By Lily Yengle

Khadija Hafiz ’12, an International Affair and Arab Studies double-major, is from Arlington, VA. She has attended and participated in the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York.

LY: How, in your own words, would you describe OWS?

KH: Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement against corporate greed and the hypocritical culture in mainstream politics and Wall Street. Occupy communities encompass people of all colors, genders and political persuasions with their one unifying commonality being that ‘We Are the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent’ … This movement encourages individuals to impact change from the bottom up.

LY: Why did you decide to get involved?

Because I am against corporations and the perpetual cycle of inequality that they proliferate in the U.S. and abroad. To encourage dialogue and solutions for a better, just society, I believe it is essential to occupy public space to raise public consciousness.

LY: How have you stayed involved in the protest while on campus? Are there other students you know who are also involved?

KH: Through the Occupy Wall Street online Forum, Chat and LiveStream as well as through contacts I made while I was there. I am currently collaborating with Egyptian youth in the April 6th organization to discuss nonviolent resistance and exchange letters of solidarity between the two movements. In addition, I am talking to some professors to discuss the possibility of having a Brown Bag on campus.

LY: What do you think are the best/worst things about OWS? Do you think it will end any time soon or end well for the protesters?

KH: The best thing…is the manner in which it encourages participatory democracy and empowers the individual. For instance, OWS operates under a General Assembly, an autonomous, leaderless, modified consensus-based system to make decisions and include all voices…The worst part of the OWS movement is the lack of unbiased media coverage. This phenomenon has not been given the attention it deserves and what coverage is carried out casts the movement and activists in a negative light. The failure of representative democracy spurred OWS and until it is rectified protests will continue.

LY: What was your impression of the protest when you were there—any specific memories or instances that stood out?

KH: I was extremely impressed by the level of organization, cooperation and solidarity within the movement. Liberation Square had stands of individuals handing out food, blankets, pamphlets, medicine, creating art and music, and circles of individuals debating the issues etc. No matter how New York City Mayor Bloomberg may try to stall the movement, the resilience of the people always find ways around it. For example, the city would not grant the activists a permit to implement speakers in the Square, so the people came up with ‘mic check.’ The idea of ‘mic check’ is that during assemblies when you have 100s to 1000s of people trying to listen, the first few rows chant what is said then the following ones echo it until it reaches the back of the masses. For me, the protest was reminiscent of Egyptian protests I had seen in Tahrir Square, Egypt in February of this year.

LY: Why don’t you think more students at Lafayette haven’t gotten involved? Do you know any who have?

KH: The demands of OWS are not accurately known. Corporate media coverage of the movement has been limited and what is available is largely negative. As a result, I have heard many people depict OWS as a ‘protest of homelesspeople.’ This misinformation has not proven conducive to encouraging student activism. But I do know other students at Lafayette that are involved.

LY: You joined the movement when hardly any other students have. What set you apart from these students?

KH: I have had my fair share of traveling and opportunities to live in other countries. In addition, this summer I took pre-Graduate School courses at the University of Maryland that encompassed classes in National Security Policy, and Globalization and Development among others. These experiences have made me aware in one sense to the detrimental impacts of neoliberal economic policies and secondly, to the importance of advocating for human security above all else in global politics.

LY: What would you like to say to other students about OWS?

KH: The OWS movement marks a pivotal point in American history. As the future leaders of this country, it is essential for us young people to know the facts and take a stand, no matter what your position may be. There is nothing un-American about questioning our government and democracy. Peaceful protest is an American birthright, not a crime.

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.