It Could Have Been You
BYU Culture
Tala Alnasser: There's a bit of a passive culture that exists, at least from what I have seen—maybe it's a Utah thing, maybe it's a BYU thing. I feel like sometimes it impedes students' ability to be fully integrated citizens when they grow up and go into the world. What are you going to do when you go out into the world and realize that you can't just shy away from every conversation or every problem and that these people's experiences are their lived lives? That's so detrimental. If you aren’t engaging in difficult conversations, you’re not being challenged intellectually or spiritually strengthened. I feel like that’s really unfortunate.
We have had experiences, unfortunately, where our integrity got questioned, our professionalism got questioned, and our character got questioned. We've been called terrorist sympathizers, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-refugee by individuals on campus.
This puts us in a really awkward position because I really do love BYU. I love its approach to education. The interdisciplinary approach that they provide is so unique and so fascinating to me, especially because I'm Muslim; I'm not even a member. I have no religious connection to this university, but it's just fascinating for me. And the reason it breaks my heart is that I know that this could be so much better. There's a documentary that I watched that talks about how critics are the biggest optimists. That’s true. They criticize because there's so much to do; they see the potential and get sad that the potential feels like it's not being fully lived up to. Even if it isn't, it feels like it at times.
Student Associations and Activism
Sama Salah: Way back in October, we announced that we were going to be suspending all events for that semester out of respect for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, and the amount of word craft that I had to use in that story to make sure that if someone wanted to nit-pick it, take it apart word by word, they couldn’t get mad at me. “Why did you say Palestine instead of Israel?” We’re the Arab Student Association—Israelis aren't Arab. Things like that. I had to be so careful. I sent it to the group chat. I sent it to my mom. I sent it to one of my friends at another university. I asked them, “Do you think this is okay?” It feels weird to be a multicultural club or be the Arab Student Association and not spread awareness about what's happening to Arabs.
Alnasser: N.T. Wright says we need to think globally and act locally. And if we want to make change, we know that we can't go and do a big protest at BYU. What we can do is start within our own communities and see how we can be bridge builders to other people in this university, acknowledging the fact that we come from our Arab communities and also acknowledging the fact that we're part of the BYU community. We're being that bridge builder.
Multidimensional Identity
Salah: All of our struggles are so connected. The same system that killed George Floyd is the same system that arrests and kills Palestinian men in the West Bank or in Gaza. And something that us being at BYU represents is that we all have a lot of different identities that are our own. At one point or another, we’re going to realize that we're a lot more similar than we might think, not just in how cool we are, how kind we are, how charitable we are, how much we love our family, love our faith, but also in our struggles.
Alnasser: We're just trying to show how multidimensional Palestinians are. That is the goal of the event. It's to show the diversity that exists within the Palestinians themselves. We're wanting to get alumni who are members of the Church, a faculty member that is Palestinian, another that is a convert to the Church. We are trying, if anything, to destigmatize the Arab identity as a pure political unit. That's the purpose of what we're trying to do. It's not for some agenda or whatever it is. If conversations start to flow naturally from that, then we're doing something. Our identities are not political.
Salah: I don't want this feeling of defeat to defeat me. I don’t want it to take over. Because if I let it take over, it's not going away for a very long while. It's not going to go away until there's a ceasefire. The little acts of kindness from professors, from our boss are so small, but in times like these, they really mean so much more. Even my friend coming up to me and saying, “I did that thing on your story, I texted my representative for a ceasefire,” it sticks with you.
A Message for BYU Students
EL: If you would want all the students at BYU to know something about Palestine, what would you want them to know?
Salah: That it could have easily been you. If God had decided to bring your soul into the body of a Palestinian child, that would have been you. That would have been you screaming into a camera, begging people to hear you and to stop the killing of your people. It could have easily been you. All the children in Palestine that are dying, they were someone's everything. All the mothers in Palestine that are dying have children like you, like me, that can't live without them. Imagine your mom was just taken from you. Imagine your six-year-old daughter was stuck for twelve days in a car being shot at by a tank full of grown men. It could have been you. And I'm pretty sure you would want people to care about your people being killed.
Alnasser: Just imagine yourself standing in front of God and Him telling you that you had all these blessings in your life. You had a voice; you had the privilege to walk around campus, to gain an education, to not fear that bombs are going to drop over your house. You had food security, you had everything, and yet you stayed silent. Imagine God telling you that and then asking you, “What did you do?” And what are you going to say?
Personal Connections
Salah: And Arabs, whether they're Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or whatever they are, they also care about Palestine because that's a cause that's been going on for so long. And what's happening in Palestine has happened to other countries in different forms in the Middle East. It represents more than just Palestine and Palestinians. So when we say that we care about it, it's not just since October 7th. We care about this because Tala has seen the effects that it has on her mom, who's Palestinian. I've seen the effects that it's had on my grandparents. My grandma, her dad fought in the Six-Day War.
Alnasser: my family has a long history of civic and social activism. They were very involved during the end of British colonialism in Jordan and Palestinian independence. I come from a long line of diplomats and teachers, and I am deeply proud of the communities I come from.
It's a beautiful thing to have the privilege of celebrating your own identity. And when I think of this, I think of July 4th, of fireworks that play all around, you laughing with your family and your loved ones, sharing a drink, albeit a Martinelli's. Just laughing and smiling and being grateful for your ancestors who have been there, recognizing that you wouldn't be where you're at right now if it hadn't been for history playing out the way that it did. I think that's a very beautiful thing. I wish to see the day that I'd be able to do that for my own people.
I've moved more than six different times, and my heart hurts and yearns to visit just one place: Palestine. It would be a beautiful thing to be able to do that. And I hope I'll see the day where I could be able to celebrate that part of me.