~*bean*~

[ Friday, September 05, 2003 ]

Activism: Here I come (insha Allah)!

As I stopped at a light on Telegraph in Berkeley yesterday, a man selling tie-dyed shirts looked over at me and asked seriously, "Have you thought about a tie-dyed burka?" I look him in the eye, blinked, and said, "No. I haven't." And I just crossed the street. In any other place that would've been weird.

Today was Jumma, so I joined Muslims at the YWCA to pray Jummah salah. Ustadh Suheib Webb was our Imam and he gave a very inspiring khutba. Alhamdulillah the place was packed! After salah, a sister said the shahadah and thereby converted to Islam. As new converst generally are, she was all emotional from being so happy, and all the sisters gave her hugs and introduced themselves to her.

Afterwards, we all went to Julie's of course! It's a tradition with all the Muslims to have lunch there after every Jumma. It's a chain cafe, but the one in Berkeley is owned by Indonesian Muslims and they make sure all their meat is zabihah. It's so great going into a place and ordering anything on the menu! And they're not that expensive. I ordered a chicken sandwich. Alhamdulillah you can always really feel the brotherhood and sisterhood on Jummas...although I have to admit, it would be nicer if the brothers would let the sisters order before them. Guys and food. Need I say more? But anyway, it's great! We take over the whole courtyard area...all Muslim students with our kufis, hijabs, traditional clothes, and most importantly, our Muslim pride.

While I was eating, I realized that Rick Rocamora was sitting behind me. Rick Rocamora is a Filipino Muslim photojournalist who had exhibits in the Bay Area on Muslims after 9/11. He also went to the Philippines and documented the poverty that many Filipinos live in. He currently he has an exhibit in Oakland and he was happy to point out the article about it taped to Julie's Cafe door. Masha Allah he's a very nice, friendly man. I gave him some info on an upcoming event, and he gaev me his email address. Insha Allah he'll be there and will photograph the event.

Last night was our first CalMSA meeting. It started at Muslim Time (LATE of course!), but alhamdulillah I think it went well. The committee heads introduced their committees and signed people up on them. One thing I like about the Muslims at Cal is that no one really makes an issue out of what grade/year we're all in. In high school, it was almost an unspoken agreement that students were friends only with students in their own grade. Well that's not the case at Cal, and everyone's friendly. Some sisters were surprised that I'm only a freshman...I guess I'm a little too serious and set in college to be considered a freshman. Or maybe it's because I was trying to publicize an event that I'm helping to organize...Anyway, as usual, I committed myself to way too many things: community service committee, Al Bayan (the campus Muslim paper), Free Iraq Foundation (FIF), and tabling. I came home at 10:45 pm and my parents were not too pleased. Yes, I got lectured (but I totally understood where they were coming from; maybe that comes with maturity).

Thursday night, I went to a meeting for the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). SJP started a few years ago and they've staged many protests. They started out with a presentation about the history of Palestine and Israel, and then they showed a video from some of their protests. The video was awesome! They had blocked the entrance the Sather Gate (the main entrance to the campus) to give students a glimpse of what it feels like to be stopped and harassed at checkpoints by Israeli soldiers. IT started out as a small crowd, and as students were stopped at the gate, they ended up helping SJP in the protest. SJP also took over Wheeler Hall, shutting off access to all doors (except the handicap entrance), and expelling students from the building (They were showing what it felt like to be in an occupation). The students linked arms and wouldn't let the campus police through. Eventually the police started pulling students out of the rows and arresting them. The students remained peaceful throughout the whole thing, and later the campus dropped the charges. This was all big news; I remember hearing about it. It seems like Berkeley students are always getting arrested at protests. At the meeting there was a professor from one of the universities in Palestine, and she talked about how Palestinians did hear about the protests and that it meant a lot to them. I had to leave early so I didn't get to see the documentary on Palestine. All I can say is that those Israelis are totally smart and they've got everything planned out. Those walls make everything look like concentration camps. And the U.S. is too stupid to even notice anything...Then again, our government is totally swayed by Israel (and Israel knows it!), and we Americans, are the ones who are blind to anything that doesn't affect our little bubble of the world. And the "peace process"...you've got to be kidding me!

Anyway, I'll save my ranting for the rallies and protests...