Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

PRESS RELEASE
March 23, 2011, Dallas, Texas

Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

The world Muslim Congress strongly condemns the attack on the bus in Jerusalem as well as the resumption of the rocket attacks on the civilian population. We pray for God’s blessing for the victims and their families.

“It is the responsibility of the Palestinians to speak out and stand up against the few who are tarnishing the peace process” Mike Ghouse, President of the World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism adds; “please find the individuals who are responsible for this horrendous crime and bring justice to the victims and their families. They are your real enemies and are bent on destroying the future of your children by their irresponsible malicious acts”.

Killing one human being is like killing the whole humanity, says the Torah and Quraan and its corollary, and saving one life is like saving the whole humanity. And both Muslims and Jews have to listen to God, there is wisdom in it.

I ask the Israelis to arrest the temptation to take revenge, only the one with power can stop the cycle, and let terrorism not force you out the path of peace and make you mirror them.”

Mike Ghouse

World Muslim congress

Foundation for Pluralism

2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234

Email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com

(214) 325-1916

Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

PRESS RELEASE
March 23, 2011, Dallas, Texas

Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

The world Muslim Congress strongly condemns the attack on the bus in Jerusalem as well as the resumption of the rocket attacks on the civilian population. We pray for God’s blessing for the victims and their families.

“It is the responsibility of the Palestinians to speak out and stand up against the few who are tarnishing the peace process” Mike Ghouse, President of the World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism adds; “please find the individuals who are responsible for this horrendous crime and bring justice to the victims and their families. They are your real enemies and are bent on destroying the future of your children by their irresponsible malicious acts”.

Killing one human being is like killing the whole humanity, says the Torah and Quraan and its corollary, and saving one life is like saving the whole humanity. And both Muslims and Jews have to listen to God, there is wisdom in it.

I ask the Israelis to arrest the temptation to take revenge, only the one with power can stop the cycle, and let terrorism not force you out the path of peace.”

Mike Ghouse

World Muslim congress

Foundation for Pluralism

2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234

Email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com

(214) 325-1916

Rabbi initiates Muslim-Jewish teamwork

Peace is the responsibility of every one, every one needs to pitch in and work for a world of co-existence and hope. I am pleased to read this initiative.

Mike Ghouse

February 6th, 2009
Rabbi wants to bring U.S. Muslim-Jewish teamwork to Europe
Post a commentPosted by: Keith Weir

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/02/06/rabbi-wants-to-bring-us-muslim-jewish-teamwork-to-europe/comment-page-0/#comment-10226

Rabbi Marc Schneier, a New York Jewish leader who has helped to build bridges with American Muslims, is planning to bring his campaign to Europe to help ease the anger fed by bloodshed in Gaza. “In the light of the recent conflict in Gaza, Jewish-Muslim tensions have been exacerbated,” Schneier, vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, told Reuters during a recent visit to London. “We have seen a rise, I would say an exponential growth in anti-Semitic attacks, rhetoric coming from the Muslim world. We cannot allow for Islamic fundamentalism to grow.”

(Photo: Rabbi Marc Schneier/FFEU)
Schneier helped to bring together thousands of Jews and Muslims across America last November in an initiative in which 50 mosques were twinned with 50 synagogues over a weekend. Jews and Muslims worked together in community projects, formed study groups and got a better understanding of each other’s faith. They publicised this in the short video below and a full-page ad in the New York Times available here in PDF.

An eloquent and persuasive speaker, Schneier has advocated closer links between Jewish and Afro-American communities through the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, where he has worked with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

Schneier feels there is a need for action at the grass-roots level to help heal the rift between Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe. He is planning to repeat his ”Weekend of Twinning” this November and wants to extend it to Britain from North America. “Jewish-Muslim relations are a great concern here in Europe, so we wanted to bring this programme across the Atlantic,” he said.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews told me they were very interested in the project and wanted to develop it here, building on their own linking programme. However, the climate is not easy. Israel’s invasion of Gaza in which more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed has sparked fresh tensions between the two groups in Europe.

An umbrella group of French Jewish groups last week asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy to ensure that authorities do more to stem a rise in anti-Jewish crime. Britain has also seen protests over Israel’s campaign.

(Photo: Pro-Palestinian protesters in Paris, 24 Jan 2009/Gonzalo Fuentes)
Schneier dismissed concerns that members of close-knit Muslim communities in European countries such as Britain and France would be harder to reach than their counterparts in the United States, who tend to be better integrated into U.S. life.

“The challenge here is more of a language barrier than a social or cultural barrier. What we did in North America wasn’t an easy task either. There was much hesitation on both sides,” he said. “I see around the world there are pockets of moderation emerging within Islam. We cannot spurn the hands of the moderates in the Muslim world.”

Schneier’s initiative seems to be working in the United States, but can it be transplanted to Europe? We’d like to hear your comments here.

HR 34 : Are we pleasing the lobbyists or the people?

HR 34 : Are we pleasing the lobbyists or the people?
HR 34 : Are we pleasing the lobbyists or the people?The question is about the House Resolution 34 which “barely mentions the human suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.”We are the most powerful nation on the earth and Israel is the most powerful nation in the Middle East, both of us can decide whatever we want. Who will question us?

Continued: http://www.mikeghouse.net/Articles/House-Resolution-34-Congressman-Ellison.asp

Take action on Gaza

CAIR ACTION ALERT #559

Action: 10 Steps You Can Take to Help Gaza

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/5/2009) - CAIR today outlined 10 positive, pro-active steps American Muslims and other people of conscience can take this week to help end Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, restore the cease-fire and the flow of humanitarian aid and promote a more balanced U.S. policy in the Middle East.

SEE: Gaza Hospital Overwhelmed By Dead, Wounded (AP)SEE ALSO:
CNN Israel Broke Gaza Cease-Fire
For live coverage from Gaza, click here.

ACTIONS REQUESTED:
1. Take part in the upcoming 'Let Gaza Live' National March on Washington, beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 10, in Lafayette Park outside the White House. Click here for more information.

Also take part in local peace rallies. Contact your nearest CAIR chapter to ask about local events.

2. Visit your elected representatives during the upcoming “Day on the Hill” in Washington, D.C., sponsored by a coalition of major Islamic organizations. Contact 202-384-8857 for advice on meeting with legislators.

3. Visit the local offices of your elected representatives to talk with them about the need for a more balanced Mideast policy. Use CAIR’s “Legislative Fact Sheet” on the Gaza crisis.
You can also learn how to arrange to meet elected officials and best practices for meeting with your representatives on CAIR's website.

4. Write or call President Bush and members of Congress.

Talking points:

Israeli attacks block efforts to bring peace with justice to the Middle East, harm our nation’s image and interests worldwide and strengthen voices of extremism in the region.
The Palestinian people must be given some hope of freedom from Israeli occupation and domination.

Israel’s immoral and illegal collective punishment of the Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip must end.

America must support a just and comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that takes into account the rights and responsibilities of all parties.

American taxpayer dollars should not be used to for weapons that kill Palestinian civilians.
Ask your elected officials to adopt an even-handed Middle East policy that is in our nation’s - not Israel’s - interest.

Contact President George W. Bush: White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111, Fax: 202-456-2461, E-Mail: comments@whitehouse.gov,

vice_president@whitehouse.gov
Contact Your Congressional Representatives: U.S. Senators and House of Representatives

5. Contact President-Elect Obama to ask that he speak out now in favor of a more balanced and pro-American policy in the Middle East that takes the rights of all parties to the conflict into consideration.
Contact the Obama administration transition team here.

6. Sign CAIR’s online petition urging our nation's leaders to speak "in favor of peace and justice for all parties in the current humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip." When completed, the petition will be sent to elected officials nationwide and will be given to members of the current and incoming administrations.

7. Use Friday prayers to educate members of the Muslim community about the plight of the civilian population in Gaza and the need for a balanced Mideast policy, a cease-fire and the resumption of humanitarian relief. Urge community members to take the actions outlined in this alert.

8. Monitor local media coverage of the Gaza crisis. Contact those media outlets to either praise balanced coverage or to criticize biased coverage. Call in to radio talk shows and write letters to the editor to express your views. To find local and national media contact information, click here.
Post comments on media websites and blogs that discuss the crisis. Begin your own blog and link to other sites that support a balanced American policy in the region. Start a free blog at: http://www.blogger.com

Use social media tools such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, or Flickr to make your views known and to share your views with like-minded individuals and groups.

9. Organize meetings between Muslim and interfaith community leaders and members of your local newspaper’s editorial board.

To meet with a newspaper editorial board:
If possible, gather evidence of any media bias in the newspaper. (Also look for examples of positive, balanced coverage.) Save one-sided news articles or video clips. Record talk shows.

Follow a newspaper’s editorial position.
Build a coalition of local leaders.
Plan for the meeting.
Get together for a strategizing session and assign duties.
Present your case. Be clear about goals. Stick to your points.

Conclude with specific a request for more balanced coverage and input from those who support peace with justice in the region.

Follow-up. Send a letter outlining agreements reached.

Contact CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper for more information on coordinating a meeting with an editorial board or contacting media outlets. Call 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, e-mail: ihooper@cair.com

10. Contact the State Department to call for action in defense of Gaza's civilian population. Call 202-647-4000 and ask for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs or click here.