On Oct. 6, Dr. Sa’ed Atshan gave a presentation titled “Palestinian Christians: Past. Present, and Future” in Concordia College’s Centrum.
Firstly, Concordia student Abdallah Salha gave a brief introduction about being a Palestinian man and dealing with homesickness, empathy from others and not knowing if his family still in Gaza is safe. As this presentation was given the night before the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, he spoke about daily life in Gaza and the history of the conflict.
Next, Atshan detailed his background, which included: being raised in the city Ramallah, attending the Ramallah Friends School, attending a Quaker Church called the Friends Meetinghouse and later coming to the United States to attend Harvard University.
He then spoke about how many people in the United States do not know that twenty percent of Palestinians worldwide are Christians; many people think of the Christian holy land as an abstract concept, but Palestinian Christians have a rich culture and strong faith rooted in places that are considered religiously important. But due to the ongoing conflict, religious locations are damaged or inaccessible; he explained that Christmas was canceled in Bethlehem this year, and that the city has been surrounded by a militarized wall. Atshan shared a video of Palestinian Christian dancers performing and a story about a soccer team celebrating their culture in Chile.
Atshan also explained some historical events that are related to what is happening now, including geographic fragmentation, ethno-religious backgrounds and violence. The presentation featured multiple maps that showed how Palestinian and Israeli territory claims have changed since 1948, and how that has influenced citizens of both nations.
Atshan expressly noted that antisemitism is a major problem, and that he did not mean any harm to Jewish individuals by discussing topics related to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and the violence that has followed. He urged the audience to extend empathy to everyone that was affected in the last year, regardless of where they are from. He stated that he both lost a close friend during Oct. 7 and was a mentor of Hisham Awartani, a Palestinian college student that was shot and paralyzed on Nov. 25th, 2023 while in Vermont.
Concordia student Maya Tannous then led an audience-based question and answer session. Questions covered a wide range of topics, including: Palestinian clothing items and who can wear them, reasons why violence and discrimination are occurring, and how people can begin to heal from what they have witnessed and experienced.
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