The Muslim Student Association continues its “Real War on
Terrorism” program series this week, seeking to expose the
injustices of efforts to curb terrorism on the global level.
The events will conclude Wednesday with a lecture about
Palestinians titled “Humanizing the Forgotten People,”
by Manzar Foroohar, a history professor at Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo.
Foroohar will speak on the state of affairs in the Middle East
and discuss the peace process from a historical perspective.
Organizers hope Wednesday’s event will inform students
about the effects of the conflict in Palestinian-occupied
Israel.
“We hope to bring to light the brutality that has been
occurring there, since the media has been focusing on Iraq and we
tend to forget about what’s happening in other places,”
said second-year computer science student Mariam Jukaku.
The series’ events are intended to educate students on the
hardships experienced by citizens of countries caught in the middle
of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, namely Palestinians and the
people of Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines.
Yousef Tajsar, outreach coordinator for MSA and a third-year
political science student, said most information or news the public
gets about the war tends to be from one perspective ““ that of
the U.S. government.
“We want to use our education to promote alternative
views, so that students can be aware of both sides,” he
said.
MSA President Mohammad Mertaban said the war on terrorism could
be viewed as “a microcosm of the United States’
intentions.”
“We want to show the U.S. plan to go into different
countries in terms of how it affects people socially, politically,
historically and holistically,” said Mertaban, a fourth-year
psychobiology and French student.
Wednesday’s event will be the result of a collaborative
effort between MSA, the Cultural Affairs Commission and the United
Arab Society.
“Humanizing the Forgotten People,” featuring Cal
Poly San Luis Obispo history professor Manzar Foroohar, will be
held in the Kerckhoff State Room at 6 p.m. Wednesday.