{"id":38189,"date":"2016-03-16T15:05:08","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T20:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=38189"},"modified":"2016-03-16T15:05:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T20:05:08","slug":"syrian-community-network-encourages-civic-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/syrian-community-network-encourages-civic-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Syrian Community Network encourages civic engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Misha Euceph<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">As most of Chicago was awaiting returns from the Illinois primary Tuesday night, Suzanne Akhras Sahloul, Founder and President of the Syrian Community Network, was encouraging students and faculty at Loyola University, Chicago to continue to engage civically on behalf of Syrian refugees around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the opportunity to go into a polling place and vote comfortably, with no one telling us, \u2018vote this way or vote that way or you will be killed,\u2019\u201d said Sahloul.<\/p>\n<p>Talking about her own involvement as an election judge, Sahloul said, \u201cIt\u2019s very exciting to be a part of the election process. If you didn\u2019t vote, I\u2019ll be upset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday marks the fifth anniversary of the Syrian revolution,\u201d explained Dana Zakieh, President of Students Organizing for Syria\u2019s Loyola University chapter at the evening\u2019s \u201cSyrian Refugee Awareness\u201d panel. \u201cSo a revolution that was thought to last only a few months has lasted four years. Twelve million people total have been displaced inside and outside Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Sahloul also discussed how learning to engage in the American civic process is an integral part of the resettlement support efforts by the Syrian Community Network. As part of advocacy efforts, the group flew to Washington D.C. with several refugees and arranged for them to stand outside the White House and speak with President Obama, lobbying to increase the number of refugees allowed into the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t stand in front of the White House in Syria,\u201d said Sahloul. \u201cYou get shot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In showing photos of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and several aldermen serving food to Syrian refugees at a Thanksgiving dinner, Sahloul drew a comparison between civic engagement in Syria and in the United States. \u201cOur politicians back home kill us. Our politicians here serve us food.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sahloul also played a video of a young woman refugee who interviewed Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. \u201cFor her to sit in front of a US congresswoman and to ask questions is a big deal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Stressing the goal of the Syrian Community Network to \u201cresettle refugees with dignity,\u201d\u00a0 Sahloul repeatedly emphasized both the necessity of Syrian refugees to engage with politicians in the US and the value of Chicagoans to \u201cperform their civic duty\u201d in voting to welcome the refugees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know how much you appreciate being here in Chicago,\u201d said Hadia Zarzour, Case Management Coordinator with the Syrian Community Network. \u201cBut it\u2019s a great city to live in. People are reaching out to us all the time. People are saying, \u2018please tell us, how can we help you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"featurephoto\">Photo at top: Suzanne Sahloul speaking at Loyola University Chicago at a Syrian refugee awareness panel (Misha Euceph\/MEDILL).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Misha Euceph As most of Chicago was awaiting returns from the Illinois primary Tuesday night, Suzanne Akhras Sahloul, Founder and President of the Syrian Community Network, was encouraging students and faculty at Loyola University, Chicago to continue to engage civically on behalf of Syrian refugees around the world. \u201cWe have the opportunity to go [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":38194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452,1145,675,585],"tags":[790,2446,1577],"class_list":["post-38189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-chicago","category-election-2016","category-social-justice","category-winter-2016","tag-refugees","tag-syrian","tag-syrian-community-network"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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