From Northfield to Falasteen and Lebanon
Documenting the Carleton College 2024 Encampment
Photography and essay by Anwar Mirza, Lebanese-American, activist, and aspiring attorney.
As the world has watched bombs fall, buildings tumble, and blood fill the streets of my beloved homeland, my heart has ached for a land I know I belong to, and yet have never been able to reach.
My family left Lebanon in the midst of a war, with nothing but the hope to forge a better life in what felt like a whole new world. What a devastating injustice it is that today war continues to stifle the return of not only my family, but all of my people, forced once again to leave the beauty of our ancestors behind with nothing but hope in their pockets and resilience in their hearts.
One of the few things that has brought me solace during this time has been the tenacity of student organizers, not just on my own campus but throughout the country and the globe. In a world where the powers that be aim to foster divisiveness throughout every corner of the Earth, my people’s cry for justice is one that transcends difference, transcends class, transcends religion, race, or ethnicity; it is the embodiment of the pursuit of justice, for nothing but justice’s sake.
Few have pursued this mission as valiantly as those college students who have organized and championed anti-war divestment within their institutions—places meant to be havens of peace, learning, and thought. As the bombs continue to fall, I hope we find courage and hope in the ones who continue to fight, and in those who resist merely through their determination to live.
No matter how big or small, one by one our actions wash clean those evil deeds that remain stained by the blood of the innocent. If you listen closely, our voices echo a call for justice that sings throughout the generations, from my ancestors to yours.
