Author Archives: Irfan Khawaja

“When the World Breaks”

Posted on by under Neutrality and Complicity, Notes on the Anti-War Movement

Veterans Day at Peddie

Peddie is a well-known elite prep school in New Jersey, located in Hightstown, a small town just east of Princeton. According to Niche, it’s ranked #2 out of 126 in a listing of the Best Private High Schools in New Jersey, and #2 of 112 of the Best College Prep Private Schools in New Jersey. It also ranks first out of 139 of the Most Diverse Private High Schools in New Jersey. I’m at least vaguely familiar with the place, having been there a few times, having interviewed Peddie students applying for admissions to Princeton, and having grown up myself (for better or worse) in the elite Jersey prep school milieu. In short, within its rarefied circles, Peddie is a trend-setter. Continue reading →

Yes, West Orange, This Is Your Business

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

I was pleased to see that my statement on the Immigrant Trust Act to the West Orange Town Council got headline treatment in TapInto West Orange. The reporter summarizes my statement, and then quotes Council member Joyce Rudin as favoring passage of a pro-ITA resolution:

[Regarding] the Immigrant Trust Act, I frankly, don’t know why we don’t pass a resolution. It’s been done all over the country. I don’t see how it would hurt us to offer protection, to make a statement as a community, in terms of providing protection to our immigrant community.

I’m gratified to hear that, and hope that Rudin can prevail on others, including incoming Council member Tammy Williams, to pass a resolution. Continue reading →

The Immigrant Trust Tour: West Orange (v2)

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense, Neutrality and Complicity

Here’s the version of the statement I gave at West Orange Town Council tonight. I posted a different version here a few days ago, but found that I had to pare it down to make it fit the five minute time limit. Though the Council responded to public comments, they made no attempt to respond to mine. (Correction: I must have left too early to hear it, but Council member Joyce Rudin responded positively to my statement.)

Hi, my name is Irfan Khawaja. I’m here to speak in support of your passing a resolution in favor of the Immigrant Trust Act. I know that West Orange has previously discussed and rejected a resolution, but I don’t find your reasons convincing.  Continue reading →

The Immigrant Trust Tour: Lawrence Township

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense, pedagogy

Last night was Clifton; tonight was Lawrence Township. The statement I gave in Lawrence was essentially the same as the one I gave in Clifton, so I won’t reproduce it. Just a few thoughts and some pictures tonight.

I was gratified at how receptive Lawrence Township was to us. They not only put us on the agenda, but gave us a dedicated spot at the beginning. About a dozen people spoke in defense of the ITA, for about an hour. Lots of activists from Resistencia; one activist from Latino Action Network; and one woman from the Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party of Monmouth County, a MAGA stronghold more than an hour away. Continue reading →

The Immigrant Trust Tour: Clifton

Posted on by under Uncategorized

I spoke tonight at Clifton City Council in Passaic County, north Jersey. Thanks to Jeff Hoey for the invitation to speak, and to both Jeff and the folks at the Palestinian-American Community Center of Clifton for the camaraderie. There was a rather different atmosphere in Clifton than, say, Princeton, West Windsor, or Cranbury–a circus atmosphere, at times. “Viewpoint diversity,” I think the savants call it.

A couple of members of the public expressed the widely-held view that while their ancestors came here legally, they have no sympathy for those who’ve come illegally. “Illegals,” on this view, deserve whatever anyone, including ICE, dishes out to them, including indefinite detention, deportation, impoverishment, expropriation, family dissolution, and premature death. Continue reading →

APPE/Felician Roundtable Cancelled

Posted on by under cancel culture, Health Care Series

Apologies for the short notice, but unfortunately, the APPE/Felician University Roundtable on health care that I mentioned here on October 4th–originally scheduled for November 5–has been cancelled. Apparently, two of the panelists were forced to cancel, and it was decided by the organizers that new ones couldn’t be found on short notice. So incredibly enough, this is a non-ideological cancellation. Believe it or not, they happen.

Thoughts on a Self-Deportation

Posted on by under migrant defense, slices of life

I was at a self-deportation the other day. Someone who’d been in this country for decades decided it was time to leave, even at the price of breaking up the family. So, surrounded by friends and family, they did.

I’m not sure what verb to use for my presence at this scene. I was present, but not wholly present, engaged, but not fully engaged. I had things to do that day, and couldn’t afford the luxury of wholehearted empathy or grief. Did I observe? Bear witness? Psychologically flee the scene? A little bit of all of the above.

The English language lacks a word for the act of observing, but deliberately holding oneself aloof from, another person’s misfortune. It’s too bad, because self-deportation and family dissolution are quickly becoming commonplaces. We can’t be fully present for all of them. So the word we lack is a word we need.