“This isn’t a war, it’s a genocide!” said Sophie, a 15-year-old high school student from Palestine. One of the many voices featured at the district-wide Israel-Palestine teach-in.
The event was held at Contra Costa College with Diablo Valley College and Los Medanos College invited to join the event via Zoom.
The host was a counselor at CCC, Camille Santana, who wanted to shed light on the historical background and context surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict with 4CD faculty and students giving speeches on different topics on the issue.
The event started with the president of CCC, Dr. Kimberly Rogers, saying a few words surrounding the importance.
“This teach-in is an opportunity for CCC and 4CD to showcase our values of inclusion of diverse opinions, ideas and freedom to pursue and fulfill educational goals,” said Dr. Rogers.
She then gave out a statement by the Interim Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh who couldn’t attend the event due to separate obligations.
“The war in Israel and Gaza is beyond tragic and having opportunities to learn about our history is vital. It is also vital that we take the time to not just talk to one another, but listen to each other,” Mehdizadeh said. “Well, we can’t necessarily change the tragedies of the war that are taking place, we can be the agents of local change by our action of kindness, caring and compassion.”
It then moved on to student speakers who wanted to share critical information regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The first student speaker was the President of the Muslim Student Association at CCC, who was only shared by the name of Imunash.
“We wanted to do this to show you what is currently happening in Gaza. Families have been writing their names and their children’s names on their arms so that if they’re killed, they can still be identified and recognized as a person,” Imunash said. “Since Oct. 7, there have been over 1,200 Israelis that have been killed, over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands remain under the rubble. Nearly 1.6 million Palestinians have been placed and entire families have been completely wiped off the Civil Registry.”
After the MSA president finished her speech, Sophie, the Palestinian high school student, was brought in to speak about the imbalances between Israel and Gaza and the biased language of the media surrounding the issue.
“Notice when I said Israel-Hamas war, not Israel-Palestinian war. By avoiding the use of the term Palestinians for Palestine, immediately reducing Palestinians. In doing thism they dehumanize Palestinians as a method to justify the killing and the cleansing of them,” said Sophie.
After Sophie had ended her speech, they brought in a former CCC student, Faiza, to explain the history of Palestine.
After Faiza, CCC Philosophy and Humanities Professor Asad Kabir spoke briefly about the religious importance of the conflict.
“We want justice to speak for itself. We can’t condemn the oppressed unless we condemn the oppressed,” said Kabir.
The event was meant to showcase a safe space for faculty, staff and students alike to join and understand why the Israel and Palestine issue is important to discuss.
Over 260 participants registered, with 182 attending via Zoom. CCC saw 123 people attend in-person, DVC had 35 people attend in-person and LMC had roughly 10 people combined from the Brentwood and Pittsburg campuses.
Many people found the event enlightening with some looking forward to future teach-in events.
For World Language Professor Laurie Huffman, “This was a true highlight of the semester.”
