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CAIR Bulletin – Sept. 6, 2007
Imam delivers invocation for LA county supervisors
LOS ANGELES, CA, Sept. 4, - The Islamic Center of Hawthorne's Assistant Imam Ammar Kahf was invited today to deliver the opening invocation at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting.
In his invocation, Kahf said: "I pray for peace and comfort in our families, societies, leaders and law enforcement, our neighborhoods and our world." Kahf was subsequently given a certificate of appreciation by Supervisor Yvonne Burke.
Boston Globe - September 12, 2007
Statement to mend mosque rift in Boston
By Michael Paulson
A group of local Jewish and Muslim leaders have signed a joint statement urging better relations between the two communities, which have suffered a serious rift over each other's response to controversial remarks by onetime leaders of a large mosque under construction in Roxbury.
The cautiously crafted statement, which is being released to coincide with tonight's start of both Rosh Hashana and Ramadan, commits the leaders to "strive to address disagreements and community concerns in ways that promote reconciliation rather than conflict."
That pledge appears to be a response to the mosque dispute, in which the breakdown in relations was so bad that it led to litigation, much of which was dropped in May. The statement also decries "all forms of terrorism, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim prejudice, or any other form of discrimination or stigmatization against any racial, religious, or ethnic group."
The statement includes the signatures of 20 individuals from each faith.
On the Muslim side, it includes the leaders of every prominent local Muslim institution, including five imams. On the Jewish side, where community institutions are under pressure from an Israeli advocacy group called the David Project to be skeptical of the motivations and backgrounds of Muslim leaders, the statement was signed by a number of prominent lay leaders but not by the staff who run mainstream organizations.
Among the Jewish signers are eight former presidents of the Jewish Community Relations Council and Combined Jewish Philanthropies, as well as several prominent business people active in the Jewish community and Rabbi Ronne Friedman of Temple Israel, who had broken off his congregation's partnership with the Muslim community over the mosque controversy. The statement was also signed by the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, which is sending it to all of its members, and by the Muslim American Society, which is sending it to all area mosques.
The statement is being criticized by the David Project, which cites concerns about the Muslim signers' affiliations. The David Project had been the leading critic of the Islamic Society of Boston's plans to erect a mosque at Roxbury Crossing, asserting that some of the mosque's founding leaders had made remarks that were anti-Semitic or supportive of terrorism. In response to those assertions, the Islamic Society filed a lawsuit in 2005 against the David Project and two media outlets, saying that those allegations were defamatory, but dropped the suit in May after a suit challenging the mosque's construction was also dropped.
David Project president Charles Jacobs, reiterating the assertion that was the central issue in the defamation case, said in an e-mail yesterday: "Regrettably, the evidence that both the leadership of the Islamic Society of Boston and of the Muslim American Society have been supportive of organizations and individuals who themselves support terror, anti-Semitism, and/or hate speech is abundant and continues to grow. We believe that the wiser course is to defer statements of this sort, laudable as they may seem, until the ISB and MAS answers those questions."
But the signers said they thought it was important to start talking now. "The statement calls on leaders and followers in both communities to renounce terrorism and hatred and calls for the building of bridges, and I find it hard to disagree with that," said Rabbi Eric Gurvis, the president of the Board of Rabbis and the rabbi of Temple Shalom in Newton. "Those who point fingers and say, 'You can't trust this one, you can't trust that one,' that's part of why we've got conflict all around the world to start with. At some point, we have to at least start to talk to one another."….
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/12/with_holidays_a_vow_for_better_jewish_muslim_relations/
THE JOINT STATEMENT:
Building A Community of Trust
We, members of the Jewish and Muslim communities, seek to build trust and mutual understanding and strive to forge positive relationships between our respective communities. We are determined to work together in order to replace fear, distrust, and misunderstanding of each for the other, where it exists, with hope, and respectful communication.
As shared beliefs:
-- We affirm the common humanity of all racial, religious, and ethnic groups, and our common needs for safety, security and dignity.
-- We decry all forms of terrorism, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim prejudice, or any other form of discrimination or stigmatization against any racial, religious or ethnic group.
-- We support the rights, guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, of faith communities to gather for worship.
To give expression to these beliefs:
-- We support existing efforts, and the creation of additional opportunities, for open and honest interfaith and intercultural dialogue in Greater Boston
-- We will strive to address disagreements and community concerns in ways that promote reconciliation rather than conflict.
-- We urge leaders in our respective communities to publicly commit to these initiatives, and to seek additional means to build intercultural trust and mutual understanding.
We embrace a Greater Boston that is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious, in which our diversity is respected and valued. We will together foster efforts to improve understanding and to decrease divisions between our communities. We will work towards a more harmonious Boston in which all people of good will share concerns in a civil manner, promote hope and not fear, and together enrich the civic life of our community. (WBUR)
http://www.wbur.org/news/2007/70333_20070912.asp
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