What Happens There Affects Us Here: Hofstra students take to panel to discuss Israel-Hamas war and its effects here

From left to right, students Alma Glavatovic, Alisha Paracha, Ritika Singh, Michael Katzen, Giovanni Salsa and Zainab Mozawalla share their perspectives on the war on Gaza. // Photo courtesy of Julia Capitelli.

Six Hofstra students took to an anthropology discussion panel titled “What Happens There, Affects Us Here” on Thursday, March 14, to share their experiences in the United States as they relate to Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Each of the panelists gave presentations in which they told personal stories and individually called for action.

The panel was moderated by anthropology professor Timothy P. Daniels. He worked closely with the panelists and Hofstra club Student Voices for Palestine to organize the event.

“We decided on that panel, we wanted it to be a student-focused panel where we would get their stories and their experiences and their views,” Daniels said.

Among the panelists was Zainab Mozawalla, a senior pre-law student triple majoring in economics, global studies and political science who spoke about how her identity ties her to the ongoing assault.

“As a Muslim, of course, it pains me to see my people hurt and have the same false rhetoric always being spread,” Mozawalla said. “Not being looked at as human and murder being justified because of the word ‘terrorist.’”

History professor Carolyn Eisenberg, an expert on U.S foreign policy, had a small part in organizing the panel and also attended. She said that many students on campus are uninformed and that it is important that we pay attention. She aims to create a space where students can civilly share their perspectives in her own class discussions. Eisenberg said that it was a positive thing for these students to tell their stories on the panel.

“I was glad that the students that spoke found their voices,” Eisenberg said. “I thought they were very calm and very clear about some of their experiences.”

Giovanni Salsa, a junior history major and an assistant news editor for The Hofstra Chronicle, also shared a personal account on the panel. As a Palestinian Christian with family from the West Bank, his presentation discussed his relationship with his identity and how it has changed over time.

Panelists also spoke about the treatment they experience in the U.S. regarding people’s reactions to their identities and views. Michael Katzen, a freshman filmmaking major who is Jewish-American, said that he does not support Israel’s activity in Gaza and the West Bank and shared how people have reacted to him taking this stance.

“Because I’m vocal against the violence, because I’m vocal against the hatred against the Palestinians and Muslim Americans living over here, I am accused of being a tokenized Jew,” he said. “I’m accused of using my Jewish heritage as a way of devaluing what’s going on. I’m accused of wanting another Holocaust.”

Another panelist was freshman political science major Alisha Paracha, who shared an incident that happened before she attended a vigil held by Student Voices for Palestine on Monday, March 11.

“I walked out of my house wearing a keffiyeh [a traditional Palestinian scarf],” she said. “I was taking my car out of the driveway, and as I drove away from my house, a man stuck his hand out of the car, put up his middle finger, and made a bunch of hand gestures towards me and drove away.”

Many students attended the panel and asked questions, causing the panel to run over its allotted time frame during common hour. Daniels said that there is discussion of holding a second installment of the event, which he hopes comes to fruition. “I think that there are a lot of critical questions that were raised that we could follow up on in a part two,” he said.

Similarly, Eisenberg said she hopes people continue to speak out and share their stories. She suggested hosting a moderated discussion where students have time to share perspectives and engage in constructive discourse.

“Our other job is to create a space … [where] we let different ideas about it come out,” Eisenberg said. “And really encourage students to engage with each other in a friendly way so that they can learn from each other.”