Today, some of you might be wondering
who this young man is?
Where is he from?
What is his agenda?
Some of you once hear that I’m a Syrian,
might have felt a little worried and asked, “Are we safe here today?”
I want all of you to reflect on your thoughts
once you here the word “Syrian.”
My name is Basel Al Haj
from Damascus, Syria.
I achieved 97% on the standard scientific Syrian exam,
which allowed me to enter to one of the top pharmacy schools
in my country.
I attended for two years,
but things did not go as expected.
The political situation has changed.
Political and religious extremism
started to be present in my neighborhood, in my school.
I was asked to join to defend my religion.
I was about to fall into that lie.
But because of the injustices
that I’ve seen done to people of my own nation,
I refused.
And so that many members of my community we have to pay the price.
Mortars started falling on my neighborhood, randomly.
A lot of innocent people were hurt and killed.
And when the extremist group entered my neighborhood,
my house was raided.
I had to leave along with my father, brother,
my grandfather who has Alzheimer’s, with hundreds of thousands of people.
I lost hope for a while of achieving my dreams.
But someone in this community stepped out of their preconceptions
and acted to save my future.
Someone stepped out to offer a scholarship
for Syrian students to continue their education,
and that was the University of Evansville.
And because of this opportunity, my future was saved.
So I’m here today in the United States to achieve my dreams,
to become a successful person.
I’m here to tell you the story
that millions of men, women, and children
want to say but they can’t.
I’m here to encourage everyone of you to step out
of your preconceptions,
to act in the lives of those who need you.
I’m here to make a difference.
And do not say that I don’t have any preconceptions of my own,
because we all do, and I do.
And just like my grandma once said,
“The first step in solving your problem is to acknowledge that you have it.”
Just like some of you might have felt a little worried.
when I told you I’m a Syrian.
Humans tend to judge those who are different than them
based on the preconceptions that are planted in them
by those who are ignorant or those who are knowledgeable
but are benefiting from that ignorance.
We have two choices to deal with these preconceptions.
We can let them control us to allow the worst in us,
our fears and hate to act in our lives
and in the lives of those who need us the most.
And we can control them to allow the best in us,
our love and compassion to act in our lives
and in the lives of those who need us the most.
Educating yourself is the most important part of the change journey.
We cannot defeat our preconceptions if we are ignorant.
Learning about cultures, lifestyles, religions can be mind-expanding.
For example,
you might learn that Syria is the place
where the first written language on Earth was developed.
And you might learn that Syria has about 35 religions
that were living together peacefully for thousand of years.
And you might learn that most of the members of ISIS
are actually not Syrians,
and that Syrians are facing terrorism on behalf of the whole world,
and still facing hate and prejudices and restrictions
everywhere they go.
You can also educate others to create a domino effect,
where changing the preconception of one person
can change the preconceptions of many others known by that person.
And do not tell me that it is too much to change the whole world
because I tell you it’s not.
All of you know how small a drop of water is, right?
But when many small individual drops of water get together
they create a rainfall, a waterfall, an ocean.
Small individual acts, when added together
can change the whole picture.
The Syrian people, who are now scattered around the world,
need your support and compassion to become better individuals.
According to the United nations,
there are about eight million Syrian refugees
who are displaced outside of Syria.
And about half of the population who are still in Syria
is displaced internally.
So, most of the refugees who left Syria have ended up in refugee camps
where there’s no proper healthcare, no proper education,
no jobs, no water, no food.
They have ended up there.
And half of that population is children.
A whole generation in the refugee camps is in danger
of growing up ignorant and uneducated.
And if you tell me that ignorance
and the lack of education is not a problem,
I’ll tell you that you’ve got a problem.
Ignorance is the first enemy of the United States
and of the whole world.
Ignorance is the first enemy of the U.S. and of the whole world,
and if we are leaving this generation
to grow up uneducated and ignorant,
we are leaving our world with millions of possible victims
of terrorists and criminal ideologies.
Whatever we plant today, we’re going to harvest tomorrow.
So, let’s look at the fruits of our decisions
that we are making today
about changing our preconceptions and supporting those people.
Picture a child who is in a refugee camp today
after having been left, forgotten, and ignored.
That child will grow up to endanger our societies whether we like it or not,
everywhere we are.
And picture that same child after having been supported and educated,
that child will grow up to become
a fighter against hate, terrorism, and fears just like you are right now.
You’ve already started your journey of change
by being here today.
By being here today, you’ve educated yourself,
supported me in my mission, and I want you
to pick it up from here, and teach yourself and learn more.
Thank you so much for listening to me.
(Applause)
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