Rev. Hagler's U of R speech and an interview with student organizer Hijazi

Submitted by T. Forsyth on Thu, 2015-10-22 14:41

After Rev. Graylan Hagler was dis-invited from speaking at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and before he spoke at the Historic German House, Shurouq Hijazi and other student organizers with the Student Association for the Development of Arab Cultural Awareness (SADACA) scrambled to secure the Palestinian rights speaking engagement at the University of Rochester. In the interview she discusses the process for bringing him, the community conflict with his dis-invitation from the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, academic freedom, and why his message was important for students and community members to hear. The interview was conducted on September 28, 2015. Hijazi sets some of the context for the reverend's controversial visit to Rochester.

Organizer Shurouq Hijazi on bringing Palestinian rights speaker to U of R

Rev. Hagler stopped at the University of Rochester to give a talk before speaking to a crowd at the German House on September 24, 2015. Once the U of R administration discussed security and the school's code against hate speech with Hijazi and the president of SADACA Abdulwahab Alhaji, the talk was secured and Rev. Hagler not only had the support of student organizations but also the U of R administration. The title of the talk was "Connecting the dots: From Ferguson to Palestine." It was a 40 minute talk and dealt specifically with pointing out the connections between apartheid in Israel and the Occupied Territories and the same kinds of humiliation and degradation that Black people and people of color experience in the U.S. on a daily basis by the police. This is part one which includes a brief introduction from Alhaji and Rev. Hagler's argument for connecting the dots.