the middle of the night and search. They would go to closets and put everything in the middle of the room and push people around,” shares Othman.