Though the United States has a history of civil rights movements and independence, another country has yet to experience liberation because of its current state of government and constant military threat from neighboring countries.
Students for Justice in Palestine and Israel invited Kani Xulam, a Kurdish activist and founding president of the American Kurdish Information Network, to speak to more than 50 students in a filled Bentley Hall classroom Friday afternoon about human rights in Kurdistan.
As Xulam stood behind a podium covered with a Kurdish flag, he discussed several topics including U.S. involvement with weapons on Kurdish soil as well as Musa Anter, an activist in Kurdistan that was assassinated in September 1992.
“The society that killed an innocent patriot promoting freedom isn’t any different than the society that killed your Uncle Tom,” Xulam said to the audience.
Informing students about the different problems that take place in Kurdistan such as linguistic discrimination, cultural genocide and physical killings of activists was imperative, said Stephen Pearson, vice president of Students for Justice in Palestine and Israel and a second year graduate student studying teacher education.
“I think from this event it turned out well,” Pearson said. “The Kurdish situation is very little known. I was happy that so many came and that this may compel them to take action (in raising awareness).”
Inviting Xulam to the event was something that the of Students for Justice in Palestine and Israel had wanted for a certain period of time because of the lack of news coverage and attention Kurdistan receives, said Eden Almasude, treasurer of the Students for Justice in Palestine and Israel and a second year graduate student studying international studies.
“I hope that students got more out of this,” Almasude said. “Our goal to raise awareness for the situation in the Kurdish region I think was successful.”
Xulam offered a questions and answers session after his presentations that many students said they thought was beneficial.
“There’s a lot going on in the world,” said Emma Bryce, a junior studying political science. “I didn’t know there was anything going on in Kurdistan. They’re struggling for independence and they continue to suffer.”
Xulam said that he was pleased by the student turnout and said he hopes that his message will remain with students for a lifetime.
“I would like them to go home and think about the Kurds,” he said. “I hope that this pulls on their heartstrings and (that they) share the history of their glorious anti-slavery with others in the world that might not have that chance.”
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