Free Republic

CAIR ANNOUNCES $10K VIDEO CONTEST TO PROMOTE MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING Two $5,000 prizes to be awarded for ‘Let the Conversation Begin’ videos (WASHINGTON, D.C., 2/22/2007) – A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today announced an online digital video contest designed to help promote mutual understanding between Muslims and people of other faiths in America and worldwide. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it will offer two $5,000 prizes for videos up to one minute long that are the most effective in promoting interfaith understanding and communicating the contest theme of “Let the Conversation Begin.”

[Parvez Ahmed is board chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. Contact him at pahmed@cair-net.org. ] THE WORLDWIDE FLAP over a series of cartoons published in a Danish newspaper was avoidable had all sides approached the issue with wisdom and restraint. Denmark's Jyllands-Posten published the cartoons depicting Islam's most revered personality, the Prophet Muhammad, in a way that was inaccurate, derogatory and intentionally provocative. Other than demonstrating visceral hatred toward Islam, the cartoons achieved little else. Muslim outrage over the cartoons has lead to boycotts of Danish products across much of...

A month ago, members of Silicon Valley's Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities gathered in downtown San Jose to observe the Catholic feast of Saint Francis, the Protestant and ecumenical celebration of World Communion, the Jewish New Year and the beginning of Ramadan. We listened as the bells of St. Joseph's Basilica tolled, a shofar sounded and the prayers for breaking Ramadan's first day of fasting were recited. Then we ate together, many of us embracing, each of us welcoming the humanity in the other and blessing one another in the name of our common God.The interfaith circle downtown was a...

Washington, DC -- Political disputes and not religion, begat violence, says John Esposito, a widely respected American professor and author on the Islamic world, known for his moderate views on Islam. Esposito was awarded Pakistan's highest civilhonor, the Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam, at the Pakistani embassy in Washington. "Prof. Esposito has done more than any other individual in the last three or four decades to promote a better understanding between the Islamic and Western worlds," said Pakistan's ambassador Jehangir Karamat. Esposito used the award ceremony to urge people living in the two worlds to make a better effort towards understanding each other. He...