Discussion on Hope Not Hate continues.
Wednesday, February 1, 2006, 01:17 PM
Salam (in Peace)!
I think Margaret has "pin-pointedly" diagnosed the situation about the perception of Islam and "main-steam" Muslims in the west. As an Islamic Speakers Bureau of Nebraska (ISBN) speaker, I encounter this phenomenon very frequently. I find a "main steam" American very confused about the political scheme of events and hungry for more and accurate information on Islam and the Muslim community (other than the media-fed politically motivated "skewed" information). She has rightfully pointed out that, like any community, the Muslim community is as diverse in their people and opinions.
If the media and people with their "vested interests" use the actual and perceived "bad deeds" and "criminal" activities of an extremely small bunch of 1.5 billions Muslims to be in a very "defensive" position about their faith, which Muslims know is opposite to the perception, and attack their faith (Islam) then the whole 1.5 billions of Muslim will resent that (no body wants to be in a defensive situation).
The irony is that the well educated and people with access to "all the information in the world" pretend to be so ignorant about the religion of 1/5th of the world. I call that "the deliberate ignorance". However, after living here in North America, I also know that most of the people (NOT all!) do it because they don't know better. For them, we Muslims should provide every opportunity to learn and be educated about Islam (not "force" them to accept it, because the real Islam doesn't believe in "forced submission"). We don't have to agree with each others beliefs, but we MUST respect each other. If the God wanted, he could have very easily Created us all with the same faith, but in His Infinite Wisdom, didn't choose to do so, and we should respect that.
Just as Margaret has pointed out, associating words like "Muslim" and "Islamist" to these terrorist criminals (e.g., Muslim terrorist, Islamist, etc.) is distortion of the truth and extremely offensive to ALL 1.5 billion Muslims. We Muslims have a long and proud history that people are not hearing and don't know about it.
As far as her (Margaret's) walking away from the meeting full of observations and full of questions, please let me know if I could be of any help. I think even if a single person has walked away from that town hall meeting with the true knowledge, then I think it was worth it. Jenn, I congratulate you and commend you for arranging the meeting. May the God Bless you for it. Thank you very much!
With regards,
Shakil Ahmed
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( 3.1 / 307 )New AID Officers Elected
Monday, January 30, 2006, 09:18 PM
AID is extremely excited to announce our new officers for the upcoming year!
Treasurer: Jay Filipi
Secretary: Rhaym Keel
Vice President - Events: Katie Zimmer
Vice President - Media Relations: Carey Johnson
President: Jenn Piatt
Check out our Officers page for more information.
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( 3 / 273 )FREE event at Creighton!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006, 02:08 PM
American Constitution Society brings you a FREE forum on Native American Law. The discussion will be held on the Creighton campus in Room 123 from 11:35 to 12:30 on February 22.
This event will feature Professor Mike Kelly (a former speaker of ours) and the Native American Studies Chair at Creighton. This organization is co-sponsoring our upcoming events, one of which will be held at the Creighton campus. Please pass around the information to those whom may be interested! Thank you in advance and details will come soon on upcoming AID events!
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( 3 / 284 )AID-Omaha member receives recognition
Tuesday, January 17, 2006, 02:38 PM
Jenn Piatt: A Mother, Student, and Leader... with a Vision
by Vanessa Persico, Colgate University
Outstanding Student Leaders Digest (published by AIDemocracy.org)
Jenn Piatt, a sophomore at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and now a recipient of the Outstanding Student Leader Award, has her priorities set.
“I’m passionate about my daughter, school and AID,” she says, “And it drives me.”
Indeed, it has driven her to accomplish amazing things on her campus. Early this November, Piatt, organized a town hall-style meeting for AID’s “Hope Not Hate” initiative, persisting in the face of many obstacles and hostile voices.
Five days before the town hall, Piatt received a phone call from an individual identifying herself as the secretary of the Imam of the Omaha Islamic Center, one of the panelists for the event. The caller said that the Imam would be unable to attend. Piatt was distressed, but rolled with the punch and began the search for a replacement speaker.
Click here for the rest of the article....
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( 3 / 284 )New Meeting Times & Website Update!!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005, 11:23 AM
AID meetings will take place every other Monday evening beginning January 23 from 7-8pm in the Gallery Room of the Milo Bail Student Center. A complete list of dates will be posted to the new page on our website soon.
In addition, from now on, you can access the current meeting schedules from the website. Along the right hand column, towards the bottom of the first box, is a link Meeting Times. AID will update this as things change. But, continue to post to the web and mailing list if meetings get cancelled or changed as the semester progresses. Thanks!
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( 3.1 / 291 )Hope Not Hate a success!!!
Sunday, December 11, 2005, 07:53 PM
This is a copy of a comment which was posted to our website. I wanted to re-post it on the main page to add emphasis! Thanks for everyone's support!!
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My husband and I attended the Town Hall meeting as the result of seeing it in the Omaha World Herald. We attended this meeting not fully knowing what the meeting was about but found the forum informative for us. We are main stream American confused about the political scheme of events and looking for more information on the Muslim community. I learned from this event the Muslim community is as diverse in their people and opinions as the Christian community. I learned the words terrorist and Muslim have been used way too much in our media causing much distortion and offense. I learned Muslim has a long and proud history we are not hearing about in the Christian community.
We walked away from the meeting full of observations and full of questions. The one thing we still are looking for is a way to connect personally with the Muslim community to establish personal relationships. We have had Muslim friends in the Omaha communtiy but they moved on to other settings. The strongest way for us to fight terrorism is for us to establish connections in our own community.
Thank for the Town Hall meeting opportunity.
MHT
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( 3 / 259 )Meetings suspended until Spring '06 Semester
Sunday, December 11, 2005, 07:48 PM
Meetings suspended until the new semester begins, at which time, we will begin to meet on campus and our meeting times will change to accomodate new schedules.
Please stay tuned to the website and mailing list for final announcements.
At the first meeting, we will discuss:
1) AID's transition into new leadership
2)Securing the Future!
3) Fight for What's Right!
4) and from there, determine which initiatives we want to pursue.
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( 3 / 276 )Meeting: Wednesday, November 30 at 7pm
Saturday, November 12, 2005, 07:11 PM
Our next AID meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 30 at 7pm at Don Carmelo's (The meetings for the 16th and the 30th have been cancelled). This will be our last meeting at Don Carmelo's. Starting in December, AID meetings will move to campus and time/date will change to accomadate a wider range of schedules. AID will post to the website and the mailing list once the new day/location becomes finalized (Please add a comment with suggested times and days). Thanks! [ 1 comment ] ( 73 views ) | permalink |
( 3 / 273 )Hope Not Hate: Islam & The West World Relations
Thursday, October 6, 2005, 08:18 PM
Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) will coordinate Hope not Hate, a town hall discussion on the future of relations between the West and the Islamic world. This town hall will address questions such as: “What is the long-term strategy for improving relations between the West and the Islamic world? Are the West and the Islamic world currently on the right path?”
The series began on the two-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks when citizens groups, 9/11 family members, and policymakers combined to commemorate September 11th with a positive call to collaborative action out of the ashes of tragedy. Last year, the series focused on the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that America must share its “vision of opportunity and hope” with the Muslim world. This year, Hope not Hate is broadening its focus beyond US-Islamic understanding to Western-Islamic understanding as a way of commemorating and constructively responding to the recent bombings in London, the March 11, 2004, bombings in Madrid, and the November 20, 2003, bombings in Istanbul.
This event is FREE and OPEN to the public and will take place on:
Wednesday, November 9th from 6-8pm in the Milo Bail Student Center (MBSC) on the University of Nebraska (UNO) Campus. Parking will be available on campus at no charge.
Moderator:
Dr. Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado
Speakers:
1) Dr. Dale Stover
2) Shakil Ahmed (Independent Muslim voice)
3) Dr. Naser Alsharif
4) Dr. John Calvert
5) Dr. Terry Clark
Suggested Reading:
Young Leaders Seek Ways to Resolve Middle East Conflict
US-Muslim Views Discussed
UN's Middle East Road Map
NPR's - The Middle East & The West: A Troubled History
Dialogues: Islamic World - US - The West
Search for Common Ground
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( 3 / 254 )Events & Opportunities with AID
Thursday, October 6, 2005, 07:51 PM
1) October 19th meeting will change to 1pm in the SOLP Office to assemble the banner which will hang in the Student Center (volunteers welcome!)
2) AID is in the process of finalizing speakers for Hope Not Hate: Islam and The West World Relations which will take place on November 9th. Bio's will be posted to the web and mailing list once they are complete. Stay tuned for more information.
3) AID is currently seeking a moderater for the Hope Not Hate Town hall. If you have any suggestions, please email them to Jenn at jnpiatt(at)gmail.com
4) Officer Elections were held at the October 5th meeting. The changes are effective starting November. The results were: Treasurer: Jay Filipi, Secretary: Craig Martin, Vice President: Vacant!!, and President: Jenn Piatt. We are currently seeking a student to fill the Vice President position. This is a wonderful opportunity to expand your leadership skills and have fun in the process! Please contact Jenn if interested.
5) The October 26th meeting is temporarily postponed so that AID members can participate in the "Meet Eleanor Roosevelt" event on campus. We will reschedule that meeting and post the new date (as that is the last meeting before the town hall!) when it becomes established.
6) On Monday, November 7th and Tuesday, November 8th, AID will hand out fliers to students on campus and staff a table in the MBSC over the lunch hour. Please respond to Jenn with available times. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
7) And lastly, PDF's available with town hall advertisement to distribute. Please contact Jenn for a copy.
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