United Arab Society holds vigil for the victims of Islamic State group
Maha Qubain, third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student and Zachary Seidl, third-year economics student, place candles at the vigil. (Owen Emerson/Daily Bruin)
By Kat Bocanegra Speed
Feb. 6, 2015 1:52 a.m.
Students gathered at Meyerhoff Park Thursday night for a vigil dedicated to Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kasasbeh, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and all the other people who the Islamic State group has killed.
The Islamic State group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States government, has continued to gain control over territory in Syria and Iraq since June. In recent days, the group beheaded Goto and burned Al-Kasasbeh to death and posted public videos of the killings online. The U.S. is currently leading a military coalition to fight the militant group.
About 20 students attended the vigil, which was organized by the United Arab Society at UCLA. The United Arab Society student group seeks to represent the collective Arab voice on and off campus, according to its website.
“When people talk about (the Islamic State group), I think a lot of them just hear statistics of how many people have been killed or displaced,” said Jodutt Basrawi, a third-year engineering geology student and president of the United Arab Society. “We wanted to humanize the issue.”
Students spelled out the name Muath on the lawn using candles and the Jordanian flag hung from a podium with candles lining its top.
Basrawi started the vigil with short biographies of Goto and Al-Kasasbeh.
Following the biographies, other students spoke about their feelings about the executions.
Muhaned Elhindi, a third-year psychobiology student, said he thinks it was important for him to speak out against violence because he wants to see peace in the region.
“When we see something bad and we ignore it, we lose part of our humanity,” Elhindi said.
Krystal Haddadin, a third-year sociology and philosophy student, said she feels strongly connected to the conflict surrounding the Islamic State group because she is Jordanian, but she thinks the issue extends beyond the Arab community.
“It’s not just an Arab thing, it’s a human rights thing,” Haddadin said. “No one should have their lives stripped away because they have differing views.”
