(As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu). I said peace be upon you to greet you in the traditional way in my Arabic language. My name is Maisaloon Al-Ashkar & I m a Muslim Palestinian. I m going to assume that you ve never had an 18 year old Muslim woman preach, so I feel like I m making history today. I'm really excited and grateful to be here with you all on unceded Coast Salish territories, which to the best of my knowledge include lands of the Musqueam, Squamish & Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. My story begins with my ancestors who were farmers in Palestine. They beamed with pride when they spoke about home & planting citrus trees & olive Trees. The land they lived on & cultivated taught them about life, purpose, & gratitude. The land continues to live in the oral history they have passed down to me. My grandma often spoke about being born & raised in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and she loved being part of an interfaith community. I grew up in Jordan, where Jesus was baptized, and I loved witnessing how the land has many blessings. My ancestors taught me that the land holds spiritual & cultural values that are so connected to our wellbeing, both as individuals & communities. As a displaced Palestinian, these cherished stories they have passed on to me carry the history of my families, my communities, & my faith.
Islam means peace in Arabic. My Muslim faith teaches me that the earth & all its beauty is a reflection of Allah (God), and to honor that sacred bond, I have to protect God's creations. Honoring the land, the earth, & all the humanity it encompasses is a daily act of worship for me. Being here and creating connections I also see as an act of worship. Standing in solidarity with the billions of people around the world who are contributing the least to climate change, yet are facing its harshest consequences, is also an act of worship for me. My grandparents were refugees who walked barefoot under painful conditions for weeks. They were starved, thirsty, exhausted, & sweating under the blazing hot sun, while carrying whatever belongings they could on their backs & protecting the keys to their homes with a broken heart an experience that still burns in their memories. Today, there are millions of refugees who are facing that same horrific reality. And as climate change continues to create harsh living conditions, more communities will have to face the hardships of displacement. As beautifully highlighted in both, Pope Francis encyclical and the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change, at the core of Climate Justice is a moral call to action that we each have a role in. We have to stand in compassionate anger when we see that the lack of action on climate change is degrading human beings; it s destroying communities,
values, & cultures; it s hurting lives that are just as valuable as our own lives & the lives of our loved ones. This earth has nourished us with so much, & it's about time that we reciprocate the love & protection it has blessed us with. Choosing to defend the earth choosing to treat it with dignity & kindness is also a choice to treat ourselves, each other, & future generations with dignity & kindness. I often feel like the world is screaming loudly, telling me: your Palestinian Muslim body is unworthy; the people, communities, lives that raised you mean absolutely nothing. There are more than few moments when my eyes are exhausted from crying as I bear witness to the pain inflicted on loved ones around the world. When my ears are tired of hearing my communities struggles put into sound bites of killed bodies treated like nameless numbers. When my tongue is silenced by a cruel world that always seems to leave my beloveds behind. My faith & my communities are my heart. And I'm burdened of constantly having to justify why my heart deserves to beat. I don t want the world to pass on this burden to my children or grandchildren. And when I close my eyes, the earth reminds me that it understands my struggle far too well. Because the earth is constantly forced to justify why it deserves to exist in harmony without fear of extraction, exploitation, or extinction.
So I come as I am to God, and praying is one of the rare spaces where I feel like the earth and all the humanity it encompasses are valued. To me, climate justice means just that; it means taking part of a greater sense of communal being that cherishes every life. It means there s a holistic and interconnected approach to taking action, where I don t have to choose whether to focus my energy on protecting the environment or addressing social injustices. It means the countless souls around the world enduring forms of oppression are no longer excluded from humanity. It means that we respect our connections and treat the earth as our collective home. Climate justice means that we re actively choosing to no longer leave anyone behind. Climate change is an urgent crisis that is daunting, but we don t have to face it alone. We have each other, & so much love & empowerment can come from being mindful of the many diverse faithful connections that bring us together. So for all of us here today, I ask that we express what our hearts & human spirit tell us about our responsibilities to the earth & our responsibilities to all of us, all of the lives that depend on the earth. I have faith that we can move forward positive change most effectively when we're in tune with & act upon our deepest senses of faith, compassion & justice. For me, that holistic sense of being comes from honoring the connections of all the lives, resistance, and resilience of the communities that my
liberation is eternally bound to. So, before my friend Maggie comes-up to share her story. I would like to end with a poem I wrote called Rooted in Faith I m a blessing that emerged from my ancestors prayers. Prayers made by farmers under Olive trees & citrus trees. Prayers uttered by Land defenders and refugees on frontlines. Prayers from Palestine so loud they echoed through generations. My ancestors taught me that we are all Blessings. And blessings are rooted in faith, blessings are rooted in earth. And the earth, our collective home, is yearning for its blessings to reciprocate the care and love it has gifted us with. Thank you!