On April 3, 2025, the Illinois Tech chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted their annual Palfest celebration. The event was held in the Hermann Hall ballroom from 5:30 p.m. to approximately 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for entry, and came with access to a variety of vendors and experiences I will discuss shortly. There was an additional charity raffle held for those who wished to donate. All raised proceeds were donated to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).
It is hard to overstate just how successful Palfest was, and to give a holistic view of the event, I’d like to describe my experience from beginning to end. I arrived fairly early, at around 5:40 p.m. The first thirty minutes were for signing in, so I instead spent some time talking to the people at my table, students who I recognized from walking around on campus but never met with. There were small activities available at the table, including a themed cross word and a small tatreez kit (a type of Palestinian embroidery). Palestinian music played in the ballroom. At 6:00 p.m., I headed to my first vendor of the night: Abu Sauce. Abu Sauce is a Palestinian-owned mobile mocktail service, and quickly became a popular spot through the night. I got in fairly early, and watched as Nour Abusaad, the owner, make mocktails for everyone.
Once I got my drink, a watermelon-lime mint carbonated mocktail that was just incredible, I got back to my seat in time for opening notes. As I listened, I noticed the raffle opposite of the stage, and took a look. For raffle were a variety of donated themed goods, including hijabs, hoodies, shirts, paintings, and various other goods. I donated $20 directly to the PCRF charity, and split my tickets between the hoodies and paintings. Soon after, dinner — a middle eastern buffet provided by M’daKhan — was announced, and almost the entirety of the hall lined up. Once most people got a chance to get a plate and be seated, an SJP exec board member introduced the Turath Ensemble, the main providers of music for the next hour, featuring an oud player. The music was incredible, and during this time, I got a chance to notice the sheer volume and diversity of the people in attendance.
A short time later, the SJP exec board introduced artist Suzan Ali, who painted live on stage beside the ensemble. In no time, she created a beautiful piece about resistance and beauty, symbolized by a woman’s hand painted with Henna and a field of flowers. The piece was to be added to the raffle at the end of the night, but before then, the night’s speaker — Reverend Donald Wagner — took the floor as the ensemble finished.
Reverend Wagner’s speech was nothing short of incredible and touching. He focused his speech on “why Palestine matters.” Wagner opened with his first visit to Palestine in 1978, and the hospitality he was treated with as he learned of the struggles of the Palestinian people. This experience was fundamental in his transformation from a Zionist to someone who would dedicate his life to helping the Palestinian cause. As he returned to the United States, he led a prayer for Palestine, which would cause him to be forced to leave the church. Since then, he has worked for many secular organizations.
Reverend Wagner remarked on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, calling it “a genocide worse than the Nakba.” He was remorseful that his generation had failed, but was hopeful that our generation would succeed. He noted the ongoing torture, rape, and thefts of Palestinians, the murder of journalists, and the harassment and deportation of human rights workers in Palestine. Wagner called it the holocaust of our time, with 50,000 identified dead and an estimated 230,000 or more unidentified dead. He called the ongoing crisis “the last test case for international law,” and that if Israel and the United States were to get away with it, then genocide would become normalized. He ended with the connection to the United States, he called “the issue of Palestine at the root of the attack on universities.” Wagner drew upon recent news of undergraduate and graduate students being targeted by ICE for their opinions on Gaza. He ended with some important facts: Netanyahu wants more bombs for the genocide, bombs that are approximately 75 percent funded by the United States, and that it is up to us to help bring an end to the genocide.
Sometime during Reverend Wagner’s soul-touching speech, the SJP exec board handed out desserts to each table, which were likewise incredibly delicious. As Wagner finished, SJP introduced Firket Al Azdeekah, also known as FAA, a dancing performing group. They entered the hall with drums, stomping to the beat as flag tossers expertly maneuvered flags of Palestine, perhaps the closest the flag of Palestine has made it to the ceilings of Hermann Hall. For about 10-20 minutes, they danced to the music, encouraging the crowd to clap to the beat of their choreography. The pictures provided do not do FAA justice, as it was amazing to watch.
As FAA wrapped up, I caught a glimpse of the tail end of a henna painting session. Two artists were present throughout the night, providing traditional henna body art to many students. The art was incredible, each hand-crafted to each student’s desire as far as I could tell. The artists work with an incredibly steady hand, even as FAA stomped out of the room.
The night ended with the raffle. The hall stood in anticipation as tickets were read out. I held mine close to my face, hoping the next number called would be mine. Miraculously, I struck lucky twice, winning not only a new, extremely high quality themed hoodie donated by Dripped in Culture, but also the painting made by Suzan Ali. I felt incredibly lucky, not only for the raffle wins, but for the chance to experience Palfest. The whole event was rich in culture and authentic interactions, as students from across the world showed remarkable resistance and charity in the form of celebration. One can only hope that there will be a day where Palfest can exist beyond the context of resistance.
