#NoBanNoWall Rally Against Xenophobia

Students to stand against recent temporary ban of Muslim immigrants

On Monday, January 23, Donald Trump called for a temporary ban of Muslim immigrants from Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Sudan. He then announced his plan to build a wall along the U.S./Mexico border, initially proposed to be funded by taxpayer’s money, but will be paid for by a 20 percent import tax on Mexican goods.

In an already incredibly divisive time, Trump seeks to further close off the country to refugees, namely Muslims, who wish to enter America. In response, The Arabic Society of Boston University is hosting a rally to protest him.

The rally at Marsh Plaza will take place Monday, January 30th, at 3 p.m, and is against xenophobia and policies that will close off the United States from both Mexico, and Muslim immigrants.

The Facebook event for the rally against xenophobia.

As we have seen from the Women’s March, the day after the inauguration, and countless rallies before, protests help bring together people grounded in a common cause to show support and unison in a time of discord.

Yasmin Younis, a junior studying mass communication, is head organizer of the protest.

Yasmin Younis at the 2015 Black Lives Matter rally.

The Tab sat down with Younis to find out more about the rally.

What specifically is the rally about?

The rally is in response to the current political climate and xenophobic executive orders, and policies the Trump administration created or plans to create. It’s to show solidarity to those who will be affected by these policies, but also to spread awareness that regardless of whether or not you’re directly affected, everyone will be impacted in some way.

How did you come up with the rally?

I saw that there was a rally hosted by CAIR NY that took place Thursday and thought to myself, ‘I hope Boston is going to have something like this.’ After I did some research, I noticed nothing was happening in Boston, so I started asking around on how to organize a rally, and then after I found a core group of organizers, we started to plan.

What do you hope to get from the rally?

I hope this rally makes noise and shows that we’re not going to stay silent if our government chooses to oppress us. I want people to feel empowered and ready to speak out. I also hope that after the rally, people will attend our informal debriefing session on what we should do next. The session also includes how we plan to contact our elected officials, and how we plan to actually make a change.

From the discussion section of the event page.

Nearly 3,500 people say they are interested or going to the event on Facebook. In the discussion section for the event, current and former students comment on the event, share memes, or send love to those who can attend the event.

“I wish I could join you for this event,” said one BU professor, “but I am at least sending you my warm wishes from India.”


Featured image from the rally’s Facebook event page.

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BU boston boston students boston university BU donald trump immigrants marsh plaza student protest women's march xenophobia