A whole week was dedicated to spread awareness of Palestine, to collect donations for Afghans to  fulfill their basic need of water, and to educate about the oppressed Kashmiris at a teach-in. All these events took place back-to-back during last week. During each event I learned something new about those people and their sufferings. I learned how the situation in Palestine is not just a humanitarian crisis but also a brutal apartheid.  The majority of the Afghan population is living without access to clean water, and many of them have to walk miles to get water. The Kashmiris have been oppressed for more than 60 years now, even though there are numerous UN resolutions that give Kashmiris the right to choose. I never thought these events could have such an impact on me. I learned how individuals suffer in such situations. The Muslim ummah is suffering throughout the world, and many of us do not recognize the intensity of the crisis. Being Muslims, we need to have a better understanding of what our fellow brothers and sister have to go through.

Muslims as members of an open and democratic society are not only privileged but in many ways obligate to present a perspective and to enhance the multicultural and pluralistic smorgasbord that our society aims to be.   There are several ways to perceive the multiviews presented in the media.   The first, a cynical view, emphasizes that conversations in our society is constantly being controlled by a group of people through the media with an agenda to advance their selfish aims.   Different views are in constant competition in the evolutionary sense and “you kill or be killed.”   To “win”, you have to out compete your competition.   Here winning can be defined as eliminating different perspectives by either overwhelming them or undermining them.   An example would be the Gaza crisis.  There were groups in the US who wanted to drain out the Palestinian voice and only present the Israeli side.  The Israel perspective out competed the Palestinian perspective and therefore a lopsided presentation of the situation flooded the media.  The second view, or optimistic perspective, is that conversations in our society are enhanced by participation and that diversity of views influence the conversation irrespective of their impact.    Different perspectives enhance the conversation in general and there are no winners or losers but more informed participant.  Everyone wins with diversity and lack of diversity is to the detriment of society.  The model in biological sense is more like an ecosystem.  The more diverse the ecosystem, the more likely it will thrive.  Each component of the ecosystem contributes uniquely to it.   Using the Gaza crisis, although those supporting the Israel perspective flooded the media with their view of the crisis, it could not  overwhelm those supporting the Palestinian perspective because it made an impact on the conversation.

Both of these views, would suggest that Muslims need to participate in the media.  From the first view, we have to heavily invest to compete with those who would like to present our religion incorrectly.   Similarly, our participation in the media will have an impact irregardless of the effort, so no one has an excuse not to participate.

Investing in student media is like investing in seeds that will produce fruits, rather than buying the fruits.  Although, it takes time, nurturing and resources to maintain, our community will benefit exponentially when harvest time comes around.