Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
for constructive & vibrant Muslim-Western relations
07 - 13 November 2006

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim–Western relations. CGNews-PiH is available in Arabic, English, French and Indonesian.
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Inside this edition

1) by Marwan M. Kraidy

Marwan M. Kraidy, director of the Arab Media in Public Life (AMPLE) project at the American University in Washington, writes about the perception of Western popular culture not only by Islamic activists who fear it but also by those who are adapting it to their culture to produce a phenomenon Kraidy calls “Islamic pop”. In light of this trend, he considers whether there is some compatibility, rather than just hostility, between Muslim and Western worldviews in the domain of pop culture.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 7 November 2006)

2) by Fait Muedini

Fait Muedini, a PhD student and presidential fellow at the State University of New York, looks at a part of the world that is often overlooked when it comes to Muslim-Western relations but yet is one of the places where the West and the Muslim world meet: the Balkans. He looks at the role of predominantly-Muslim and Albanian Kosovo in Serbia’s bid for EU membership in the context of a recent Serbian referendum on a new constitution, and proposes some constructive next steps for the region.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 7 November 2006)

3) by Tariq Ramadan

In this article, Tariq Ramadan, professor of Islamic Studies and senior research fellow of St Antony’s College at Oxford University, asks readers to consider transforming the present to bring about a future of constructive interfaith relations and a more secure world. Admitting that peace, and indeed conversation, can be very difficult and even frightening, he challenges each individual to consider the difference between emotion, which “put us in a position where we perceive ‘us’ versus ‘them’ and where we have to defend our identity”, and spirituality, which is about effort, in our attempts to make “peace” and “mutual trust” more than just words.
(Source: www.tariqramadan.com, 31 October 2006)

4) by Jeremy M. Sharp

Jeremy M. Sharp, a Middle East policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service, asks why the United States, generally eager to tout any democratic successes or reforms in the Middle East, said very little about the recent elections in Yemen which were praised by other foreign observers. Discussing recent political reforms as well as issues of corruption in Yemen, he wonders whether this freedom from U.S. scrutiny might actually give Yemeni policymakers the flexibility to experiment.
(Source: Carnegie Endowment Arab Reform Bulletin, Vol. 4, Issue 8, October 2006)

5) by Jane Lampman

Christian Science Monitor staff writer, Jane Lampman, describes how the local Muslim organisations in Boston brought people together to host “their first Humanitarian Day for the Homeless”, and other instances of outreach by Muslim organisations during Ramadan and throughout the year. Although charitable giving is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, she explains, many individuals prefer to express their faith directly as well by getting involved, not only by making donations. In the words of Nataka Crayton, who served as local coordinator. "It brings you that much closer to the needy, and you see they aren't outside of us, they are us."
(Source: Christian Science Monitor, 19 October 2006)
   

1) Islamic popular culture
Marwan M. Kraidy

Washington, D.C. - Western popular culture has for decades attracted the ire of Islamic activists who accuse it of subverting values, corrupting youth, destroying families or robbing Muslims of fundamental aspects of their identity.

But hostility towards Western popular culture is not restricted to those who claim to speak in the name of Islam. Activists elsewhere have campaigned against what they perceive to be foreign encroachments on their cultures: whether Hindu activists protesting beauty pageants, Parisian intellectuals criticising the celebration of all-American Halloween in France, or Italian activists launching the “slow food” movement, the fear of a soulless, consumption-driven global culture overwhelming local mores and traditions is widely shared. In the post-September 11 world, however, Islam and the Middle East have been at the centre of this debate.

Though Islam and global, essentially Western, popular culture are often depicted as antagonistic, a fascinating new phenomenon is sweeping the Islamic world, demonstrating the capacity of local tradition not only to adapt, but also to take advantage of global popular culture styles. This is the phenomenon that I call “Islamic pop”. Boy bands in Malaysia, Islamic videos in London, an “Islamically-correct” reality television show in Dubai, and the widespread adaptation of Western game shows for the Arab television-sweeps of the month of Ramadan are all vivid examples of this intriguing trend. These examples occur in different nations, use different languages, employ different media and address different audiences. What they have in common, however, is the promise that Muslim and Western worldviews—taking into account the tremendous internal diversity of each—are not incompatible.

The wave of reality television production that has hit the Arab world in the last few years has triggered strong condemnation for going against traditional Islamic values. In response, some Gulf-based channels have produced reality shows that are actively compatible with Islam. The most interesting is probably Green Light, produced in Dubai for Dubai television, the official broadcaster of the Emirate that is fast-forwarding itself to the gaudy avant-garde of modernity. Unlike other reality television shows focused on competition for fame and personal gain, Green Light highlighted that most Islamic of values: charity. Contestants had to find creative ways to raise money for orphans, Palestinian refugees and poor school students. Understandably, the show eschewed the controversy that befell its predecessors.

In London, a young British Muslim of Azeri origin has created the Islamic music video genre, known in the Middle East as “video clip”. Sami Yusuf’s videos are soothing Islamic nasheeds, or chants, where stunning images from throughout the Muslim world show Islam’s global scope, or where the singer expresses his love for, and gratitude to, his mother. For those who believe that globalisation threatens Islamic values, Yusuf offers an alternative kind of globalisation. His songs and videos articulate a way to be both “modern” and Muslim. That this charismatic and soft-spoken singer can achieve rock-star fame speaks to the resonance that Islamic pop has had among globally dispersed Muslims, especially the young.

In Malaysia, the boy-band Raihan is still widely popular in its second decade of existence. This Malaysian nasheed band is on the cusp of releasing its 12th album. Since the 1996 release of their first album Puji Pujian, the singers have become household names in Malaysia and much of the Muslim world. Their motto “pray hard, work smart” expresses a new, fresh way of being Muslim that has proven to have wide appeal. Raihan is now a globally known band whose tours take it to all continents.

Reality television, music videos and pop bands are all part of global popular culture, a phenomenon that is often seen as a threat to various national and local cultures and religious groups. Green Light, Sami Yusuf, and Raihan are examples of compatibility, rather than hostility, between public expressions of Muslim faith and global popular culture, Islamising global popular culture even as they globalise Islamic beliefs.

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* Marwan M. Kraidy is director of the Arab Media in Public Life (AMPLE) project at the American University in Washington, D.C., and the author of Hybridity, or the Cultural Logic of Globalization. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 7 November 2006, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

2) ~YOUTH VIEWS~ The future of Kosovo
Fait Muedini

Buffalo, NY - On October 29th, 2006, a referendum was held in Serbia to vote on a new constitution. Roughly 51 percent of the 6.6 million Serbs in Serbia came out to vote (just above the 50 percent needed) with a majority voting for the new constitution which, among other things, claims Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia. As Serbia works to negotiate European Union membership, the issue of predominantly-Muslim Albanian Kosovo and the results of this referendum are of unique importance.

Kosovo, despite the relatively small minority of Serbs still living there, is thought of by Serbs as traditionally Serbian because in the Middle Ages the Serbian capital was located at Pristina in what is now Kosovo itself still the home of important Serbian Orthodox monasteries. In 1389, Serbia effectively lost Kosovo, when Serbian forces were defeated by the expanding Ottoman Empire, ushering in hundreds of years of Muslim Ottoman rule. Over time, Muslim Albanians moved in large numbers to the province, while Christian Serbs were forced out by Ottoman oppression. Serbia did not fully regain the province until 1912, during the Balkan wars, but Serbs have never resettled there in substantial numbers.

With the demise of Yugoslavia, Kosovo’s Albanians began pushing for independence and the movement turned violent in 1995, resulting in four years of increasingly deadly low-level conflict. In 1999, Europe and the US, fearing a resumption of wide-scale war in the Balkans, and disturbed by news of Serbian massacres of Kosovar Albanians, asked Serbia to allow NATO to station peacekeepers in the territory, and when it refused, NATO began a bombing campaign. The brief Kosovo war forced Serbia to effectively relinquish control of the province, though no final legal agreement was made at the time. Since the war, Kosovo has been effectively governed as a protectorate of the EU and the UN, at great expense to the EU, which provides the bulk of the peace-keeping forces in the country.

Yet in this election, ethnic Albanians, who today make up roughly 90 percent of the population in Kosovo, were not able to vote. Despite a history of Albanians boycotting Serbian elections, many believe that had they had the opportunity to participate, it would have easily tilted the balance of the referendum in the opposite direction.

The results of this referendum, according to many analysts, will not have an effect on the continuing talks between Serbian and ethnic Albanian officials on final status issue, which aim to come to an agreement on the territory’s political status in the upcoming months.

Instead of trying to keep Kosovo as part of Serbia and in the process risking conflict between Serbians and Kosovar Albanians -- not to mention destabilising the entire region -- Serbia should grant Kosovo independence and focus on a more realistic demand: the protection of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. Belgrade is worried that the minorities in Kosovo will eventually be forced to leave the moment independence occurs. Additionally, the EU has made it clear that beginning negotiations on Serbian entry into the EU hinge on Serbia’s willingness to pursue the final status talks with Kosovo in good faith.

In a related BBC article published on March 10, 2006, Agim Ceku, leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1999, “pledged to protect the rights of Kosovo’s minority Serb community.” But Serbian leaders, who accuse Ceku of committing war crimes, are not willing to take his statements at face value.

In order to calm fears that minorities will be persecuted or treated like second-class citizens, serious efforts must continue by Kosovo’s leaders and citizens alike to protect the rights of non-Albanian minorities in their midst. This means equal opportunities for employment, education, and tolerance of different faiths and ethnicities in a democratic Kosovo.

As efforts to create an independent Kosovo are strongly moving forward, both the Kosovo government and civil society must continue to step up and take greater initiative to create programmes and projects to foster ethnic and religious understanding in order to quell the fears of Serbian and other minorities. Dialogue must begin with the promotion of reconciliation in churches and mosques, discussion of what a liberal and democratic Kosovo should look like, followed by programmes within the education system that promote respect for a diversity of cultures and beliefs.

The government of Kosovo should make it clear that all forms of ethnic and religious discrimination will be punished. As in many neighbouring countries in the Balkans, Kosovar teachers should be required to participate in ethnic and religious dialogue training. Schools should also implement interfaith and interethnic activities such as sport and art programmes. The new independent Kosovo should include strong legal protection laws of Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Muslims and Christians alike. With such work on interethnic and interfaith dialogue, Kosovo can be an excellent example of a majority Muslim country in Europe respecting the rights and faiths of non-Muslims, a role model for other ethnically and religiously divided countries in Europe and elsewhere.

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* Fait Muedini is a PhD student and Presidential Fellow at the State University New York-Buffalo department of Political Science. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 7 November 2006, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission has been granted for republication.

3) Changing the present and dreaming the future
Tariq Ramadan

London — It is my perception that we have continued the process of interfaith dialogue among ourselves without taking into account the reality of our present world. Our world has changed tremendously, especially during the last 10 years. We are going from one crisis to another: social, civilizational and cultural.

As we represent the faiths of the people, we have to deal with this reality and we have to face up to our responsibilities in dealing with these crises. If we are speaking about hopes, we have to start by being realistic and face up to the responsibility. If we want something to happen, we should try and change not only the way we are dealing with each other but also the way we are dealing with the world we are living in. When we speak about hopes and dreams, there is the Prophet’s peace upon all who are dreaming the future and transforming the present. It should not be the other way around. By dreaming the present you are not helping me to deal with my problems. Therefore, dream the future, change the present and this is the way we have to deal with our values, with our teachings.

If I, as a Muslim man, try to share my views with fellow citizens of Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or indigenous spiritual traditions, I, and others like me, are very often perceived as naive people, dreamers, far from reality. Is this true? If many perceive us like that, elementary psychology is telling us that we have to ask ourselves if there is any truth in this perception. I think there is. Our discourse is sometimes far removed from the reality of people’s lives. We speak about love but as soon as we seek to promote love in this world, it becomes difficult. To love is difficult. We speak about peace, but to get peace, inner peace and collective peace, that is difficult. We speak about the importance of family. But people want concrete answers on how to build a family in this world, today, within this reality of social and psychological crises. We are living in a world where we need to give answers.

We are not secure and we do not feel secure. In the United States, there is a great deal of fear after 9/11. In Israel, Palestine, India and other parts of the world, fear is everywhere. It is not only a state of mind which we are witnessing. Fear is also used by politicians and by religious people, people of faith. If we are true and understand the meaning of faith, we will have to deal with fear. Then we can begin to understand that we live in a world where emotions are promoted, and emotions have nothing to do with spirituality —— in fact they are its opposite.

Emotions are superficial reactions. Not superficial in a bad way, but the first reaction surfacing when something happens. Spirituality is something different. It is about effort, about something that you experience deep in your heart. Spirituality is the way to master your emotions, not to be, or to submit yourself to, your own emotions. It is of vital importance to talk about our spiritual teachings. What do they tell us of mastering emotions?

Why is it so important to go beyond our emotions? Because they put us in a position where we perceive “us” versus “them” and where we have to defend our identity. That mindset is perverse, it is vicious in the world that we are living in to see each other as separate, always protecting myself from you and you protecting yourself from me. It makes dialogue quite impossible.

Spirituality has nothing to do with naivety. Spirituality has nothing to do with dreaming. It has to do with a critical mind enabling us to make an effort, a spiritual effort to maintain a distance from our emotions and to try to understand the world. It means to learn to listen, and it is not easy to listen when we are emotional.

I was in Sarajevo a few weeks ago and there, ten years after the war, an Eastern European was asking a Western European: “Let me ask you one thing: after what happened and us being Muslims, how can I trust you?”

This question of trust is essential. How are we committed to promote this mutual trust? We must network at the local level to understand this global strategy and ideology of fear, and we must create spaces for mutual trust.

When we do that, we are changing the present and dreaming the future.

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* Tariq Ramadan is a professor of Islamic Studies and senior research fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford University and at Lokahi Foundation,London. He is also President of the European think—tank, European Muslim Network (EMN), in Brussels. This abridged article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org. The full text can be found at www.tariqramadan.com.

Source: 31 October 2006, www.tariqramadan.com
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

4) Balancing realism and reform on the Arab periphery
Jeremy M. Sharp

Washington, D.C. - In an ironic turn of events, Yemen's September 20 presidential and local elections garnered extensive favourable coverage by the normally critical Al-Jazeera, while they received only scant attention from the U.S. government, heretofore eager to highlight any sign of reform in Arab states. Why did U.S. officials refrain from highlighting what many foreign observers have praised as successful elections? Possible explanations include a return to traditional priorities in which security interests supersede democracy promotion, a calculated U.S. effort to promote Arab reform more quietly, or simply an oversight due to other distractions.

Yemen, a resource-poor Arab country situated at a healthy distance from the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is a crucible of sorts for U.S. attempts to strike a balance between reform and other goals. US-Yemeni bilateral security and intelligence cooperation has been, and remains, the top U.S. priority. Since the 2000 Al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole, the United States has helped Yemen build its coast guard to patrol the Bab al-Mandab and to meet an Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist threat that recent events demonstrate to be very real. On September 19, the day before the elections, Yemeni security forces thwarted two terrorist attacks against oil installations in the north-eastern region of Maarib and on the Gulf of Aden coast at Dhabba.

In Yemen, the United States also faces the challenges of mixing encouragement and criticism of Arab regimes' liberalisation efforts and of deciding how to deal with Islamists. This is also true in Morocco and parts of the Gulf, where U.S. officials are quietly urging liberalisation. U.S. policy toward engaging certain Islamist movements is left somewhat vague - perhaps deliberately so - but there are efforts being made to maintain contacts with moderate, non-violent Islamist factions. In Yemen members of the Islah party (a coalition of old guard Muslim Brotherhood members, Salafists, and tribes) appear to welcome dialogue on reform and have participated, along with other Yemeni political parties, in programmes sponsored by the US-based National Democratic Institute. Still, U.S. officials exercise caution, as the leader of the Salafist strain of Islah, Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, is a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" for the U.S. Treasury Department because of his alleged role in providing financial support to Al-Qaeda operations and recruitment.

The Yemeni presidential election was about more than just esoteric notions of political reform; it was about the real issue of presidential succession. As in Egypt, where speculation abounds over the grooming of Gamal Mubarak for succession, there is widespread concern among Yemen's opposition parties over the prospect of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's son Ahmed, 37, inheriting the reins of power. This fear was among the main motivations that brought Yemen's diverse opposition parties - socialists, Islamists, and Baathists - together in this year's elections. In a recent Washington Post interview, opposition presidential candidate Faisal bin Shamlan (who received 21 percent of the vote) remarked that "we subordinated our ideological agendas to the one thing we all had in common, which was a realisation that political reform was a necessity if we were to save democracy in Yemen and stop the country's descent into endemic corruption."

President Saleh's victory surprised no one; he is a populist leader who appeals to the everyman, and the ruling party's overwhelming resource advantage helped him considerably. Despite opposition allegations of fraud, foreign observers released preliminary conclusions that the election was relatively free and fair with the typical shortcomings seen in developing nations: there were breaches in voting secrecy, under-age voters, and a number of inaccuracies in the voting registry. U.S. government officials were clearly encouraged by the relatively smooth election, believing that process is important despite imperfections.

The key policy question now is whether the Yemeni government will derive any tangible benefits from holding the election. In November 2005, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) suspended Yemen's eligibility for assistance under its Threshold Program, concluding that after Yemen was named as a potential aid candidate in fiscal year 2004, corruption in the country had increased. Yemen can reapply in November of this year.

Despite the upcoming MCC decision, Yemen remains largely absent in public U.S. policy discussions regarding democratisation. Regime-manipulated political reform is but one malady in a long list of Yemen's socio-economic problems. The country is still recovering from civil war and reunification, and it has enormous social challenges including endemic poverty, high rates of illiteracy and water depletion. Yet, in a sense, the general lack of U.S. attention to Yemen in itself creates opportunities. Unlike U.S. relations with more strategically important countries such as Egypt, US-Yemeni relations are not under a microscope, giving policymakers on the ground flexibility and freedom to experiment.

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* Jeremy M. Sharp is a Middle East policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Arab Reform Bulletin, Vol. 4, Issue 8, October 2006, www.carnegieendowment.org
Copyright (c) 2006 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Copyright permission has been obtained for publication. Please reference the original source.

5) Muslims put faith into action for Ramadan
Jane Lampman

Roxbury, Massachusetts – Two rows of tables, stretching the length of the gymnasium, are neatly stacked with brand-new items: warm sweatshirts and caps in several colours, thick socks, bright yellow ponchos to ward off the weather, and hygiene kits stocked with towels, toothpaste and a toothbrush, soap, and a comb. There are bags of food, bottles of water, and, for the children, backpacks and toys.

Young Muslims in matching T-shirts stand ready to help those coming through the line to pick the right size or colour. Downstairs in the Tobin Community Center, another cadre of volunteers, including medical students, give health screenings and answer questions about dental care.

“People were determined to do it - no event has brought people together like this one. It brings you that much closer to the needy, and you see they aren't outside of us, they are us.”

During their holy month of Ramadan, local Muslim organisations in Boston have joined together to host their first Humanitarian Day for the Homeless.

The charitable event is already a five-year tradition in Los Angeles, where it began under the auspices of the ILM Foundation and Islamic Relief, an international relief and development agency based in Buena Park, California. This year it spread to 14 U.S. cities, where last weekend an estimated 18,000 homeless and needy Americans of all faiths were served.

Charitable giving is one of the "five pillars of Islam", with Muslims expected to donate 2.5 percent of their income annually. But it's clear from the enthusiastic turnout of more than 250 volunteers in Roxbury - from Girl Scout troops to students from MIT and Harvard - that expressing their faith directly is particularly appealing.

"This is faith in action," says Ibrahim Kanan, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Muslim Student Association. For Fahmeen Kahn, finance major at Suffolk University in Boston, "it's an opportunity to give back to the community. Also, Islam teaches that you should want for other people what you want for yourself."

As a side benefit, it has helped to unify the Boston-area Muslim community, though planning for it began only this summer.

"People were determined to do it - no event has brought people together like this one," says Nataka Crayton, of the Islamic Multi-Service Organisation, who served as local coordinator. "It brings you that much closer to the needy, and you see they aren't outside of us, they are us."

For the 780 people who made their way to the community centre on Saturday, it was a welcome event. Isabel Cabrera, originally from the Dominican Republic, brought her 6-month-old son, Jayden. Along with information from health tests and other items, she left with a sturdy baby-care kit.

James G.P. Magee, a friendly disabled man who recently got his own apartment, says he had been homeless for seven years. "I slept through the big snowstorm out on Boston Common, when people died there," he recalls. "But I believe in my God, and He kept telling me, 'Don't give up.' "

Though it's not easy for him to speak, Mr. Magee is eager to tell his story. "Do you know what the G.P. stands for?" he asks. "God's Property - that's me. He gave me the strength to get through."

One of the volunteers carries a bag for Magee as he moves along the line of tables.

While Muslim organisations do the planning and organising for the event, a few local businesses in each city donate food. Islamic Relief provides T-shirts for the volunteers, a banner for each city, training and counselling throughout the process, and matching grants to help with costs.

Humanitarian Day can also be an interfaith project. Baptists participated in Louisiana, Catholics in both Chicago and Newark, N.J. And nationally, the 24,000 hygiene kits were provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), which has a long history of emergency preparedness. The church also has a "fast offering", where members donate money they would have spent on food.

Islamic Relief and the LDS church have, in fact, developed a partnership over the past three years, working together on the Asian tsunami, Pakistan earthquake, hurricane Katrina, the more recent Indonesian earthquake, and the Lebanon crisis.

"We've worked with the Mormon church to send over 195 tons of aid to Lebanon, distributing it through the Hariri Foundation and the UN Works and Relief Agency," says Mostafa Mahboob, Islamic Relief spokesman. "They give supplies, and we pay for all the shipping. In other parts of the world, we also have our own people on the ground to handle projects. We've probably worked together on [efforts worth] $20 million."

Islamic Relief has spent $2 million on Katrina's aftermath and still has full-time staff in the Gulf coast region. The church contributed to their Katrina effort by providing hygiene kits and cleaning kits - buckets, brushes, gloves, masks, and bleach to help people clean up their homes, says Mr. Mahboob.

The relief and development agency, which originated in Great Britain, has survived the scrutiny of U.S. law enforcement officials, who closed down three other Muslim charities for suspected ties to terrorist groups.

"We are very open and transparent; our financial records are online," Mahboob explains. They have established systems to keep track of monies and have for three years won the highest rating, four stars, from Charity Navigator. Benefiting somewhat, perhaps, from the closing-down of other Islamic charities, Islamic Relief had its biggest year of U.S. donations in 2005 - receiving more than $45 million.

While most religions emphasise charitable giving, it's a priority for Muslims. "Anyone who studies Islam sees that charity is the second-most important thing to prayer," says Clareen Menzies, Islamic Relief's national coordinator for Humanitarian Day. "It's a big part of our religion, especially during Ramadan, and it's important to have direct contact with people who need help."

Ramadan is the ninth month on the Muslim lunar calendar. It's when Muslims worldwide fast during daylight hours. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of the faith, it's considered a special time of worship, contemplation, and seeking forgiveness.

"Fasting stops your rhythm of consuming, and you begin to think better," says Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, of Masjid for the Praising of Allah, an African-American mosque in Roxbury that is the oldest in the city and a supporter of today's event.

For many involved in Humanitarian Day activities, the experience spurs a desire to do much more than an annual event. Nazia Naqvi, of the Muslim American Society in Chicago, coordinated distribution at seven sites in that city. "We need to do more, because the homeless population continues to be ignored," she says. "If organisations [from different faiths] could come together, we could accomplish a lot."

Ms. Menzies says interest is so great they've had to turn away volunteers in Los Angeles. She plans brainstorming sessions to consider how to build on this year's national experience.

In Boston, they were hoping for a bigger turnout. They passed out cards announcing the event to shelters and social service agencies, but for many homeless, getting around the city isn't easy.

So at the end of the day, volunteers packed up the remaining items to transport them directly to community shelters. "Some volunteers also gave packages to homeless individuals on the street," says volunteer Shaza Fadel. "So, thankfully to God, we served almost 2,000 low-income and homeless individuals in the Boston area."

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* Jane Lampman is a staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Christian Science Monitor, 19 October 2006, www.csmonitor.com
Copyright © The Christian Science Monitor. For reprint permission please contact lawrenced@csps.com

Youth Views
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The Common Ground News Service - Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are constructive, offer hope and promote dialogue and mutual understanding, to news outlets worldwide. With support from the Norwegian government and the United States Institute of Peace, this news service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the field of conflict transformation.
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Posted by Evelin at November 9, 2006 04:21 PM