The Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition hosts community teach-in on Gaza conflict

The Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition hosted a community teach-in yesterday at Sayre Hall, Cathedral Church of the Nativity, with around 140 attendees engaging in thoughtful discussions about the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

This was the organization’s first teach-in and the first to be held in a community setting. The teach-in featured tables from multiple partner organizations, including the Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace and Lehigh for Palestine.

The event included a panel discussion moderated by Cory Fischer-Hoffman, a local organizer and member of Jewish Voice for Peace; Allison Mickel, an associate professor of anthropology and director of global studies at Lehigh; Faramarz Farbod, adjunct instructor of political science at Moravian University; Raya Abdelaal, a Palestinian-American and organizer for MyLehigh Valley Youth Organization; and Naji Latefa, a Gaza native and political activist. 

The event opened with Mickel, who introduced herself as an archaeologist specializing in Middle Eastern research. She said she’s an active member of Jewish Voice for Peace, and has participated and attended previous teach-ins with the Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition. 

“My goal really is just for people to feel like they learned something,” she said. “Hopefully, they feel moved to take the next step and next action for an end to genocide.”

During her presentation, Mickel referenced a diagram illustrating various soil layers that each represented different periods of time involving multiple groups of people from various ethnicities and nationalities who lived in the region. She said Israel employs government-funded excavators, heavy construction machines, for archeological research that removes topsoil layers. She said this process creates the false impression that one group has continuously occupied the land.

Panel speakers at the community teach-in on Nov. 16 included (from left to right) Cory Fischer-Hoffman, event moderator, Allison Mickel, an associate professor of anthropology and director of global studies at Lehigh, Faramarz Farbod, an adjunct instructor of political science at Moravian University and Raya Abdelaal, a Lehigh Valley community organizer. The event was held in Sayre Hall, Cathedral Church of the Nativity. (Ellis Krusch/B&W Staff)

Mickel said the removal of physical traces from the landscape of later historical periods creates the impression of an uninterrupted presence by a single group throughout ancient times. She said this suggests that Ottoman, Islamic and Byzantine eras are either insignificant or didn’t exist.

“It bolsters this claim that the Jewish inhabitants of the land are the original inhabitants of the land,” Mickel said. “It creates this physical evidence that all that has ever existed and all that exists today is just this one group of people dating back specifically to the Iron Age.”

Between 1200 and 600 BCE, large-scale iron production in the Middle East and southeastern Europe influenced permanent settlements and weaponry, according to Britannica.

Mickel said there has always been migration in this area, so the belief in originalism is a choice that ignores cultural exchange. Originalism is a theory of interpretation of legal texts bound to its original meaning, according to the Georgetown University Law Center.

Farbod has been a panelist in five prior teach-ins, but he said he hopes more people will join him and the Free Palestine Movement. 

“It does not bode well from the movement perspective that I have been a panelist in so many teach-ins and info sessions on Palestine since Oct. 7,” Farbod said. “After all, Lehigh Valley is a place with many colleges and universities, and there are so many other professors who ought to be willing to speak up about what’s going on in Palestine.”

He said his political activism stems from growing up in Iran and witnessing the 1979 collapse of the Iranian monarchy, which was replaced by an Islamic Republic after he moved to the U.S.  

Farbod recalled tuning into his shortwave radio in his Moravian dorm room to catch signals from Iran and stay informed about unfolding events. He said his deep interest in politics drove him to start teaching political science at Moravian in 1998. 

Farbod also said he has noticed a shift in student political engagement since Oct. 7. He said students used to take his classes to simply earn a grade and move on, but recently, they’ve shown a genuine interest in current events and have taken a more active stance on political issues.

Although Lehigh for Palestine isn’t recognized as an official club through Lehigh, they’ve organized events on campus in solidarity with Palestine. 

Lauren Gilmore, ‘23G, said the organization held a week of Palestinian solidarity at the end of the spring 2024 semester, which included events like a potluck, film screening and an art build. 

Abdelaal also referenced Lehigh for Palestine’s demonstration during the panel discussion and said following the demonstration, four Muslim community members were banned from Lehigh for protesting in support of Palestine. 

Zhihong Huang, ‘20G, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, through which he learned about the teach-in event and decided to attend. 

Huang said he was deeply moved by the personal stories shared by panelists, particularly from Naji Latefa, who spoke about his mother’s death in Gaza due to contaminated water and insufficient medical care.

Traditional Palestinian clothing was displayed for community members during the community teach-in on Nov. 16. The event took place at Sayre Hall, the Cathedral Church of the Nativity. (Ellis Krusch/B&W Staff)

“I’ve been participating (in) protests since a year ago, and (this) motivates me to participate in (this) community and protest more in the future,” Huang said.

He also said he believes there aren’t enough protests being held on Lehigh’s campus in response to the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Jeremy Zallen is a representative from Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization established prior to the Hamas attack. Since Oct. 7, the organization has shifted its focus from advocating for democracy in Israel to advocating against the Israel-Hamas war and urging for peace.

He described the organization as a group of Jewish-affiliated people in the Lehigh Valley who are opposed to Israeli policies.

“We’re here to oppose war, oppose genocide, (and) oppose violence,” Zallen said, “And there aren’t many Jewish institutional spaces in the valley that make room for that.”

Jane Duh, a Bethlehem resident who attended the teach-in said it was her first time attending a Lehigh Valley Palestine Coalition event. 

Duh said she learned about the event at Bed Head Vegan Brunch House, where a waitress noticed Duh’s keffiyeh, a Palestinian scarf, and gave her a flier to the event.

She said she plans to stay involved with the coalition in the future, and she signed up to join several organizations at the event. 

“Today I learned that there are many other people in the area who feel the same,” Duh said. “I don’t have to suffer alone, which is what I’ve been doing for the past year.” 

Community members also asked the panelists questions for about 20 minutes, covering topics like changing registered political parties, addressing ways to deal with the U.S. government providing funding and weapons to Israel and ensuring aid reaches Gaza. 

The teach-in concluded with Fischer-Hoffman leading the audience in song. In unison, they sang: 

“Palestine will be free. Palestine will be free. 

We will not avert our eyes.  

Palestine will be free.”