By Emily Shane

Assistant News Editor

As students were walking to class last week, a Denison student lay wrapped in a sheet next to a sign that said “Keep walking, it is just another Palestinian that was killed.”
The silent protest during common hour was part of Palestine Awareness Week, a week of events organized by the Middle Eastern Cultural Organization (MECO) in collaboration with the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Sustained Dialogue.
“After the latest attacks on Gaza and the failure of the last round of peace talks, we felt that it was important to raise awareness about what is happening in Palestine,” said Saliba Ishaq ‘15, the president of the Middle Eastern Cultural Organization (MECO) and a biochemistry major from Chicago, Ill.
“We wanted to educate the Denison Community about the Palestine and about the harsh living conditions in the war-torn region.”
The other events in the week were a presentation by Jacqueline O’Keefe entitled “How Palestinians Became Refugees,” a presentation by Rana Odeh entitled “The Impact of Media Bias on Public Opinion Toward Palestine and Israel,” a presentation by Dr. Isis Nusair on “The Regional and Global Contexts of the War on Gaza” and a Sustained Dialogue discussion on confronting borders and oppression moderated by Dr. Ramahi.
The week was well received by students. “It was great! I thought it was a great way to educate students on international issues that they probably wouldn’t have been exposed to if it wasn’t for diverse students on campus,” said Hanna Saba ‘17 a political science and sociology/anthropology double major from Chicago, Ill., who attended the Sustained Dialogue discussion.
“It was really informative because I feel like you never actually see stuff on the ground. It’s really filtered through the media,” said Lauren Nguyen ’16 from Houston TX, who attended Dr. Nusair’s talk. “The open levels of hostility from Israel aren’t something we really hear.”
The next MSA event is a comedy show called The Muslims Are Coming, put on in collaboration with UPC. The event will take place on Wednesday, September 24th at 7pm in Herrick Hall.

Photo courtesy Linh Nguyen