Silent Complicity: An Award Acceptance Speech at Queen's University
Photo by: Hassan Ghaedi
The following is a speech delivered on my behalf at the Queen’s Alma Mater Society (AMS) Awards Gala for the “The Advocacy in Equity” Award. The Award “celebrates students who demonstrate bravery and/or speak the truth as they challenge narratives and defend the rights of humans, non-human animals, and/or the environment”. I opted to skip out on an event that celebrates student achievement as in my eyes nothing was achieved. Throughout the year, there was much discussion on the steps that are to be taken as this process of rhetoric and ideas exchange, debate and reform obscured the plan of action and aided Zionist ambition of halting any show of solidarity with Palestine while a genocide was unfolding live on our screens. I took no pleasure in writing these words and understand the criticism that is directed towards me.
I'd like to start by expressing my gratitude to Meena for the nomination. I can assure you that without her endorsement, I wouldn't be standing here today. So, from the bottom of my heart, Meena, thank you.
Needless to say, but I feel compelled to address it due to the prevalent ignorance in the audience, the efforts for Palestinian solidarity at Queen’s wouldn't have been possible without Yara Husain. Arguably the most influential figure to have occupied your positions, she reignited and rebuilt the movement for Palestinian human rights, which had been brushed aside by the forces of Zionism in decision-making rooms. To Yara, I say Jazakallah Khair, and thank you for the love you have for your Umma.
As I compose these words for this award, I cannot help but feel a surge of anger within me. This anger is not directed at those who orchestrated the atrocities against my people, but at those who stood idly by, willfully blind to the suffering around them as the massacres unfolded on their screens.
To my fellow student leaders, I want to address you directly today with honesty. I am enraged by your silence, your complacency in the face of unspeakable horrors. You, who campaigned on platforms of justice, equality, and inclusion, are now attending an event that bestows accolades for achievements that stand in stark contrast to justice and equality. You failed to act as leaders, prioritizing your personal comfort over the well-being and protection of the students you represent. This is not solely a Palestinian issue but a human one, as we are all interconnected.
With the honest floodgates opened, I must share that I left Queen’s earlier this semester. It was not because I lacked affection for this institution but because I could no longer bear the burden of pleading for my basic humanity among individuals who viewed my life and flesh as destined for death and mutilation. Before you dismiss my departure, ask yourselves this: How can one continue to fight for change within a system that consistently fails to recognize them, their family, and their people as anything more than statistics? How can one function in an environment that prioritizes the sentiments of colonialist Zionists over the actual well-being of Palestine’s children?
Today, Gaza is starving, with 1.1 million Palestinians in a state of hunger having to boil weeds and eat animal feed to ensure their organs don’t capitulate. None of you can understand the hunger of Gaza and I hope to God you never do, but I plead for you to understand the total deprived nature of what we are seeing unfold —and unfortunately, your silence, along with the collective silence of many students across campuses in North America, allowed for this to happen without any united and major resistance from student governance.
This award may hold little significance to me, and in fact, I have not discussed it with anyone—and I do not care to. The only value I derive from this is the support from Meena and the knowledge that the funds I received were used to support the work of Playgrounds for Palestine's Gaza Fund.
Thank you, and I wish you all nothing but peace.
With Love,
Layth