Kosher-Halal Co-op’s Recruitment Misguided

To the Editors:

I write out of concern on the misguided approach the Co-op known as Kosher-Halal took last week in an effort to reach or get more Muslim membership.

I do not claim to speak for all members of the Muslim community, but I speak for some when I say that we do not feel comfortable there despite the efforts of many in the Co-op to make it a comforting place for us as Muslim students. This discomfort arises for many reasons. Although all kosher is halal not all halal is kosher. The difference is that what makes food halal for Muslims is the use of halal products, other than that there are no constraints. I personally find it difficult to follow these rules. Another point is that questions and misunderstandings on the meanings of Zionism and whether this is equivalent to Judaism, and if so does this very spirit get encompassed into the charter of the Co-op. These questions, at least on my part, leads to some of my discomfort. In addition, there has not been much dialogue between Muslim Students Association and the Co-op.

Last week I was told that Kosher-Halal asked OSCA for $300 to advertise around campus in an effort to get more diversity in the Co-op, basically to get more Muslim students. At first, I thought it was a joke or something, but no, it was true. Why did I find it funny? Well the proposal pointed out that there is only one Muslim student in the Co-op. In essence, in the proposal the Co-op assumed the role of being the quasi-voice or representative of Muslim students. The problem here is that there was no dialogue between the Co-op and Muslims Students Association (MSA) when it is rather clear that through dialogue, the Co-op would be publicized in the most direct way to Muslim Students. Also, the Co-op would get to hear why Muslim students aren’t joining, or what needs to be adjusted or changed in order to get some Muslim students to join.

Unfortunately, the approach the Co-op took implies a sort of communalism in the tokenization of Muslim students. My main suggestion would be to start a dialogue between MSA and the Co-op. And through this dialogue many questions and misunderstandings could be cleared up, and the Co-op will know what Muslims want and the Co-op will be able to assess changes or adjustments, assuming of course increasing membership of Muslim students is the goal.

–Lina Elbadawi
College first-year