Chicagoland area is home to more Palestinians than anywhere else in the U.S., with over 18,000 living in Cook County alone. The Palestinian community has led powerful protests that have led to Chicago becoming the largest city in the country to endorse a ceasefire resolution. It is in the midst of this atmosphere that we gathered for an urgent exchange with Rashid Khalidi, the preeminent historian of the Palestinian national struggle, and the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in conversation with activists Ricardo Gamboa of the Hoodoisie and Latinxs for Palestine, and Bill Ayers from Under the Tree.

The event served to not only raise awareness but to also raise funds for Palestine Legal. The energy was fierce, the mood determined, the spirit razor-sharp. We left that gathering a little wiser, more resolute, and fixed on turning our anger into action and our dreams of a world at peace into reality.