Press Release: Center for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations

Though I haven't written a new post in months, I thought the following press release was important to share.

Many in the West, including myself, have been critical of the fact that moderate Muslim leaders have not spoken up loudly enough to offer an alternative to the bin Ladens and Ahmadinejads of the world. So when such leaders speak out, I want to make sure that we in the West hear them.

Below is a press release from the Center for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations. The next post will contain the letter from the group.

(P.S., Time permitting, I hope to restart this blog in the near future. -Adam)



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PRESS RELEASE

World’s First Cross-Denominational Statement from Muslims to Jews

Leaders from the international Muslim community are to issue a statement to the world’s Jewish Community at the Centre for the Study of Muslim - Jewish Relations in Cambridge on Monday 25 February.

This is the first example of such a gesture from the Muslim to the Jewish community and demonstrates a genuine desire within the Muslim community to reach out to the leaders’ Jewish peers. The letter describes itself as ‘a call for positive and constructive action that aims to improve Muslim – Jewish relations’.

The initiative behind the statement comes from the Muslim members of the Centre for the Study of Muslim – Jewish Relations (CMJR), Cambridge, UK, Dr Amineh Hoti (Director) and Sheikh Michael Mumisa (Lecturer). It will be formally announced following the Centre’s annual Stone – Ashdown lecture* on Monday 25 February.

The signatories of the letter include:

Professor Akbar S Ahmed, Former High Commissioner of Pakistan to the UK and Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University Washington, DC

Professor Bunyamin Duran, Vice-Rector: Islamic University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Ambassador Mahmud A. Durrani, Embassy of Pakistan, Washington D.C.

Sayyed Nadeem Kazmi, Director of International Affairs at the Al-Khoei Foundation (the largest Shia Institute in the UK)

Lord Khalid Hameed, High Sheriff of Greater London, UK

Dr Musharraf Hussain, Chief Imam and Director of Karimia Institute, UK

Professor Sari Nusseibeh, President of Al Quds University, Beit Hanina – Jerusalem

Dr Ataullah Saddiqui, Director of Markfield Institute of higher Education

A response from the Jewish community is expected in the days following the announcement. This will also be released by the Centre for the Study of Muslim – Jewish Relations.
For more information or for a press ticket for the lecture on Monday 25 February at 2pm, please contact Esther Haworth, 01223 741048 or esther.haworth@woolfinstitute.cam.ac.uk
Venue: CMJR, Woolf Institute, Wesley House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge. CB5 8BJ

Notes for Editors
About the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths, the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations (CJCR) and the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations (CMJR)

CJCR and CMJR are members of an independent educational charity, the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths based in Cambridge UK. Through teaching, research and dialogue they are dedicated to the academic study of Jewish-Christian relations and Muslim-Jewish relations respectively.

Under the auspices of the Woolf Institute, they aim to overcome prejudice and intolerance between Jews, Christians and Muslims, and to establish a more positive basis for relations.

CJCR was founded in 1998 by Dr Edward Kessler of St Edmund's College, Cambridge. Its flagship educational programme is the University of Cambridge Master of Studies (MSt) in the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations, which it offers in conjunction with the University’s Faculty of Divinity and the Institute of Continuing Education. The first and only course of its kind, the MSt can be studied in Cambridge or predominantly via e-learning. CJCR also offers a range of other educational programmes and since 1998 has taught over 1000 students, many of whom have gone onto take positions of leadership. CJCR is also an Associate Member of the Cambridge Theological Federation (www.theofed.cam.ac.uk), which provides the Centre with teaching resources and accommodation.

CMJR was founded in 2006 by Dr Edward Kessler and Dr Amineh Hoti as a sister organisation to CJCR and is built on the same core principles of Teaching, Research and Dialogue. CMJR is pleased to work with the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education whose Certificate programme in Islam, Judaism and Muslim-Jewish Relations is offered at the CMJR this academic year. CMJR offers a menu of e-learning courses - 'An Introduction to Muslim-Jewish Relations' - to students of all ages, backgrounds and religious (or non-religious) beliefs. The Centre published its Teacher’s Guide, Valuing Diversity in October 2007 and aims to prepare A Dictionary of Jewish-Muslim Relations, to sit alongside the recently published A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations.

The CJCR and CMJR offices are located in the heart of Cambridge where they are hosted by Methodist Theological College, Wesley House.

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*The CMJR’s annual Stone – Ashdown Lecture is named in honour of the Stone – Ashdown Trust who last year donated £1 million to the Institute.

For more information contact Esther Haworth on 01223-741048, esther.haworth@cam.ac.uk or visit www.woolfinstitute.cam.ac.uk

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Iran's Take on Ahmadinejad's Columbia U. Speech

As many media outlets covered the Iranian President's speech at Columbia University, so did the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). This organization is Iran's official mouthpiece, funded by the Ministry of National Guidance, and had a somewhat different take on Ahmadinejad's visit. Here is the text of the IRNA article:

Despite entire US media objections, negative propagation and hue and cry in recent days over IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's scheduled address at Colombia University, he gave his lecture and answered students questions here on Monday afternoon.

On second day of his entry in New York, and amid standing ovation of the audience that had attended the hall where the Iranian President was to give his lecture as of early hours of the day, Ahmadinejad said that Iran is not going to attack any country in the world.

Before President Ahamadinejad's address, Colombia University Chancellor in a brief address told the audience that they would have the chance to hear Iran's stands as the Iranian President would put them forth.

He said that the Iranians are a peace loving nation, they hate war, and all types of aggression.

Referring to the technological achievements of the Iranian nation in the course of recent years, the president considered them as a sign for the Iranians' resolute will for achieving sustainable development and rapid advancement.

The audience on repeated occasion applauded Ahmadinejad when he touched on international crises.

At the end of his address President Ahmadinejad answered the students' questions on such issues as Israel, Palestine, Iran's nuclear program, the status of women in Iran and a number of other matters.

It seems that the IRNA missed parts of the speech, and lied about other parts. First off, though Ahmadinejad did receive a polite applause when he began his speech, he certainly did not receive a standing ovation. In fact, Columbia U.'s president received much louder applause during his critical intro of the Iranian president. This may seem like a petty point, but it illustrates how skewed IRNA reporting is. It wants to project it's leader as taming the lion that is the American public.

Which brings me to the second point: There is absolutely no mention of the blistering introduction he received from Lee Bollinger. Almost all other media outlets, including a story from al Jazeera, highlighted such instant classics as "Mr President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator." But I guess IRNA wasn't watching C-SPAN during the intro.

Third, IRNA is correct that Ahmadinejad took on many different topics from students. But I find it interesting that the news agency doesn't mention that the President took on homosexuality in Iran. It mentions Israel, Palestine, nuclear programs, and women, but not homosexuality. Maybe the topic wasn't covered because it isn't really that pertinent, as Ahmadinejad clearly stated that "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country." More likely the topic isn't mentioned because that statement prompted laughs and boos from the audience.

I think IRNA needs to pay more attention to its leader's speeches. Or at least watch more C-SPAN.

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Journalists- Accessories to War Crimes?

For quite some time, certain media outlets have formed an understanding with perpetrators of horrific acts of violence. For example, about a year after 9/11, al-Jazeera received a tape from Osama bin Laden which praised the murder of thousands of innocents, and yet the Qatar-based network did not disclose where it received the tape. Such disclosure could have lead to actionable intelligence, and to the possible capture of the head of al-Qaeida. Yet al-Jazeera hid under the cloak of "protecting its sources."

So could it be possible that a reporter for an American news outlet would similarly protect evil in order to "get the scoop?" The answer, apparently, is yes. Aparisim "Bobby" Ghosh, a reporter for TIME Magazine, writes in an article that insurgents have told him how they have developed new tactics for countering the U.S. surge. Ghosh explains that:

At least one Sunni group has adapted its "martyrdom operations" to eliminate the risk to its own fighters. The Al-Qaeda-linked Ayesha Brigade plants bombs in cars owned by Shi'ites and, when the unwitting owners drive them into a crowded area, detonate them by remote control.

Ghosh then goes on to say:

The videotape of one such operation,bearing the date stamp March 26, was showed to TIME by an insurgent who said he had participated in at least six such operations. (We were not allowed to make a copy since the video had not been edited and the faces of several of the Ayesha Brigade fighters were clearly visible.)

Ghosh also talks about two other insurgent commanders that he spoke with for the article. He has obviously earned their trust. And the only way he could have earned that trust is by not "squealing" on the insurgents. Does TIME, or any other news organization, find it morally acceptable to have the confidence of terrorists and war criminals?

Killing an innocent Iraqi for political purposes is clearly an act of terrorism, and using that innocent Iraqi in a war zone to kill others is clearly a war crime. When TIME protects the identities of the perpetrators of such acts, it has the dubious distinction of becoming an accessory to evil.

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