The U of M Syrian Student Association (SSA) hosted its largest event to date on Jan. 14, celebrating the first anniversary of Syria’s liberation by bringing together students, families and community members for an evening of remembrance, culture and community.
The event commemorated Syria’s liberation on Dec. 8 and featured speeches, videos, poetry, cultural performances and food. Student groups and community organizations from across campus attended in solidarity with the Syrian community.
Taqua Shapan, head of events for the East African Student Association, attended the event as a representative of the club.
“I’m here showing support to my fellow student club, and I’m excited to be here,” Shapan said.
When asked what she was looking forward to, Shapan said, “the dances — I love cultural dances.” She included she was also excited about the presence of “lots of good food.”
Islamic Relief Canada (IRC) sponsored the event and participated in fundraising efforts. Iqra Tariq, a representative from IRC, said the organization was proud to be involved.
“We’re a member of the Humanitarian Coalition, and we work on the ground in Syria with various programs — health, water, sanitation, education, amongst others — and we’re here to raise funds to support our programs in Syria as well,” Tariq said.
She added, “We’re just happy the community is coming together, and we have an opportunity to be a part of that. Hopefully people will be generous today and give back to Syria.”
Ameen Al Naser, president of SSA, said the event marked both a milestone for Syria and for the club itself.
“We’re celebrating the first anniversary of Syria’s liberation […] We created our club just last year on Feb. 10, so today this is our biggest event,” Al Naser said. “We remember all the struggles [and] pains that the Syrian people have gone through from living under bombardment, to living in sieged cities and […] people fleeing their homes, crossing cities, crossing borders, crossing seas and oceans, just to get to safety and refuge.”
Aref Al Aswad, media manager for SSA, said the evening’s program included presentations from key speakers, videos and poems being read. Al Aswad also recited a poem during the event.
“I read this poem [by] Nizar Qabbani. It was mainly talking about Syria and what happened to Syria,” he explained
The evening was emceed by Raghat Aljundi, a member of the SSA event team, who explained the motivation behind the celebration.
“We initially did want to do something just to remark what happened a year ago and to honour and acknowledge everything that has happened in the past 14 years,” Aljundi stated. “We wanted to bring this here, which is basically our new home.”
Zaina Abazid, a Syrian who was in attendance along with her family, described the event as well-organized.
“I’ve come to a lot of events, but the difference between a lot of the events and this one [is] that you can see there’s a lot of love put into arranging and organizing the event,” Abazid said. “It’s really nice to see the community come together, because I feel like the Syrian community, we’re so many.”
Selma Jbara, a student attendee from Tunisia, conveyed that her highlight was the food and the poem read.
“If there was another event like this, I would 100 per cent come back,” Jbara said.
