"I felt inspired," says Raia Hamad, "by seeing so many people at the United States Social Forum [USSF] who do activism around Palestine, even if they are students and don't have much time." Hamad was one of the 13 delegates from the AAAN that attended the forum. The group arrived Thursday during the day and stayed through Saturday, experiencing a number of workshops, talks, people's movement assemblies, concerts, and more. Although the youth had different individual experiences, a common theme was the need for social change in the United States.

Hamad--who will be starting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the fall--focused her time on Palestine-related workshops. She met people involved in Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel around the country and learned creative tools like de-shelving Israeli products from stores or labeling them with boycott stickers. Hamad, who was born in Gaza, says she's not sure if U of I has a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, but if they don't, she'll "find a way to start one." She'll be working as a youth organizer at the AAAN this summer. Because of the prestige that the U.S. has around the world, she believes, the country should "use their power to be involved" in situations like Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

Veronica Garcia, a member of the AAAN's Youth Leadership Team, who recently joined the youth services program staff, also attended the forum. She went to workshops on topics ranging from Palestine to homeless issues to artists. "I was really surprised," she said, "by what we learned about what homeless people go through. It changed my mind and gave me a whole new point of view." The authorities, she says, "should be helping the homeless instead of fighting them and trying to kick them out."

Though the Social Forum may have been an overwhelming experience, it was also an exciting and inspiring one. And the work has only begun.

Read live tweets from The "War on Terror" & the "War on People of Color": Muslims, Arabs, South Asians Build Movement as Black & Brown U.S. Struggle, a workshop that AAAN Cultural Outreach staffer Muhammad Sankari participated in, along with AAAN friends and allies Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) of New York and South Asian Network of Artesia, California.

(To read the rest, click on the AAAN logo and read from bottom to top.)

Read live tweets from the Arab Youth Organization of the Bay Area's Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC) workshop, Tellin' It Like It Is:" Arab Youth Organization Confronting Racism and Islamophobia in High Schools.

(To read the rest, click on the AAAN logo and read from bottom to top.)

Read live tweets from the opening march!

(To read the rest, click on the AAAN logo and read from bottom to top.)

Read the Palestine Track blog.

See blogs from organizations and individuals at the forum.