I spoke with Farah Chalisa, a human rights attorney and activist at the People's Conference for Palestine in Detroit, Michigan, over Labor Day weekend 2025. We discussed the conference speakers, issues facing the Palestinian people, zionism, language, analytical frameworks, critique, and more.
Our discussion began as light and humorous before transitioning into more serious discourse on international affairs, U.S.-Israel relations, Palestine, the framing of important matters rhetorically, and how rhetorical devices are weaponized as means of political repression.
Farah Chalisa earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied political science and psychology. She then pursued a Juris Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Farah remains an outspoken advocate for the American Muslim and Palestinian communities, actively fighting for civil rights and liberties. She was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. Farah also serves on the Al Hub Forum, a Palestinian-led youth forum focused on collective liberation and return, as their Director of Human Rights & Advocacy. Recently, Farah led an effort to push for charges against an individual who attacked people and vandalized a painting in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen, with hate crimes. The perpetrator targeted a collaborative art piece between Palestinian and Latino communities in solidarity with Palestine.
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/farahchalisa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farahthelawyer/?hl=en
Al Hub: https://www.instagram.com/alhubforum/
