For many Palestinian students at Queen’s, their experiences have been kept in the dark for too long.
Three students shared their personal experiences with The Journal as Palestinian Muslim students at Queen’s. Students’ fear of hate and discrimination has been heightened since war broke out in the Middle East in October.
Student Noor* described being Palestinian at Queen’s as awful and alienating. She said she’s been on high alert since the Oct. 7 attacks.
“I think I’ve received more hostility here than I have anywhere else,” Noor said in an interview with The Journal.
For Noor, alienation began long before Palestine was in headlines. Two years ago, she was part of a club and spearheaded organizing an event showcasing Palestinian and Indigenous culture and art. The event was cancelled last minute.
“It just took one complaint for that to all go away and get cancelled. I decided to resign the next day after that happened,” Noor said.
As a concurrent education student, Layth Malhis, ConEd ’24, felt the need to hold himself back in his classes, especially during the first and second years of his undergraduate studies.
“If I was to talk about Palestine, we’ve been fed that that might make others feel unsafe and might make the room feel awkward. Professors might not appreciate the fact that they have to do the quote-unquote, labour, to play mediator,” Malhis said in an interview with The Journal.
As a soon-to-be teacher, Malhis is adamant about championing social justice inside his classroom and opening spaces for students to be proud of who they are.
When Malhis first arrived at Queen’s, he was disheartened to discover there wasn’t space for Palestinian students to connect. Malhis took it upon himself to make space through advocacy, encouraging his community to show pride in their roots.
“I don’t have a social life that corresponds to me being Palestinian. Palestinians and Arabs put on a mask so they can fit in. But this year, with the advocacy work that I’m doing, I was able to pull people out of the closet,” Malhis said.
Malhis was one of the representatives from Queen’s Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) group who attended AMS Assembly on Nov. 21. SPHR intended to provide elected officials and assembly with context on Palestine and to show for the right to Palestinian self-expression.
For Malhis, the meeting exemplified the hardships Palestinian students face on campus. During the meeting, SPHR reported a student pointed at SPHR and those showing solidarity with Palestinians and said “terrorist.” The conflation between Palestinians and terrorism is harmful and dangerous for students, Malhis said.
“There was a lot of historical inaccuracies spewed […] I felt this was done in a manner to stop us from asking the AMS to view us as humans,” Malhis said. “Do you know how embarrassing it is to stand in front of people that are your age and ask them to look at you as human?”
Assembly, which was attended by Jewish students and Hillel representatives, was at risk of becoming a standoff with the AMS doing little to protect students, Malhis explained. Advocacy for Palestinian students may have to be taken beyond the student level and brought to Queen’s istration.
“It didn’t seem like it was in good faith,” he said. “There were fist bumps being done as a way of celebration, they were laughing at us to stories of our grandparents being displaced.”
At Assembly, Palestinian students and allies were careful not to be fan and flames, Malhis explained. Palestinian and Arab students already face more judgement than their peers.
Noor, who also attended Assembly, echoed Malhis’ sentiments. She ed students laughing at every mention of Nakba, the Arabic word for the mass displacement of three-quarters of Palestinians in 1948. The AMS’s inaction was reminiscent of a larger problem at all levels of governance.
“Our real governments aren’t calling for a ceasefire, but in an ideal world, the AMS government would do that. We have community who live in Gaza, we have community who have lost family in the airstrikes and in the violence,” Noor said.
It’s not only Palestinian students who are under more scrutiny at Queen’s. Noor said allies to the Palestinian plight are being bullied and discriminated against.
“Even if you’re not Palestinian, if you’re not Muslim, or if you’re not Arab, or if you’re not a person of color, if you’re even just ive of Palestine, if you’re even trying to sympathize with Palestine a little bit, there’s always going to be someone who isn’t going to like you for it and who will try to attack your character because of it,” Noor said.
PhD student in cultural studies Baraa Abuzayed didn’t expect Palestine to have a silencing effect on her peers during classroom discussions. She said raising the topic can make things awkward.
“I feel like some of my colleagues would intentionally avoid speaking to me or avoid being around me, because I’m Palestinian, or because I do this type of research,” Abuzayed said.
The current war and the commentary on campus has made speaking up about Palestine even harder for Abuzayed. Initially her research on reproductive rights and housing included field work in Palestine, a portion of the project which Abuzayed has had to sacrifice.
Despite facing discrimination at Queen’s, and at AMS Assembly, Palestinian students said their voices won’t be silenced.
“I’ve always felt very proud to be Palestinian. it’s always been the com that has guided me throughout my whole life,” Abuzayed said.
Palestinian students interviewed by The Journal unanimously expressed their pride in their identity, their culture, and their people’s resilience—whatever the circumstances may be.
“We will never stay silent and most of us will die on this hill,” Malhis said.
*Name shortened for safety reasons
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