A University of Washington student was caught on camera throwing thousands of American flags in commemoration of lives lost in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on garbage.
Fadel Alkilani was spotted Saturday in the stuffing of blue garbage bags with flags on the St. Paul campus. Louis, Missouri, before being confronted by another student who was filming him, the university newspaper Student Life reported.
“[Alkilani] said that [the display] violated school rules. He also said desecrations, “Nathaniel Hope, a member of the university’s College Republicans, told the conservative youth organization Young America’s Foundation.
College Republicans had placed the 2,977 flags at Mudd Field before the twentieth anniversary of the attacks.
Filming posted by YAF on Twitter he condemned Alkilani’s behavior as “despicable.”
But Alkilani, the university’s vice president of finance for the university’s student union, defended his actions and said his protest was to draw attention to the rise of Islamophobia and criticize U.S. military intervention in the ‘Middle East.
“Any 9/11 memorial that cannot combat these facts is not only incomplete, but also amplifies pro-imperialist sentiment and does not actively respect those who have died as a result of the American invasion,” he said in a statement. .
“A memorial that uses U.S. flags is especially insidious, as it doesn’t recognize those who have fallen, but it uses a symbol that was on the shoulders of those responsible for the deaths of 900,000 people and that uses the innocent lives lost during 9/11 as a political point defending American hegemony.
He added that the victims of 9/11 “deserve better than being used as a political tool by those trying to excuse US imperialism and Islamophobia.
“They died for no reason, suddenly and traumatically, and they should be sad, not because of the political symbols, but because of their names and faces. I also want to offer my condolences to all the dead and wounded, American and non-American, since 9/11, ”he said.
School officials, however, said they were “disappointed” to learn of the incident.
“We were disappointed to learn of the 9/11 screen interruption at Mudd Field. We condemn the interference with the College Republicans ’expression of support for the victims of the national tragedy that took place today 20 years ago,” Executive Director Susan McGinn said in a statement.
She continued: “We value freedom of speech in all its forms and will work to ensure that all students can express their views through the appropriate channels without compromising the rights of others to support the causes they face. interest “.