Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) showcased an important aspect of Palestinian culture in their Tea and Tatreez event on Aug. 29 in the Atterbury Student Success Center.
This event included a presentation from the Co-Presidents Mouada Allan and Yara Salamed about the history and significance of tatreez, and also gave participants a chance to try the art form for themselves.
Tatreez is a traditional Palestinian form of embroidery that symbolizes identity, heritage and resistance. It is commonly seen on garments such as dresses, and typically includes symbols like birds, trees and flowers.
This form of embroidery holds a very large significance for the Palestinian community. It has been around for thousands of years and signifies many things to Palestinian women including identity, community, and the different facets of their life and culture.
“This event helped give people a little glimpse into the Palestinian heritage and tradition, as well as a view into their resilience and their resistance,” said Allan, who is also a member of the UMKC physicians assistant program.“It shows how the Palestinians can show their culture through the art of embroidery.”
SJP had a large turnout for this event with lots of new and old faces.
“My own personal knowledge is that it’s just a very interesting culture and it’s honestly hard to find online a lot about tatreez, so even just from an intellectual standpoint it was interesting,” said Henry Sowell, a junior who has been involved with the club since it began.
SJP was started in August of 2023 and they have made a noticeable impact on the students and campus. Leaders of the club talked about ways to get involved and why SJP was created.
“The beginning of SJP was generally focused on just advocacy, we need to tell people what’s going on, how we’re doing it, why we’re standing up for it, why they need to call their representatives,” said Mahmoud Kutmah, the vice president of the SJP and second-year medical student.
SJP aims to build a community that is active in supporting and advocating for Palestine, and said they have worked hard to show others exactly how to do that.
“Our first focus was to highlight these people [Palestinians], and then the very next thing was that while you learn about Palestine, take a flyer and take it home and share it with a friend, coworker or neighbor,” Kutmah said. “Advocacy goes beyond just you learning. After that, our main focus was on what action you can do.”
To stay connected with SJP, follow them on Instagram.
