Monday was the first day of the Spring academic semester. I often came home feeling exhausted. Initially, I thought I was exhausted because I have early morning classes five days a week, and I’ve been spending more time outside of the house. This exhaustion isn’t necessarily due to my sleeping schedule, but may be explained by my mental health. Perhaps I am mentally and emotionally exhausted. I have too much on my mind right now, which means I have to do something to alleviate this stress. Writing this blog allows me to reflect and may alleviate some of my stress. I will, however, not write about every personal issue. Not everything should be disclosed in a blog. :)

So far, my classes are going well. Three of my classes are related to serious moral and contemporary issues. One of my theory classes is about animal issues, representation in literature, relationships with people, animal psychology, etc. The class I need to take in order to graduate is about ethical dilemmas, and another is called, “Torture and the Law.” Interesting stuff, right? I am pretty sure these “ethical dilemmas” will provoke a lot of thought and cause to me lose sleep :p. Anyway, I’ll wait until we have more lectures, discussions, and assignments to offer my opinions and share ideas.

On Thursday I was one of the two main panelists on a talk about our thoughts on the situations in Gaza. I was asked by the campus chaplain to share my views and opinions since I am one of the leaders of the Muslim Student Association. The president of Hillel (the Jewish student organization) was also asked to share her thoughts. I figured this wouldn’t be too hard since it seems like it’s more of an interfaith dialogue rather than a debate. When I went to the planning meeting, it looked like this “discussion” would turn into a debate. I made sure that I would be prepared before this event to defend my opinions and the truth. Despite reading a lot about this conflict, I am not an expert on this conflict! I made this clear to everyone before and during the event, but of course the audience members directed questions at us as if we were experts.

I have no negative feelings towards my fellow panelist, but I was appalled by everything she said on stage. I made sure to express these feelings but became emotional once (I didn’t lose any credibility, thankfully). She didn’t cite a source until an audience member demanded her to cite a source. I think she cited only two websites that sounded like they were unprofessional and pro-Israel. Prior to the panel, I made sure to research sources written by both sides. However, I ended up heavily relying on BBC because the average person knows BBC and its reputation. BBC provides good analysis and also gives historical information behind contemporary conflicts. Many people really don’t know or understand how this conflict came about. The only thing related to this conflict we learned about in high school was the Holocaust. Some students, if their universities offer such courses, learn about the conflict in university classes. Some audience members sounded completely ignorant when they offered comments or asked questions, which means that we all have a lot left to learn. If you take a side, make sure that there is a rational reason for why you taking a side. Someone said, “Israel doesn’t lie because it’s a democracy.” I had a “what the heck?!” reaction in my mind and in the rebuttal. Anyway, I could go on and on. There is a genuine humanitarian crisis in Gaza. I hope and pray that the suffering of these people ends immediately, and they will soon live in peace and prosperity. Ameen.

I have so much more to say about this issue (don’t we all?), but I will save it for future posts :)

Peace and Love :)