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The Daily Northwestern Monday, May 1, 2023
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El-Kurd discusses Palestine in media Students for Justice in PalJournalist speaks byestine, the Middle Eastern about respectability North African Students AssoNorthwestern’s Compolitics, news bias ciation, munity for Human Rights, By KRISTEN AXTMAN
daily senior staffer @kristenaxtman1
Palestinian writer and poet Mohammed El-Kurd discussed respectability politics in front of about 100 students and community members at Lutkin Hall on Saturday. In his remarks, El-Kurd argued activists should move beyond respectability politics to deliver honest messages about current events like the Palestine-Israel conflict. “Respectability is when you have to heal a certain way, dress a certain way, say certain things, have a bunch of qualifiers before you move on to the important part,” El-Kurd said. “Tossing that out the window can be quite liberating for people.” El-Kurd is the Palestine correspondent for The Nation and released his debut poetry collection, “RIFQA,” in 2021. He was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2021. The event, titled “Beyond Respectability,” was co-hosted
the Muslim-cultural Students Association and the MENA Studies Program. El-Kurd said he decided to work in journalism because of misinformation about Palestine in the media. Poetry offers him a path to explore similar topics, but with more freedom. He uses poetry to approach subjects like stalking and cyber illusionary violence — a useful medium because discussing his feelings on those topics could otherwise place him under scrutiny, he said. He also said many people believe the portrayal of Palestinians in the media comes from reporters’ ignorance, but he said large media outlets like Fox News and CNN have reporters on the ground in Palestine. Reporters tend to ignore Israeli state violence because the occupation often serves establishments’ strategic interests, he said. “It’s time that we approach protection for our people with a little bit more compassion,” he said. “We should be
» See EL-KURD, page 6
Illustration by Lily Ogburn
A new Jamba location is set to open this fall on Sherman Avenue in downtown Evanston.
Jamba to return to Evanston in fall
Smoothie shop comes amid effort to revitalize city’s downtown By SAUL PINK
daily senior staffer @saullpink
Growing up in Evanston, John Holmes frequently stopped by the smoothie chain
Jamba, formerly Jamba Juice, on Davis Street to order a banana berry smoothie. When it closed in 2015, he said he felt heartbroken. Holmes would drive 30 minutes to Highland Park in a minivan with his friends
from Evanston Township High School just to go to Jamba. He even started an Instagram account, @bringbacktheevanstonjamba, to advocate for the smoothie shop’s return to downtown. “It was kind of a joke but
kind of serious,” Holmes said. But in the fall, Holmes — now a senior at Boston University — will see his dream come true. A new Jamba location is set to open at 1732 Sherman
» See JAMBA, page 6
MSA marks Arab Heritage Month Residents, activists Student group celebrates with food, performances throughout April
at the event. Attendees suggest presentation Four years into implementindividual efforts for ing its Climate Action and Plan, Evanston has sustainable houses Resiliency reduced its carbon emissions by
By AVA MANDOLI
daily senior staffer @ava_mandoli
This April, Northwestern Multicultural Student Affairs formally recognized Arab Heritage Month for the first time. Weinberg junior Sara Ibrahim, the Middle Eastern North African Student Association copresident, said this acknowledgment is a step in the right direction toward increasing MENA visibility on campus. She said this has historically been limited by the lack of a MENA category on the U.S. census. “One of the big reasons why there was never any programming or community for MENA students is because we don’t have faculty in MSA,” Ibrahim, a former op-ed Daily contributor, said. “That all goes back to being invisible on the census. You can’t create jobs or community for a community that doesn’t exist on paper.” MSA didn’t organize any programming for Arab Heritage Month this year, which Ibrahim said is because MSA doesn’t have staff members dedicated
Recycle Me
talk green homes By COLE REYNOLDS
the daily northwestern @charcole27
Illustration by Lillian Ali
Northwestern’s Middle Eastern North African Student Association is celebrating the first Universityrecognized Arab Heritage Month this year through the arts, food and community.
to supporting MENA students. Instead, the MENA Student Association, which was founded in spring 2021, planned April’s events, some in collaboration with the MENA Studies and MENA Languages programs.
The student group organized an Arabic calligraphy workshop, poetry readings, speaker events and more throughout the month. The second annual Arab Expressions event takes place Friday, featuring spoken Arabic
poetry, live music from oud and tabla players, a traditional dabke dance performance and food from Al Bawadi Grill. Last Spring Quarter, the
» See ARAB HERITAGE, page 6
Local climate groups and the city hosted a gathering Saturday morning about educating people on renewable energy in their homes. The event spotlighted individual actions instead of government initiatives. As Evanston pursues climate projects like an energy-efficient animal shelter, Saturday’s gathering focused on smaller-scale improvements, from replacing stoves and heating units to installing home solar panels. There, climate experts presented ways for every Evanston home to become more sustainable and affordable. “These kinds of actions are both good for the earth and good for the consumer,” said Scott Allen, environmental outreach coordinator of Citizens Utility Board, during a
38% from 2005 levels, according to the city’s Sustainability and Resilience Manager Cara Pratt. But she said there is more to those numbers than meets the eye. Pratt said a significant amount of that reduction is due to renewable energy credits, where the city purchases credit for surplus climate improvements made in other areas. Evanston’s use of natural gas, she said, has barely deviated from its original starting point. “From 20 years (ago), we’ve made no real progress in reducing our emissions from natural gas,” Pratt said. Many of the home sustainability improvements presented by Allen focused on reducing use of natural gas in residential properties. Allen suggested replacing gas ranges with induction cooktops, as well as using geothermal or air-source heat
» See CLIMATE ACTION, page 6
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