MusliM aMeriCaN aCtiVisM

showed viewers how to cook batiri eggplant on her camp stove set up in her Clarksville, Maryland garden. Viewers could hear and nearly smell and taste the garlic, onion, lentils, chili, cumin and herbs sizzling in olive oil, as she described how refugees from villages outside Gaza brought their own culinary traditions to the enclave. Cooking is one of the best ways Palestinians can share their heritage and narrate their own stories with their children, ElHaddad concluded.

To cap off the brunch, Walaa from 47SOUL! played their signature blend of hip hop and electronica as dabkeh dancers performed. The brunch met Growing Palestine’s goals of raising funds for farmers, as well as providing a fun opportunity for Palestinians to narrate their own stories. (For more information please visit <https://growingpalestine.com>.) —Delinda C. Hanley

MUSLIM AMERICAN ACTIVISM Six Members of Congress Address American Muslims for Palestine

American Muslims for Palestine held its annual Palestine Advocacy Days event from Sept. 14-Sept. 18. This year’s event took place virtually, and featured several high-profile speakers, including six members of Congress.

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) began the Sept. 15 plenary by outlining the cold reality about the situation in Palestine. “Apartheid is a system the Palestinian people endure every day as they struggle under Israel’s military occupation, an oppression that is sadly supported by U.S. taxpayer dollars— our dollars,” she noted. McCollum is the author of two notable bills in Congress. One would prevent U.S. funds from being used to detain and torture Palestinian children, and the other would preclude the U.S. government from recognizing Israeli annexation of Palestinian land.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) lambasted the Trump administration for cutting basic humanitarian aid to Palestinians while providing abundant military support to Israel. “On one hand is a need of funds for education and healthcare, and on the other is funding for fighter jets and weapons,” she noted. “We must invest in health and divest from war.”

Tlaib also asked why the U.S. is funding Israel while claiming there is not enough money to provide basic services to Americans. “There is something fundamentally wrong when we cannot find the money to provide clean water in my own home state of Michigan but can pour billions into the Israeli military, where they expand an illegal apartheid system,” she stated.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) said the lack of aid to Palestinians is egregious considering the threat the ongoing pandemic poses, especially to residents of the impoverished and densely populated Gaza Strip. “This is an issue none of us can take lightly and I feel how personal this is to many people in my district, and it has become very personal to me,” she said.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) emphasized the importance of citizens engaging their members of Congress on the issue of Palestine. “We need voices like yours on the Hill to speak up for Palestinian human rights because too often they are completely left out of the conversation,” she said.

Chu noted that on official trips to Israel, member of Congress are often given a distorted view of the region. “The first trip I took to Israel as a member of Congress was one in which we heard from so many people, but only one was Palestinian, and in fact she mainly spoke to say things were okay.” Chu later toured Palestine to get another perspective and said she was shocked by the injustices she witnessed.

Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) called on Washington to use its global strength to advocate for an equitable solution to the conflict. “As the world’s most powerful democracy, America must use its immense power to urge other countries, including our partners like Israel, to forge a new path that embraces peace and equality for all,” he said.

Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ) noted that Palestinians are too often portrayed as initiators of violence, rather than victims of oppression. “They are a people tired of economic sanctions in their lands, they are tired of the violence of the region, they are tired of being limited in their expression and pursuit of freedom,” he said.

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, assured the audience her people are not giving up their hope for freedom. “The Palestinians are not in the habit of surrendering,” she said. “We are not defeated. We may be under occupation, we may be suffering the worst type of torture and oppression, but in spirit we are not defeated, because we are a people with rights, and we are a people who are determined to get these rights and to be free and live with dignity on our own land.” —Dale Sprusansky