The 2023 spring semester brings new leadership within the Lion & Lamb Peace Arts Center. Graduate Assistant Tareq Abuhalima, an MBA student from Palestine took on the role after being in the United States for only days.
Abuhalima has previous involvement with Bluffton University after the 2022 spring semester’s EDU 299 Partnering with Palestinians course led by Paul Neufeld Weaver, professor of education and Spanish and director of the Lion & Lamb. Abuhalima’s previous work with Youth Vision Society, a non-profit organization advocating for human rights out of Gaza City, Palestine, helped connect him with Neufeld Weaver.
After the spring session of Partnering with Palestinians concluded, Bluffton University students made three exchanges with English international students of Gaza City. Neufeld Weaver made note of Abuhaluma’s strengths, which played a large role in considering him for the GA position.
“I wanted to look for someone who was used to doing community work and outreach,” said Neufeld Weaver.
Along with Abuhalima’s work with Youth Vision Society, he also has experience as a project manager, teaching computer and English language literacy classes as well as working in a library. All of which proves beneficial because the Lion & Lamb is partly a library housing about 5,000 children’s books, according to Neufeld Weaver.
The Lion & Lamb has its own mission to promote “the study of peace and justice, cultural understanding and nonviolent responses to conflict with an emphasis on these themes for children.” It’s a mission Abuhalima plans to uphold.
Abuhalima says he relates to the mission statement as his previous workplace was committed to a similar vision with sustainable impact.
“I think this is a long-term vision that is going to have a sustainable impact on Bluffton’s children,” said Abuhalima.
Neufeld Weaver said Abuhalima’s experience in the Middle East is a significant asset for the center and community.
“We have an amazing resource on campus,” says Neufeld Weaver. “His English is very good, and he has a lot of expertise on understanding the situation in the Middle East.”
After Abuhalima was offered the position at the Lion & Lamb, it took six months for him to get the necessary documentation to come to the United States. Part of the situation in the Middle East is about control imposed by the Israeli occupation, according to Neufeld Weaver, which makes it more difficult to be able to leave the country.
“Gaza is like anywhere else in the world, but the narrative is being dehumanized,” says Abuhalima. “It’s distorting its true reality.”
Abuhalima has been and continues to work to correct the narrative being told.
“To sympathize you have to understand,” says Abuhalima.
With Abuhalima’s new role, Neufeld Weaver has high hopes for the future of the Lion & Lamb. He has been working with a team of Bluffton students on outreach, with the intention of bringing children and students from Bluffton and neighboring communities back into the Peace Arts Center.
“I hope to see Lion & Lamb as a visible presence on campus, advocating for peacemaking and social justice,” said Neufeld Weaver.
He said he also hopes to see the center continue to grow as a gathering place for student organizations, mentioning the weekly meetings currently held within the Lion & Lamb being Peace Club, Social Work Club, ICON and Brave Space.
Students can visit the Lion & Lamb and check out the two book recommendations given by Abuhalima and Neufeld Weaver, as well as the shelves of other stories relating to peace, justice, culture and nonviolence.
“Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur!” by Margaret Read MacDonald, recommended by Abuhalima. This is the retelling of a Palestinian folktale which focuses on the importance of not taking something that is not yours.
Paul Neufeld Weaver holding the children’s book “We Shall Overcome” inside his office. Photo by Payton Stephens.
“We Shall Overcome: A Story of a Song” by Debbie Levy, recommended by Neufeld Weaver. This is a story about the song “We Shall Overcome” leading the Civil Rights Movement.
To learn more about Abuhalima’s story, join Peace Club on Mar. 14 for an event featuring Abuhalima.
