Holocaust and Genocides

5th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides in Dallas

2012-01-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

The 5th Annual reflection on Holocaust and Genocides was held on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at Unity Church of Dallas in Texas.

Education was the purpose; we have to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other, and we have to understand that our safety and security hinges on the safety of all others around us.

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. Shame on us that we justifying massacres by believing and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it.

We sincerely the following understanding continues to develop in our hearts;

Other people's suffering is as legitimate as mine; It is easy to see ourselves as Victims, but we must also see the perpetrator in us; when we strip the politics out of a conflict, we see hope; We can value others suffering without lessening our own; the overriding desire to highlight our own blinds us from other's suffering. A sense of responsibility for creating a better world is awakened ultimately co-existence and every one's safety and peace should be the driving thought.

To all those, who have endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, we say you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and a single humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day; we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human, yes, we can do that.

Mike Ghouse is the founder of this event and is committed to building a cohesive America, where no Americans has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer and offers pluralistic solutions on current issues. His work is listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides 2012

2011-10-01T17:25:00.001-07:00

5th Annual Reflections on
Holocaust and Genocides
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Sunday, January 22, 2012
Unity Church of Dallas, 6525 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230
Rsvp to: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com

A 5th Annual reflection on Holocaust and Genocides is planned for Sunday, January 22, 2012 to learn about human tragedy. It is comprehensive event where all human failings, massacres, genocides and Holocaust will be addressed in one fashion or the other.

Education is the purpose; we have to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other, and to we have to understand that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us.

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. Shame on us that we justifying massacres by believing and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it.

We sincerely hope the attendees will walk out with the following understanding:

Other people’s suffering is as legitimate as mine;
It is easy to see ourselves as Victims, but we must also see the perpetrator in us;
When we strip the politics out of a conflict, we see hope;
We can value others suffering without lessening our own;
The overriding desire to highlight our own blinds us from other’s suffering.
A sense of responsibility for creating a better world is awakened
ultimately co-existence and every one's safety and peace should be the driving thought.

We invite sponsors, facilitators, speakers, writers from individuals and organizations to make this happen. It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies, where justice and co-existence are our values.

To all those, who have endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, we say you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and a single humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day; we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human, yes, we can do that.

Every organization that is willing to subscribe to the idea of co-existence is invited to participate, sponsor, and volunteer. We invite you to submit a 500 word abstract on the issue that agonize you, please offer your solutions with co-existence in mind in another 100 words. No one will be excluded.

Please send an email to: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

Mike Ghouse, Chairperson
Conference on Holocaust and Genocides and
V Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides.
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

Moment of Silence

2011-09-18T04:46:00.000-07:00

Moment of Silence
by EMMANUEL ORTIZ, 11 Sep 2002

Before I start this poem, I'd like to ask you to join me
In a moment of silence
In honour of those who died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
last September 11th.

I would also like to ask you
To offer up a moment of silence
For all of those who have been harassed, imprisoned, disappeared,
tortured, raped, or killed in retaliation for those strikes,
For the victims in both Afghanistan and the US

And if I could just add one more thing...

A full day of silence
For the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died at the hands of
US-backed Israeli forces over decades of occupation. Six months of
silence for the million and-a-half Iraqi people, mostly children, who
have died of malnourishment or starvation as a result of an 11-year US
embargo against the country.

Before I begin this poem,

Two months of silence for the Blacks under Apartheid in South Africa,
Where homeland security made them aliens in their own country.
Nine months of silence for the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Where death rained down and peeled back every layer of concrete, steel,
earth and skin
And the survivors went on as if alive.
A year of silence for the millions of dead in Vietnam - a people, not a
war - for those who know a thing or two about the scent of burning fuel,
their relatives' bones buried in it, their babies born of it.
A year of silence for the dead in Cambodia and Laos, victims of a secret
war .... ssssshhhhh.... Say nothing ... we don't want them to learn that
they are dead.
Two months of silence for the decades of dead in Colombia,
Whose names, like the corpses they once represented, have piled up and
slipped off our tongues.

Before I begin this poem.

An hour of silence for El Salvador ...
An afternoon of silence for Nicaragua ...
Two days of silence for the Guatemaltecos ...
None of whom ever knew a moment of peace in their living years.
45 seconds of silence for the 45 dead at Acteal, Chiapas
25 years of silence for the hundred million Africans who found their
graves far deeper in the ocean than any building could poke into the sky.
There will be no DNA testing or dental records to identify their remains.
And for those who were strung and swung from the heights of sycamore
trees in the south, the north, the east, and the west...

100 years of silence...

For the hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples from this half of
right here,
Whose land and lives were stolen,
In postcard-perfect plots like Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek,
Fallen Timbers, or the Trail of Tears.
Names now reduced to innocuous magnetic poetry on the refrigerator of
our consciousness ...

So you want a moment of silence?
And we are all left speechless
Our tongues snatched from our mouths
Our eyes stapled shut
A moment of silence
And the poets have all been laid to rest
The drums disintegrating into dust.

Before I begin this poem,
You want a moment of silence
You mourn now as if the world will never be the same
And the rest of us hope to hell it won't be.
Not like it always has been.

Because this is not a 9/11 poem.
This is a 9/10 poem,
It is a 9/9 poem,
A 9/8 poem,
A 9/7 poem
This is a 1492 poem.

This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written.
And if this is a 9/11 poem, then:
This is a September 11th poem for Chile, 1971.
This is a September 12th poem for Steven Biko in South Africa, 1977.
This is a September 13th poem for the brothers at Attica Prison, New
York, 1971.

This is a September 14th poem for Somalia, 1992.

This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground in ashes
This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told
The 110 stories that history chose not to write in textbooks
The 110 stories that CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and Newsweek ignored.
This is a poem for interrupting this program.

And still you want a moment of silence for your dead?
We could give you lifetimes of empty:
The unmarked graves
The lost languages
The uprooted trees and histories
The dead stares on the faces of nameless children
Before I start this poem we could be silent forever
Or just long enough to hunger,
For the dust to bury us
And you would still ask us
For more of our silence.

If you want a moment of silence
Then stop the oil pumps
Turn off the engines and the televisions
Sink the cruise ships
Crash the stock markets
Unplug the marquee lights,
Delete the instant messages,
Derail the trains, the light rail transit.

If you want a moment of silence, put a brick through the window of Taco
Bell,
And pay the workers for wages lost.
Tear down the liquor stores,
The townhouses, the White Houses, the jailhouses, the Penthouses and the
Playboys.

If you want a moment of silence,
Then take it
On Super Bowl Sunday,
The Fourth of July
During Dayton's 13 hour sale
Or the next time your white guilt fills the room where my beautiful
people have gathered.

You want a moment of silence
Then take it NOW,
Before this poem begins.
Here, in the echo of my voice,
In the pause between goosesteps of the second hand,
In the space between bodies in embrace,
Here is your silence.
Take it.
But take it all... Don't cut in line.
Let your silence begin at the beg

inning of crime.
But we,
Tonight we will keep right on singing...
For our dead.

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org

The Muslims Who Saved The Jews

2011-07-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Muslims Who Saved The Jews

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112384539

Host Liane Hansen speaks with photographer Norman Gershman about his book Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II, which is also the subject of a documentary called God's House. Greshman spent five years collecting stories of Albanian Muslims who harbored Jewish refugees during World War II.

Hear it on media player - http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=112384539&m=112384514

LIANE HANSEN, host:

During the Nazi occupation of Albania and Kosovo during the second World War, Jews facing persecution and death had a small group of seemingly unlikely allies - Muslims. Sixty-five people managed to save some 2,000 Jews, and have been honored by the Jewish Holocaust Memorial as righteous among nations.

Photographer Norman Gershman spent five years taking photos of them and collecting their stories. They've been published in a new book, "Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II." Mr. Gershman joins us from Aspen Public Radio in Colorado. Welcome.

Mr. NORMAN GERSHMAN (Photographer, "Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II"): Thank you and thank you having me.

HANSEN: First the title, "Besa," what does it mean?

Mr. GERSHMAN: Well, Besa is a tradition of the Albanian people and it goes back thousands of years. It's more than just a welcoming, it's their code of honor. And if one comes into one's besa, they would literally lay their lives down for you - friends or enemies.

HANSEN: You have a wonderful photograph on page four of baba.

Mr. GERSHMAN: The baba, yes.

HANSEN: The baba. Tell us about him.

Mr. GERSHMAN: The baba is the head of the Bektashi. The Bektashi is the most liberal form of Shiites. And I'm quoting from the book, "We Bektashis see God everywhere in everyone. God is in every pore and every cell, therefore, all are God's children. There cannot be infidels. There cannot be discrimination. If one sees the good face, one is seeing the face of God. God is beauty. Beauty is God. There is no God but God."

And under the Nazi occupation, the foreign minister of Albania was a Bektashi. And he sent out a secret message to all Bektashi that the Jewish children will sleep in the same bed as your children. The Jewish children will eat the same food as your children. The Jewish children will be your family.

HANSEN: There are so many acts of courage and creativity in this book. A doctor, for example, bandaged the face of one Jewish man and kept him safe in his infirmary. And sometimes an entire village became a shelter for Jews who were fleeing the persecution. On page 70, tell us about Yakov Kasari(ph).

Mr. GERSHMAN: Well, he is the person that rescued this family. There were Jews living in their village. He took them into hiding in the mountains of Albania because the Germans moving in were threatening to burn the Jews alive.

I mean, he says: I am proud to be recognized by the state of Israel as a righteous person. We have been family of Muslims for 500 years. Besa came from the Quran. The Jews and Muslims of Albania are cousins. We both bury our dead in coffins. I salute all the Jews. May they be honored with their homeland, because the Jews are still at war and need to be remembered. I drain my glass of Raki to honor all my Jewish friends.

And this is very typical. One family said there is no Besa without the Quran. There is no Quran without Besa.

HANSEN: The son of one of the Muslims is photographed with three books in Hebrew. And I think that tells both stories, both about the communist Albania, as well as, you know, the fact that a lot of these families were unable to reunite after the war.

Mr. GERSHMAN: Yes.

HANSEN: His name is Rifat, I believe. And…

Mr. GERSHMAN: Rifat Hoxha.

HANSEN: Yeah. Tell us his story.

Mr. GERSHMAN: It's a wonderful story. His father was given these three books to keep until after the war when they would return to get their books back. And these books are prayer books - he didn't know what they were. And he felt this - his father gave him this obligation to return these books to the rightful owners. He had no way of doing it. He had never been out of Albania. What can he do? Can I help him?

And we ultimately found Aaron(ph), the 10-year-old son now in his '70s. We found him in Israel. And we brought Rifat Hoxga with the three Hebrew books to Israel to return these books to him. And while Rifat was in Israel, he was given a Quran. So, here, Rifat is going back to Albania with the Quran and Aaron has these three Hebrew books.

HANSEN: What effect did this project have on you?

Mr. GERSHMAN: Listen, I photograph with my heart. In this particular case, clearly I'm a Jew. I'm a lay Jew. But I also have studied over the years with the Sufis. And the Sufis, those are the mystical side of Islam. The Islam I know is the Islam of beauty, of music, of dance, of poetry. I don't recognize this Islam that I read about in the papers. So it was a journey that I did with my heart. And it just reinforces that there are more good people in the world, far more good people in the world than terrorist or terrorist sympathizers.

There are well over a billion Muslims. They're good people. Unfortunately, in the media you rarely read or hear about the good people. I found the good people in Albania.

HANSEN: Photographer Norman Gershman. His book "Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II" is published by Syracuse University Press. Mr. Gershman joined us from the studios of Aspen Public Radio. Thank you very much.

Mr. GERSHMAN: Thank you, Liane.

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Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides 2012

2011-07-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

5th Annual Reflections on

Holocaust and Genocides
5;00 PM, Sunday, January 22, 2012

A 5th Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is planned for Sunday, January 22, 2012 to learn about human tragedy. It is comprehensive event where all human failings, massacres, genocides and Holocaust will be addressed in one fashion or the other.

Education is the purpose; we have to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other, and to we have to understand that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us.

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or some how it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. Shame on us that we justifying massacres by believing and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it.

We sincerely hope the attendees will walk out with the following understanding:

1. Other people’s suffering is as legitimate as mine;
2. It is easy to see ourselves as Victims, but we must also see the perpetrator in us;
3. When we strip the politics out of a conflict, we see hope;
4. We can value others suffering without lessening our own;
5. The overriding desire to highlight our own blinds us from other’s suffering.
6. A sense of responsibility for creating a better world is awakened

7. Ultimately co-existence and every one's safety and peace should be the driving thought.

We invite sponsors, facilitaors, speakers, writers from individuasl and organizations to make this happen. It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies, where justice and co-existence are our values.

To all those, who have endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, we say you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and a single humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day; we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human, yes, we can do that.

Every organization that is willing to subscribe to the idea of co-existence is invited to participate, sponsor, and volunteer. We invite you to submit a 500 word abstract on the issue that agonize you, please offer your solutions with co-existence in mind in another 100 words. No one will be excluded.

Please send an email to: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

Mike Ghouse, Chairperson
Conference on Holocaust and Genocides and
V Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides.
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

Chief Rabbi Lau & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Meet!

2011-07-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau is a tall man who brightens any room with his Torah depth and stature. He is viewed as a someone who has achieved wondrous feats! From surviving the Holocaust and continuing on the Rabbinic dynasty that he hails from, to serving as the Chief Rabbi of Israel and now Tel Avivhe remains a legendary figure to all of Jewry.
On the complete opposite spectrum stands the legendary Lakers Center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Born Ferdinand Lewis Lew Alcindor, Jr., he had a prolific college and NBA career becoming one of the best basketball players of all time. In 1971 Lew Alcindor converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. To the naked eye it would seem that the only thing he shares in common with Rabbi Lau is that they are both luminous figures.

And yet, these two menone a Jew and another a Muslimare eagerly looking forward to meeting one another this July in Israel!

Why?

The former NBA star is making a film about none other than World War II, and will honor the final wish of his father. You see, Ferdinand L. Alcindor Sr., had one dying wish. He requested that his son visit Israel and meet the little boy that he personally rescued from Buchenwald and turned into a prominent Rabbi. This Rabbi is none other than Rabbi Lau!

Indeed, Rabbi Lau, who also serves as chairman of the Council of Yad Vashem remarked that, the fact that such a famous basketball player, and a Muslim, is about to attach himself to the Holocaust issue is very exciting. I will certainly give my blessing to this initiative.

Rabbi Lau said he clearly remembers how an African American solider came up to him during the liberation, picked him up, and told the residents of the German city of Weimer: Look at this sweet kid, he isnt even eight yet. This was your enemy, he threatened the Third Reich. He is the one against whom you waged war, and murdered millions like him.

As someone who grew up in Los Angeles and followed the Lakers, I never thought Id see these two figures mentioned in the same sentencelet alone meeting in The Holy Land! However, after reading about what Mr. Abdul-Jabbar intends to do with his film and his visit, I look forward to seeing these two legends of their respective fields work towards educating the world about the horrors of the Holocaust.

Muslim Speaker Mike Ghouse

2011-04-14T19:41:00.001-07:00

NURTURING PLURALISTIC VALUES EMBEDDED IN ISLAM

A Muslim Speaker, thinker, organizer and an activist committed to building cohesive societies with a belief that what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world and vice versa to sustain peace, harmony and prosperity.

To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence of humanity. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; Life and Matter. Over 1000 articles have been published on a range of topics in Islam and Pluralism. Insha Allah, a book outlining the Muslim vision is on the horizon.

In defense of Islam, pursuing a civil dialogue

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece

Over and over you hear it said: If Muslims oppose terrorism, why don't they stand up and say it?

If that has been you, Mike Ghouse ought to be your hero.

It is hard to imagine that anyone has worked harder than the Carrollton resident to demonstrate the peaceful and moderate side of Islam.

And that effort includes personally visiting Dallas' First Baptist Church last Sunday just to put a friendly face on the "evil, evil religion" that the Rev. Robert Jeffress denounced a few weeks before.

"It was wonderful," Ghouse said of the visit. "We were so warmly received."
He hopes a quick chat with Jeffress will be the start of deeper discussion about Islam and the importance of respect between religions.

"I want to have a dialogue with him, not to say he is wrong but to share another point of view," Ghouse said.

The 57-year-old Muslim was born in India and has lived in the United States for 30 years. He owns a small property management firm. But most of his day is devoted to building bridges between people of different faiths.

"It is my passion," he said in his distinctive raspy voice.

He has been a guest a dozen times on Sean Hannity's TV and radio talk shows. "I don't like the way Sean cuts me off, but I have to honor him for giving the American public a semblance of another point of view."

Ghouse said he can understand fear and criticism of Islam because he went through a time of similar feelings. As a teen, he was troubled by passages of the Quran. He called himself an atheist for a while.

But he said deeper study led him to realize the Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history.

In the Middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders.

Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.

"It was all for politics," he said.
Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.

"If he can, I will convert. I will join his church," Ghouse said. "If he can't, I will call on him to retract his statements and become a peacemaker."

Ghouse acknowledges that deep problems persist within Islam. "Three steps forward, two steps back," he said with a sigh.

And he agrees that mainstream Muslims have not done enough to counter violent images of their faith.

"That is very true," he said. "But part of it is that many Muslims have given up hope that we will ever be heard."

He said repeated denunciations of terrorism seem to fall on deaf ears.

And some efforts have backfired - like the proposed Islamic information center in New York. He said it should be hailed for furthering the moderate Muslim cause.
Instead, it has deepened hostility toward Muslims.

I have been astounded by the amount of anti-Islam propaganda that circulates via e-mail. Tons of it has come my way in the last few weeks.

One theme is that people like Mike Ghouse can't be trusted, that Islam encourages deception.

But Ghouse says actions speak louder than words. And he points to elections in Muslim nations.

More than half of Muslims live in countries with some degree of democracy. And time and time again, Islamist parties are overwhelmingly rejected in favor of secular, mainstream parties.

"The religious parties don't get more than 3 percent of the vote," Ghouse said.
Polls show deep mistrust of Muslims. "But the most important question in those surveys is: 'Do you know anything about Islam?' " Ghouse said. "Most people say no."
What keeps him going is faith in Americans, he said.

"The majority of Americans, if they know the truth, they will change their minds."

# # #

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer, thinker, futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Islam, India and Civil Societies passionately offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

He is a commentator at Fox News on the Hannity show, nationally syndicated Radio shows along with Dallas TV, Print and Radio networks and occasional interviews on NPR. He has spoken at international forums including the Parliament of Worlds Religions in Melbourne, Middle East Peace initiative in Jerusalem, International Leadership conference in Hawaii, Washington and elsewhere.

Concerned by the divisiveness, he saw the need to bring Americans together and founded America Together Foundation committed to building a cohesive America, indeed it is in response to ACT America which is bent on pitching one American against the other. We will be holding series of educational programs, conferences and workshops to address the issues that divide us such as Civil Right, GLBT, Quraan, Abortion, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racial Profiling and Stereotyping.

The Annual Unity Day USA is in its 7^th year now, it is a purposeful event to bring Americans together, on this Unity Day, we the people of the United States of America of every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background will gather to express our commitment to co-existence, unity, prosperity and wellbeing of our nation.

Thanksgiving Celebration is in its 15^th year showcasing cultural diversity.

The 5^th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and commit to avert such tragedies. Through this event non-Jewish people have consciously learned about Holocaust for the first time, it was also for the first time that people of 14 faiths came together to join in to commemorate the Holocaust that commemorated within the Jewish Community for years. They are not alone anymore in their anguish, we are all in it together with them, and it is a Muslim initiative to effect a positive change.

The programs, seminars and workshops conducted by the Foundation for Pluralism have become a part of the America Together Foundation. While the Foundation for Pluralism continues championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, the commitment to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress continues.

# # #

Fuller Profile is at: http://www.mikeghouse.net/MuslimSpeaker.MikeGhouse.asp

Mike is working on two books scheduled to be released this year; The American Muslim Agenda and My Journey to Pluralism.

Mike has written over 1000 Articles on Pluralism, Islam, India, Peace & Justice and civil societies published in a wide spectrum of Newspapers and Magazines around the world.

Locally, he is a panelist at Dallas Morning News's and writes weekly on a range of issues facing the nation. Washington Post, Huffington Post and other news papers and sites regularly publish his work.

Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars, workshops or conferences. His work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/

IV Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

2010-12-30T20:46:00.000-08:00

Stereotyping and cohesivness
Join us at 6:00 PM on Thursday night
at Unity Church, Forest Ln in Dallas, TX 75230
A casual gathering.
You are cordially invited, its free
-------------------------

Holocaust and Genocides

6:00 PM Thursday, January 27, 2011

Unity Church of Dallas

2625 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230

The 4th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is set for January 27, 2011.

This particular date was adopted by the sixtieth session of the United Nations on November 21, 2005, “Resolves that the United Nations will designate 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.”

In the past, the events were scheduled on Sundays to accommodate Jewish community’s presence, however this year the date falls on Thursday, a non-Sabbath day and hence the event on Thursday evening.

We are deeply committed to education and relentlessly pursuing to build cohesive societies and we hope to create a model for the world to emulate.

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away from facing or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. We cannot justify massacres arrogantly believing that the victims deserved it or asked for it.

We have to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and have to commit to ourselves to resist the temptations to be prejudiced and stereotype others. We cannot demand peace unless we are peaceful ourselves.

Our safety hinges on the safety of others around us, and it behooves us to work for the safety and security of others on this little planet. We have to be continuously aware of the Holocaust and Genocides and prepare us to avert such tragedies.

SUMMARY
What: Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
Theme: Stereotyping and its effects on Societies
Where: Unity Church of Dallas
Program: 6:000 - 8:30 PM,
When: Thursday, January 27, 2010
Address: 2625 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX. 75230
RSVP: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com

Detail of Past events at: http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

Supporting Organizations:
Dallas Peace Center,
Universal Peace Federation

It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies, where justice and co-existence are our values.

To all those, who have endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, we say we share your fears and apprehensions.

The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and a single humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day; we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human, yes, we can do that.

Bringing people to understand the suffering of people has been my personal drive, I must say that through this program, many a non-Jewish people have come to understand about Holocaust for the first time. You can see pictures people from Atheist to Zoroastrians and every one in between has been a part of this event. And every one has shared a prayer in the events. We have to create the awarness to get people to become activits and speak up and say Never again.

Mike Ghouse for a cohesive America
Chair, America Together Foundation
(214) 325-1916
Conference on Holocaust and Genocides and
IV Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides.
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

4th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

2010-12-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

You are cordially invited to the 4^th Annual Reflections on

Holocaust and Genocides

The 4th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is set for Thursday, January 27, 2011.

This particular date was adopted by the sixtieth session of the United Nations on November 21, 2005, “Resolves that the United Nations will designate 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.”

In the past, the events were scheduled on Sundays to accommodate Jewish community’s presence, however this year the date falls on Thursday, a non-Sabbath day and hence the event on Thursday evening.

We are deeply committed to education and relentlessly pursuing to build cohesive societies and we hope to create a model for the world to emulate.

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away from facing or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. We cannot justify massacres arrogantly believing that the victims deserved it or asked for it.

We have to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and have to commit to ourselves to resist the temptations to be prejudiced and stereotype others. We cannot demand peace unless we are peaceful ourselves.

Our safety hinges on the safety of others around us, and it behooves us to work for the safety and security of others on this little planet. We have to be continuously aware of the Holocaust and Genocides and prepare us to avert such tragedies.

SUMMARY
What: Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
Where: Unity Church of Dallas
Meet & Greet: 6:00 - 6:30 - Refreshement
Program: 6:30 - 8:30 PM,
When: Thursday, January 27, 2010
Address: 2625 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX. 75230
RSVP email: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com
Detail of Past events at: www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

We sincerely hope the attendees will walk out with the following understanding:

1. When we strip the politics out of a conflict, we see hope;

2. We can value others’ suffering without lessening our own;

3. We can respect other people’s suffering as legitimate as our own;

4. The desire to highlight our suffering blinds us from other’s suffering;

5. We can see ourselves as Victims without seeing the perpetrator in us;

6. A sense of responsibility for creating a better world is awakened;

7. Ultimately co-existence and every one's safety and peace should be the driving thought, peace and safety are always a two way street.

It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies, where justice and co-existence are our values.

To all those, who have endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, we say you are not alone.

The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and a single humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day; we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human, yes, we can do that.

Every organization that is willing to subscribe to the idea of co-existence is invited to participate, sponsor, and volunteer. We invite you to submit a 250 word note on the issue that agonize you and offer your solutions with co-existence in mind.

Please send an email to: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

OUR PROGRAMS

1. Unityday USA - 7th Annual Event

2. Thanksgiving Celebrations - 14th Annual Event

3. Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides - 4th Annual Event

4. Qur'aan Conference - 1st Year

5. Conference on Homosexuality issues in 2011

6. Conference on Anti-Semitism -- 2011

7. Conference on Stereotyping -- 2011

8. Conference on Peace and Justice - -- 2011

9. Similar programs in Louisville, Atlanta & Houston are being lined up.

Mike Ghouse for a cohesive America
Chair, America Together
(214) 325-1916
Conference on Holocaust and Genocides and
IV Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides.
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

Conference on Holocaust and Genocides

2010-02-24T11:43:00.000-08:00

A comprehensive conference on

Holocaust and GenocidesWednesday, January 24, 2010

A full day conference is planned for Wednesday, January 26, 2011 to include and discuss every human tragedy. Perhaps, this would be a 2nd public comprehensive event where all human failings, massacres, genocides and Holocaust will be addressed in one fashion or the other, the first such event was the III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides.

Education is the purpose; we have to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other, and to we have to understand that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us.

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or some how it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. Shame on us that we justifying massacres by believing and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it.

We sincerely hope the attendees will walk out with the following understanding:

1. Other people’s suffering is as legitimate as mine;
2. It is easy to see ourselves as Victims, but we must also see the perpetrator in us;
3. When we strip the politics out of a conflict, we see hope;
4. We can value others suffering without lessening our own;
5. The overriding desire to highlight our own blinds us from other’s suffering.
6. A sense of responsibility for creating a better world is awakened

7. Ultimately co-existence and every one's safety and peace should be the driving thought.

We invite sponsors, facilitaors, speakers, writers from individuasl and organizations to make this happen. It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies, where justice and co-existence are our values.

To all those, who have endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, we say you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and a single humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day; we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human, yes, we can do that.

Every organization that is willing to subscribe to the idea of co-existence is invited to participate, sponsor, and volunteer. We invite you to submit a 500 word abstract on the issue that agonize you, please offer your solutions with co-existence in mind in another 100 words. No one will be excluded.

Please send an email to: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

Mike Ghouse, Chairperson
Conference on Holocaust and Genocides and
IV Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides.
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

~ ~~

SMU Program to explore Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission

2010-02-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

SMU Program to explore Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission

Dallas Morning News 4:05 PM Thu, Feb 18, 2010
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/02/program-at-smu-to-explore-texa.html
Details below the update

UPDATE ON THE EVENT AT SMU
Mike Ghouse

The panel at the program last night included Hon. Senator Shapiro, Hon. Peter Berkowitz, Dr. Amy Fisher-Smith, Dr. Elliott Dlin and a few other good hearted people.

I want to laud the effort of Senators Rodney Ellis and Florence Shapiro for getting the legislation to pass the Texas Holocaust and Genocides commission and thank every one involved to make this happen.

The panel at the program last night included Hon. Senator Shapiro, Hon. Peter Berkowitz, Dr. Amy Fisher-Smith, Dr. Elliott Dlin and a few other leaders of the community.

Senator Florence Shapiro is a rare politician who took the question of Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk head on; when asked about the investors and corporations who have a vested interest in the continuance of the conflicts; she responded by the divestment measures taken and that can be taken on the investment of public funds.

Peter Berkowitz addressed my question of Stereotyping squarely, and I admire him for that. When I mentioned to him that preventing Genocides and Holocaust is the responsibility of whole humanity and Muslims have not only taken part in human rights issues but are seriously involved in educating Dallas Public, across the board in general and Muslims in particular for years by reflecting on Holocaust and Genocides. They are in the forefront in criticizing Holocaust deniers and including every human tragedy in their presentations. As a commissioner, Mr. Berkowitz fulfilled his responsibility when he said, the Houston Holocaust Board is all inclusive and has members from many communities, and mentioned about the area in the Museum that displays how Muslims have gone out of their way in protecting Jews during the Holocaust. He said, removal of stereotyping is the way to go. Sir, I commend you for that and all the other good things you shared tonight. To me, a Pluralist who is committed to contributing his share towards inclusive societies, that one single statement of yours was powerful and I am thankful to the people who appointed you to be the commissioner. You have done justice to the job.

A school curriculum is in the making to be more inclusive and those who are concerned must be involved in the states education curriculum development. We are all humans and at times over look a different point of view. To have sustainable peace in societies, we must have inclusive education and you must be part of it. No stone should be left unturned.

I came out of the event with three things; as a human I can be a perpetrator, Victim, a bystander or a solution finder.

Since I have written about this month, a season of peace and non-violence, and have attended all the three events;

1) the III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides, Sunday, Jan 24, 2010
2) the Gay and Lesbian Holocaust March on Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010
3) the SMU/Holocaust Museum/ Memnosyne Foundation on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010

I would just like to point out the wisdom in the inclusion; every one’s safety. As a Muslim my role is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill and I will do my 1/7th billionth (World Population) of my share towards a safer world.

As an individual or as a nation, we need to be aware that we cannot be safe unless the people around us are not safe, we cannot have peace unless people around us don’t have it.

A full day conference is planned for Wednesday, January 26, 2011 to include and discuss every human tragedy, please submit a thoroughly researched 500 word abstract about the event you'd like to discuss to - HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com.

Mike Ghouse, Chair
IV Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

______________________________________________

On Tuesday evening (Feb. 23) at 7 p.m. at SMU's Hughes-Trigg Theater in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, the Dallas Holocaust Museum Center for Education and Tolerance is hosting a special program exploring the role of the newly-established Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission. The program is free and open to the public, and complimentary valet parking is provided.

Thank Goodness the awareness of Holocaust and Genocides is increasing; from one event in 2007 to three events this year;

1) the III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides, Sunday, Jan 24, 2010
2) the Gay and Lesbian Holocaust March on Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010
3) the SMU/Holocaust Museum/ Memnosyne Foundation on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010

Please note that Yom Ha-Shoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, occurs on the 27th of Nissan of Jewish Calendar and has been commemorated by the Jewish community for nearly fifty years the world over.

However the first program on Holocaust and Genocides for the general public took place in 2007, an initiative of American Muslims, striving to build responsible civic societies. The event was prompted by the UN Declaration to commemorate the day.

We hope, more of us would attend these events and learn to reflect upon the terrible things we humans have inflicted upon each other, to bring about a positive change. No community should bear the suffering alone; we all have to stand up, and be there for each other.

A full day conference is planned for Wednesday, January 26, 2011 to include and discuss every human tragedy, please submit a thoroughly researched 500 word abstract about the event you'd like to discuss to - HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com.

Mike Ghouse
www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

PRESS RELEASE AT DALLAS MORNING NEWS
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/02/program-at-smu-to-explore-texa.html

Program at SMU to explore Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission
4:05 PM Thu, Feb 18, 2010 Permalink Yahoo! Buzz
Sam Hodges/Reporter Bio E-mail News tips

The release below gives details on a fast-approaching program at Southern Methodist University:

On Tuesday evening (Feb. 23) at 7 p.m. at SMU's Hughes-Trigg Theater in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center (http://smu.edu/maps/flash/) , the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance (www.dallasholocaustmuseum.org) is hosting a special program exploring the role of the newly-established Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission.

The program is free and open to the public, and complimentary valet parking is provided.

The Commission was established during the last session of the Legislature and signed into law last summer. State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) and State Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) co-sponsored the bill creating the commission, which was passed unanimously.

Texas is the nation's 13th state to establish a commission or council devoted to Holocaust and genocide education. By law, the commission--considered the most important development in Holocaust education in Texas in years--is to help preserve information and experiences of the Holocaust and other genocide events. The commission will also work with organizations, agencies, museums, survivors and liberators to provide information and experiences and to coordinate memorial events in the state.

The SMU program will explore the commission's purpose in a Q&A format moderated by Texas Tribune Editor Evan Smith, formerly president and editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly. The panelists include Senator Shapiro; Peter Berkowitz, a Houston business executive who chairs the commission; Amy Fisher-Smith, an associate professor of psychology at University of Dallas, and a Holocaust educator; and Elliott Dlin, Museum Director of the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance.

Texas is home to several hundred Holocaust survivors, and a few are expected to attend the event, co-sponsored by the Memnosyne Foundation (http://memnosynefoundation.org/) and the SMU Human Rights Program (http://smu.edu/humanrights/)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMENTS, COURTESY OF DALLAS NEWS

Posted by Mike Ghouse @ 2:57 PM Sun, Feb 21, 2010
I am glad to see our state passed the bill to recognize Holocaust and Genocides. I hope Dallasites will take the time to attend the program and learn and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other.

The Jewish community has borne the suffering of the Holocaust for over sixty years; it is time for us to share it. No community should bear the suffering alone; we all have to stand up, and be there for each other.

Thank God the awareness is increasing; from one event in 2006 by the American Muslims, it has grown to three events this year; the III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides on 24th, the Gay and Lesbian commeration on 27th and now this event by the Holocaust Museusm in collobration with the Memnosyne Foundation.
Holocaust was a major human tragedy and a failure of humanity.

And perhaps the first time in our history that we acknowledged the genocides of the indigenous Americans and Native peoples of Americas in a public forum along with other tragedies.

I want to applaud the people of Dallas for attending the event. They were Atheists, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Wicca, Zoroastrians and from sevral ethnicities and nationalities.

It was an educational program, where 7 speakers reflected on 7 topics for 7 minutes each. Then 7 commentators made comments about 7 different situations. The topics ranged from the Holocaust to Genocides, massacres and tragedies.

Among Genocides, Massacres and other tragedies we reflected upon the Indigenous American people such as the Mayans, the Toltecs and the massacres of the Native people right here in Dallas, we touched upon Darfur, Polpot, Congo, Armenia, Rwanda, Falun Dafa, Burma, Tibet, Bosnia, India, Gaza and the transatlantic slave trade. Through these representative events, our goal was to reflect upon every human tragedy. The words do not describe the sufferings of people in full, we have to work with the limited choice of words, but have a big heart to feel the pain and suffering of every human being, not just my people or my tribe, but every one. Let there be one negative energy of suffering that we are part of, together we can work on getting out of it.

There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or some times refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or some how it amounts to infidelity to our own cause, and shame on us for justifying massacres that the victims deserved it or they asked for it.

We learned a few simple things that we can do to prevent such tragedies. It was a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other. We also learned that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us.

We learned to see each other with dignity, and honor the otherness of other. Gatherings such as this offer hope and opportunity for a secure and a safer world.

Of the several acknowledgements, a few notable ones are;

1. other peoples suffering is as legitimate as ours;
2. some one related to us through faith, ethnicity, land mass or race has been a butcher too,
3. it takes courage to see ourselves as perpetrators, while it is easy to ourselves as victims;
4. we can see the light at the end of the tunnel when politics is stripped;
5. we can value others suffering without lessening our own;
6. the overriding desire to highlight my own gets softened, when we value others pain;
7. the sense of responsibility for creating a better world was present in us.

It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies. The event was organized by the Foundation for Pluralism, where co-existence is our value. We appreciate the sponsorship by the Center for Spiritual Living, all the three are Dallas based Organizations.

And to every community that has endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, the least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one room, as one people. We have to teach tolerance and acceptance.

We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and one humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

A full day conference is planned for Wednesday, January 26, 2011 to discuss every human tragedy, please submit a thoroughly researched 500 word abstract about the event you'd like to discuss to -HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

Mike Ghouse, Chair
Holocaust and Genocides
www.holocaustandGenocides.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Matthew Cappiello @ 5:01 PM Sun, Feb 21, 2010
Good to hear about this fantastic initiative!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Len Ellis @ 7:57 PM Sun, Feb 21, 2010
Indeed, more education and information about these tragedies is of utmost importance. Without such, the possibility that these horrific events can occur again is real. I hope that along with the history, a great deal of attention is placed on what allowed these events to occur, mainly, that people watched and did nothing. When we see people being persecuted, when we see people denied basic human rights, we must raise our voices and say "no!" The mantra associated with The Holocaust is "Never Again", yet to be true to the to the call, requires first that we even know about what happened, and second, that each of us take responsibility for our role.
I applaud these educational and participatory events, I encourage all to attend, and to speak out and speak up, for these atrocities still occur in our world today.
Len Ellis
Dallas Peace Center

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Harbans Lal @ 12:22 AM Mon, Feb 22, 2010
Yes, we will attend. Sikhs are those who suffered because of religious and ethnic hatred. They like to join all to make it sure that the hatred is transformed into understanding of the human suffering all over the world. The idea of sharing the suffering of the world is a powerful one to move the world where such atrocities are never inflicted on any human being, and if and when it ever happens again, it may be shared by all.
Harbans Lal,
DFW Sikhs for Interfaith Understanding
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Surinder Kaul @ 8:47 AM Mon, Feb 22, 2010
As a Kashmiri Hindu, I applaud the mention of our plight at the reflection program on January 24, no one cares about our issue, it was a relief to see them mention it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Mike Ghouse @ 9:58 AM Tue, Feb 23, 2010
It is our duty, a moral obligation to acknolwedge the pain and suffering of all people. There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or some times refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or some how it amounts to infidelity to our own cause.

We all have to learn to see eye to eye, face to face, some one related to us via land mass, faith or race was a butcher, it does not mean, you and I are. We have to bring about a change by simply being human - feeling the pain of other no matter who it is, that is what makes us human.

We are looking forward to All day conference in January 2011 to acknowlege every human suffering, whether they are technically genocide or not. LIfe is precious and must be valued.

Mike Ghouse, Chair
Holocaust and Genocides
Dallas, Texas
www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

----------------------------

Posted by CA Pramod Gupta @ 10:21 AM Tue, Feb 23, 2010

My heartiest wishes for the successful event ,of which I m assured when the mention of Mike Ghouse I see, as the chair,, and He is most update on the issues, and a crusader , and is persuasive in deliverance as I see him as a virtual friend,an epitome of unparalleled wisdom and heave in the betterment of humanity at large spiritedly .. GOd bless the event and the Mission , I m sure Hindus the world's most oppressed , would be able to raise their head with pride as they r the keeper of trait invaluable to the humanity ... "Tolerance" and the ancient believer and propounded "UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD" ,, with no riders.. but paying for it sadly .. the Order has to be reversed if humanity have to survive and espouse goodness.
report as abusive

--------------------------------------------------

Posted by Barbara Thyab Ali @ 11:30 AM Tue, Feb 23, 2010
Dont forget how the Muslims were treated when the first fight for freedom was conducted... by Bahadur Shah!!! and his followers.... ever after that all Muslims where shun and doomed,,, not even given basic education or any signs of equality till date.... what a horrible fate they had ... even till today,.. many are being treated very badly.... all because some Muslims are "Terrorists" in todays world... yet all are looked upon and termed !!!!!!!! Yes !!! X or Y or Z.... for no crime or reason at all..... why should all the Muslims be branded as Terrorist today!!! Is there no one to stand up and question why??? Its high time we all jointly stop such form of persecution to the Indian Muslim of today...
report as abusive

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Posted by CA pramod Gupra @ 12:17 PM Tue, Feb 23, 2010
Barbara , U shirked to answer the empiric ,, evaporation of hindus almost total in other than India , and muslim exponential growth in India ,, is speaking loudly and the recent incidents of imposing jijiya and butchering beheading for refusing emabracing islam has caused the havoc .. and exposed why the evaporation occurred and thanx to Tasleema Nasreen for the expose in Banglaesh, sadly was dubbed criminally, coercively ..by progressibves, muslims, and pseudo secularist ( why there is no call whe tasleema exposed the mass raping and killing going on of hindus in Bangladesh ,a nd when M F husssin painted hindu goddesss, Mother India , in nude ,, and was dubbbed as objects of art , while cartoons make U cry and kill ppl indiscriminatey, the double standards , are exhorting Hindus to notice and rise, befittingly) .. and the leadership of ,Muslim had kept them alienated , and perpetuated their heinous designs, divisiveness on that foundation , while those who joined main stream has been able to decorate the highest offices at nation and apex courts beside others, a sign that only a predominantly hindu nation cud display with pride the mark f tolerance while the Muslim states , they purported to b secular played heinous in making hindus extinct, with terrorists attacking indian s , infiltrating and given local cover , by whom , U kbnow ! including the nationals of all muslim states wud put any muslim to shame, what to talk of seeing them elevated to the higher offices,a sham and shame exposed,, by all means .. a dark writing on the wall , the hindus r seeing as the recent paki- china - uS combine is also pushing the rot with vigor , against this tolerant clan ..
report as abusive

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Posted by Barbara Thyab Ali @ 3:12 AM Wed, Feb 24, 2010
Hello Dear,

I proudly declare that my entire family of Indian Muslims, are true followers of Islam, will never dare harm a single living creature of our creator.Many thousands of miles away from our Mother Land and yet getting rewards/ awards and certificates... decorated by the firms and companies they work at... best employee of the year, outstanding employee of the company, as asset to the firm, valuable employee of the company, best management head who has helped to keep the company afloat in this 100% recession, making heavy profits for the company...etc.,.. etc... all this in Australia today... Yes , I am a very proud mother of these four Indian Muslim Sons of mine, yet, they could not stay in India as there was nothing for them in India, being brought up in the Middle East , educated and earned their work experience outside India, 6 grand children -Indian Muslims too, and my three daughters in law are also doing so well in Australia in different fields of work, yet they too never wanted to remain in Inda all because of the differences shown to each one of them... all are highly educated too, like my family I wonder how many Indian Muslims have left our Mother land just because they too were being brushed with the same brush!!! that is still happening in India to all most 90% of decent, God Fearing Muslims....I am also getting ready to leave my mother land, with a heavy heart and much unwillingness, only because from Australia will I be able to meet each and every one who wishes to run down a Muslim in this world today... Australia has started to offer dual passports!!!!

Praying that all the Hindus will also re-unite and form one big united family soon... united we stand, divided we fall...

Bye

Barbara.
report as abusive

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Posted by Mike Ghouse @ 11:47 AM Wed, Feb 24, 2010
POST EVENT UPDATE

The panel at the program last night included Hon. Senator Shapiro, Hon. Peter Berkowitz, Dr. Amy Fisher-Smith, Dr. Elliott Dlin and a few other good hearted people.

I want to laud the effort of Senators Rodney Ellis and Florence Shapiro for getting the legislation to pass the Texas Holocaust and Genocides commission and thank every one involved to make this happen.

The panel at the program last night included Hon. Senator Shapiro, Hon. Peter Berkowitz, Dr. Amy Fisher-Smith, Dr. Elliott Dlin and a few other leaders of the community.

Senator Florence Shapiro is a rare politician who took the question of Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk head on; when asked about the investors and corporations who have a vested interest in the continuance of the conflicts; she responded by the divestment measures taken and that can be taken on the investment of public funds.

Peter Berkowitz addressed my question of Stereotyping squarely, and I admire him for that. When I mentioned to him that preventing Genocides and Holocaust is the responsibility of whole humanity and Muslims have not only taken part in human rights issues but are seriously involved in educating Dallas Public, across the board in general and Muslims in particular for years by reflecting on Holocaust and Genocides. They are in the forefront in criticizing Holocaust deniers and including every human tragedy in their presentations. As a commissioner, Mr. Berkowitz fulfilled his responsibility when he said, the Houston Holocaust Board is all inclusive and has members from many communities, and mentioned about the area in the Museum that displays how Muslims have gone out of their way in protecting Jews during the Holocaust. He said, removal of stereotyping is the way to go. Sir, I commend you for that and all the other good things you shared tonight. To me, a Pluralist who is committed to contributing his share towards inclusive societies, that one single statement of yours was powerful and I am thankful to the people who appointed you to be the commissioner. You have done justice to the job.

A school curriculum is in the making to be more inclusive and those who are concerned must be involved in the states education curriculum development. We are all humans and at times over look a different point of view. To have sustainable peace in societies, we must have inclusive education and you must be part of it. No stone should be left unturned.

I came out of the event with three things; as a human I can be a perpetrator, Victim, a bystander or a solution finder.

Since I have written about this month, a season of peace and non-violence, and have attended all the three events;

1) the III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides, Sunday, Jan 24, 2010
2) the Gay and Lesbian Holocaust March on Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010
3) the SMU/Holocaust Museum/ Memnosyne Foundation on Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010

I would just like to point out the wisdom in the inclusion; every one’s safety. As a Muslim my role is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill and I will do my 1/7th billionth (World Population) of my share towards a safer world.

As an individual or as a nation, we need to be aware that we cannot be safe unless the people around us are not safe, we cannot have peace unless people around us don’t have it.

A full day conference is planned for Wednesday, January 26, 2011 to include and discuss every human tragedy, please submit a thoroughly researched 500 word abstract about the event you'd like to discuss to - HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com.

Mike Ghouse, Chair
IV Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

Pictorial Report - Holocaust and Genocides

2010-02-18T06:45:00.000-08:00

A report on the III Annual Reflections on

Holocaust and Genocides
Sunday, January 24, 2010

We applaud the people of North Texas for attending the event. They came from every religious, ethnic and race backgrounds; they were Indigenous Americans, Atheists, Bahai, Buddhists, Cherokee, Christians, Hindus, Hopi, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Toltec, Wicca, Zoroastrians and from several ethnicities and nationalities.

Our purpose was education to diverse population. It was a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other, and to understand that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us.
The program featured 7 speakers who reflected on 7 topics for 7 minutes each followed by 7 commentators on 7 different types of atrocities. The range of topics included; the Holocaust, Genocides, Massacres, Atrocities and Tragedies.This is perhaps the for first time in our history, that we have acknowledged the genocides of the indigenous Americans and Native peoples of Americas in a public forum along with other tragedies.

The Jewish community has borne the suffering of the Holocaust for over sixty years; it is time for us to share it. No community should bear the suffering alone; we all have to stand up, and be there for each other. It is a Muslim initiative to build responsible civic societies. There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or some times refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or some how it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. Shame on us that we justifying massacres by believing and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it.

The Holocaust was a major human tragedy and a failure of humanity. The World stood by mercilessly when people were sent to Gas Chambers for their belief in the creator. The looks on the faces of the people, the resignation on their faces that the world silently stood by is horrifying and will haunt us for centuries to come.

Among Genocides, Massacres and other tragedies we reflected upon the Indigenous American people such as the Choctaw, Mayans, Toltecs and the massacres of the Native people right here in Dallas.

We touched upon Darfur and rolled the slides on Polpot, Congo, Armenia, Rwanda, Nanking, Falungong, Bosnia, India and other events to represent the Genocides and Massacres.

Among the ongoing tragedies, the tragedy of Gaza was highlighted with mentions of Burma, Tibet and other tragedies. The massive drowning and tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade was shared.

Through these representative events, our goal was to reflect upon every human failing. The technical definitions of the words do not describe the sufferings of the people in full, we have to work with the limited choice of words, but must have a big heart to feel the pain and suffering of every human being, not just my people or my tribe, but every one. Let us be a part of all human suffering, and together work on getting out of it.Gatherings such as this offer hope and opportunity for a secure and a safer world. At this event, we learned to see each other with dignity, and honor the otherness of other.Of the several acknowledgements, a few notable ones are;

1. Other people’s suffering is as legitimate as ours;
2. Through faith, ethnicity or land mass we are related with butchers of the past;
3. It takes courage to see ourselves as perpetrators;
4. It is easy to see ourselves as Victims
5. When we strip the politics out of these events, we see hope.
6. We can value others suffering without lessening our own;
7. The overriding desire to highlight our own blinds us from other’s suffering.

A sense of responsibility for creating a better world was present in us as witnessed by the people hanging out for an hour and a half after the program.

It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies. The event was organized by the Foundation for Pluralism, where co-existence is our value. We appreciate the sponsorship by the Center for Spiritual Living, all the three are Dallas based Organizations.

To the;

Jews, we say you are not alone;
Native people, we say you are not alone;

Homosexual community, we say you are not alone;

Darfurians, we say you are not alone;

Kashmiris Pundits, we say you are not alone;

Gujarati Muslims, we say you are not alone;

Gazans, we say you are not alone;

Ugandans, we say you are no alone;

To all those, who have endured holocaust, genocides, massacres, bombs, annihilation, land mines, hunger, rape, torture, occupation and inhuman brutality, we say you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. We have begun the process of coming together as one people, to stand with you, we are indeed one world and a single humanity, and caring for each other brings safety and peace to all of us. I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.

A full day conference is planned for Wednesday, January 26, 2011 to discuss every human tragedy, please submit a thoroughly researched 500 word abstract about the event you'd like to discuss to HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com.

We are working on initiating a course on tolerance education, so one day, we all can learn to have a heart that opens to the pain of every human. Initial report - http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2010/01/initial-report-on-holocaust-and.html

A full report with Speakers information and their talks will be available on the websites soon. Pictures for all the three events are available at the website, for 2010: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157623333495277

Mike Ghouse, Chairperson

Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/
http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/
http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/
~~~
# # #

Holocaust and Genocides - Crescent

2010-01-27T19:43:00.000-08:00

My Crescent News magazine
January 25, 2010

http://www.mycrescent.com/profiles/blogs/holocaust-amp-genocides

I am not sure to what to say about the "2nd Annual Reflections on Holocaust & Genocides" program organized by Mike Ghouse Learning about the darkest episodes of "humanity" was not a great experience. Hearing stories about how far people would go to destroy another human being or an entire community was extremely distressful. I came to the program to see the good that humanity has to offer, but it seemed like evil and injustice always prevail -- years after years and decades after decades. We keep jumping from one atrocity to another.

The program started just before Maghrib, so few minutes into the speeches I headed out for prayers. I kept thinking about what would motivate people to commit such horrific crimes? What kind of ignorance inspires a person to kill innocent victims? So many un-Godly acts in the name of God?

Maghrib prayers helped me get some perspective on all this chaos. I re-remembered our purpose on this earth and duty to mankind. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said that when you see injustice and evil, try and stop it with your hands, if you are unable to do so then speak out against it and if you are unable to speak out then in your heart condemn it, but that's weakest sign of faith. I began thinking about the panel of speakers and the attendees. They are trying to stop evil from spreading, aren't they? Some have even dedicated their entire lives to bring an end to these atrocities. They organize protests, work with aid groups, they are going out raising funds for various causes and not only speaking out against genocides but empowering the victims to take action as well.

Suddenly, I was not feeling as hopeless. Actually, I felt pretty dandy, if I may say so. I thanked God for allowing me to spend some time in the company of those who care and and are stepping up to the challenge. I had the opportunity to socialize with real role models. They came together regardless of their ethnicity, faith or nationality to acknowledge crimes against humanity. They came together to do every thing in their power to help the victims stand up in the face of injustice against fellow humans. And I think that's pretty cool.

Center for Spiritual Living hosts discussion of genocide and war

2010-01-26T16:16:00.001-08:00

Center for Spiritual Living hosts discussion of genocide and war
By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH
The Dallas Morning News,kunmuth@dallasnews.com

People of many religious and ethnic backgrounds gathered Sunday to exchange stories of genocide and war. The event was held at the Center for Spiritual Living and sponsored by the Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress.

"We are obsessed with our own tragedies, and sometimes it's hard to acknowledge others' tragedies," said Mike Ghouse, chairman of the event.

Panelists discussed the Holocaust, the impact of colonization on North American and Toltec Indians and the war in Darfur.

The event also touched on the situation in the Gaza Strip, and Ghouse, who is Muslim, acknowledged that people had contacted him to say they were upset that he included Palestinians in the discussion.

The Rev. Petra Weldes, a minister at the center, told the audience that people often respond more quickly to tragedies such as the earthquake in Haiti. "If we can respond to a natural tragedy, then why can't we respond to a manmade tragedy?" she asked.

The presentations were not academic. Instead, they focused on people sharing their feelings about the events in order to raise awareness that there is much suffering in the world and to promote peaceful coexistence.

"Genocide is still going on," said Rick Halperin, director of the human rights education program at Southern Methodist University. "For many people, it happened 'back there.' "

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Courtesy of Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-worldpeace_25met.ART.State.Edition1.4bca07e.html#slcgm_comments_anchor

Comments (7)
Posted by Rev. Petra 23 hours ago

It was such a powerful evening, I was greatly moved as part of this event, and pleased for our Community to sponsor it.

What became noticeable clear to me as the evening progressed is that as we continue to remember and reflect on these unspeakable tragedies, it does not further healing to approach them with anger, hate or the need for vengeance. We have learned that violence only begets more violence. the silence must be broken, truth and hope spoken, and a new understanding that we must respond swiftly and positively to the slaughter of humans by humans. Realizing that no one group is always responsible and no one group is always the victim helps us stop the "us vs them" perspective, and begins to move us into the "we must work together".

It is truly astounding that our media continues to spend its time showing the extreme sides and positions all over the world, rather than focusing on the moderate, reconciliatory voices that seek peace, justice and understanding. Thank you, Ms Unmuth and the Dallas Morning News, for being willing to cover this event and this story!

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Posted by Kamran Cheikh

Katherine, I would like to thank you very much for covering this event. There were alot of insightful speeches by the speakers at the event and each one of them brought their own unique perspective to these very dire tragedies that have occured throughout history. To solve these issues we as human beings must continue to come together to witness the signs of these tragedies and find solutions to prevent them from occuring. I thank all of the guest speakers,volunteers and attendants for their support and participation in this event. We are looking forward to next years event as we hope to have a full day conference with discussion about many different genocides, holocausts and tragedies that have been occuring throughout human history. Please also give support to the next upcoming initiative of the World Muslim Congress, Project Soam, which should be occuring in the next few months,some information about the project can be found at www.holocaustandgenocides.com

Kamran Cheikh is a Board Member for the World Muslim Congress and the Foudation for Pluralism. He is also on the steering board for the organization Muslims for Peace, Justice and Progress(MPJP). Additionaly, he is a researcher for the think tank organization the Deen Research center(DRC).

Kamran Cheikh, Assistant Chairperson
III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
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Posted by RElghonimi

Katherine, thank you for this article. We are grateful for your presence with us and in conveying its significance. We truly appreciate Mike Ghouse's dedication to human dignity and the Center for Spiritual Living's hosting of the event.

You noted that it was not an academic program yet I just wanted to mention we did have an academic talk during the program. I am a graduate student at UTD in history, and I presented a historical analysis of Jerusalem. It is interesting you chose not to mention it in your article as many audience members were powerfully impacted by it. I am grateful to Mike Ghouse for letting me know of the neglect of this area in the article. Many attendees thanked me in reminding all of us that Jerusalem was notable for 1219 years of coexistence and openness to travel and pilgrimage under Islamic rule. They expressed amazement that they had never before heard this type of academic proof that inspired such faith, hope, and love. Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived together, coming and going. It is a precedent of hope and optimism that should be emphasized and appreciated rather than covered up - and of course, instead of the ad nauseum ideas of inevitable conflict or cultural clashes that usually surface.

Reem Elghonimi
Steering Board Member,
Muslims for Peace, Justice, and Progress (MPJP)
www.mpjp.org

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Posted by LeonardEllis

Indeed, a very sincere, informative and heartbreaking event, as we were awakened to the atrocities committed by our fellow human beings on our brothers and sisters. A sense of oneness was present, and one of sadness as I learned about horrific events until now unbeknownst to me.
Asking why and how of these past events will perhaps awaken our humanity, preventing future tragedies. Perhaps, but each and every one of us must hold the vision of a just and peaceful world. Each of us must do our part, to speak up when we see injustice, to truly be our brother's keeper. Yes, we can hold the vision, and we can be proactive about it, because a vision without action is just a hallucination.
Len Ellis
Dallas Peace Center

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Posted by MikeGhouse

Thanks for the report, indeed, we were able to acknowledge the tough issues and face them squarely, we also learned that we can find the way out of the quagmires without compromising the truth. I cannot thank enough the contribution each speaker and participant made towards the success of tonight’s program.

Humility was flowing in every one’s veins tonight, there was no acknowledgment of all the great things each speaker and commentator has made, and instead they were simply introduced by their first names. It did not bother them at all, they did not even pay attention to it, because it was not important to them, it was their message that was important to them. They listened to others, without ever lessening others. I am proud to be a part of this group for your humility and being good communicators and listeners. They had long crossed the threshold of "me, me and me alone person", to "we, we and us", and I salute them all for the same.

Of the several accomplishments tonight, a few are as follows;

1. that other peoples suffering is as legitimate as ours,

2. that some one related to us through faith, ethnicity or race has been a butcher too,

3. that it takes courage to see ourselves as perpetrators and accomplices as well,

4. that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel when politics is stripped,

5. that we can value others suffering without lessening our own or theirs,

6. that the overriding desire to highlight my own gets softened, easing our own pain

7. the sense of responsibility for creating a better world was present in us.

We could have done a full hour session with the theme and presentation of each speaker, and God willing we will have a full day conference on the subject.

I hope to gather every one’s speech and include in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Pluralism. I will be compiling a full report and publish on the websites and Blogs

Mike Ghouse is a Dallas based Speaker, Writer, Thinker and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and television networks offering pluralistic perspectives on issues of the day including Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, Peace, India and Civic issues.

Mike Ghouse, Chairperson
III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

~~~~

Initial report on Holocaust and Genocides event

2010-01-25T08:18:00.000-08:00

We were able to acknowledge the tough issues and together and face them squarely, we also learned that we can find the way out of the quagmires without compromising the truth. I cannot thank enough for the contribution each speaker and participant made towards success of tonight’s program.

Dallas, Texas
Sunday, January 24, 2010
5:00 to 8:00 PM

CONTENTS

1. Initial report
2. Program Schedule
3. Readers comments at Dallas News
4. Press Releases

Humility was flowing in every one’s veins tonight, there was no acknowledgment of all the great things each speaker and commentator has made, and instead they were simply introduced by their first names. It did not bother them at all, they did not even pay attention to it, because it was not important to them, it was their message that was important to them. They listened to others, without ever lessening others. I am proud to be a part of this group for your humility and being good communicators and listeners. They had long crossed the threshold of "me, me and me alone person", to "we, we and us", and I salute them all for the same.

I hope to gather every one’s speech and include in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Pluralism. I will be compiling a full report and publish on the websites and Blogs.

Of the several accomplishments tonight, a few were;

1. that other peoples suffering is as legitimate as ours,
2. that some one related to us through faith, ethnicity or race has been a butcher too,
3. that it takes courage to see ourselves as perpetrators and accomplices as well,
4. that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel when politics is stripped,
5. that we can value others suffering without lessening our own or theirs,
6. that the overriding desire to highlight my own gets softened, easing our own pain
7. the sense of responsibility for creating a better world was present in us.

We could have done a full hour session with the theme and presentation of each speaker, and God willing we will have a full day conference on the subject.

Again, thank you.

Mike Ghouse is a Dallas based Speaker, Writer, Thinker and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and television networks offering pluralistic perspectives on issues of the day including Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, Peace, India and Civic issues.

The Journal of Pluralism reaches 25000 individuals across the world. His comments, news analysis, opinions and Blogs are listed on his personal web site www.MikeGhouse.net
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III Annual Reflections on Holocaust & Genocides
An initiative of American Muslims; striving to build civil societies

Sunday, January 24, 2010 – 5:00 PM - 7: 30 PM
4801 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, TX 75244

Sponsored by
The Center for Spiritual Living

Refreshments by
FunAsia, Richardson, Texas

Kulfi Ice Cream and additional snacks by
Dr. Harbans Lal & Sabzi Mandi

Organized by:
The Foundation for Pluralism &
World Muslim Congress

Volunteers:
Casey Ohanja, Rita Clarke, Members of the Ismaili Muslim Community, Staff of the Center for Spiritual Living and several on spot volunteers.

This is an educational program, where 7 speakers will reflect on 7 topics for 7 minutes each. The topics range from the Holocaust to Genocides, massacres and tragedies. We will learn about a few simple things that you and I can do to prevent such tragedies. It is a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other.

PROGRAM

PROGRAM HOST: Mike Ghouse

WELCOME – Rev. Petra Weldes

HAITI - A moment of silence for the people of Haiti

OPENING PRAYER – Sabeeha Kazimi

7/7 PRESENTATION (7 Minutes each)

1. Indigenous people of America - Peggy Larney
2. Holocaust - Rev. Dr. Petra Weldes, Dr. Rick Halperin and Mike Ghouse
3. Maya and Toltec - Ricardo Cervantes
4. Human tragedies - Reem Elghonimi
5. Darfur - Paulette Cooper
6. Gaza - Joshua Smith
7. Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk - Solutions

SILENT RECITATIONS

Through these representative events, our goal is to reflect upon every human tragedy. We plan to have a full day conference to remember every tragedy, and we hope you will attend the full day next year.

COMMENTATORS

Harinder Singh,
Kelly Seals Obazee,
Dr. Shirley Wu,
Fred Jones
John Halsey
Jeff Andonian

PROJECT SOAM – Kamran Cheikh

RECOGNITIONS – Len Ellis
Rev. Diane Baker
Roger Kallenberg
Joshua Smith
Paulette Cooper

REFLECTIONS - Tatiana Androsov

CLOSING PRAYERS – Rev. Bill Matthews

REFRESHMENTS
This is a humanitarian event.

CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING

New Thought combines the teachings of Jesus, Hindu cosmology, mental healing, platonic philosophy, science and psychology. New Thought includes Centers for Spiritual Living teaching the Science of Mind, Unity Church of Christianity, Divine Science, and many independent communities worldwide. New Thought teaches God as the Source from which creation springs which is inherently good; and recognizes Universal Spiritual Principles govern all life. That which God is, we are. Embracing ancient traditions and modern wisdom, Science of Mind teaches practical spiritual tools for personal and global healing and transformation. What we know is all paths lead to God, and all life is sacred. http://www.csldallas.org

THE FOUNDATION FOR PLURALISM

Pluralism is an attitude. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other, and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of the Seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

When applied to religion, it should sound like this, “I love my faith as you love yours, and your devotion to the creator is as sincere as mine. My values will not diminish an ounce by giving full value to your faith, and given that I hereby proclaim that my faith works for me as yours works for you. Furthermore, I do not claim my faith to be superior to yours as it amounts to arrogance. Our faiths teach us humility and not arrogance.”

The change is coming, the paradigm is moving from exclusive to inclusive societies. In our life time collective blame on religions will become a thing of the past and individuals will be held responsible for their acts and not their family, neighborhood, community, nation or their religion. It is a sure way to find justice, as religions are intangibles that cannot be punished or hung and justice never happens and societal balance is seldom achieved.
www.FoundationforPluralism.com

YEAR 2010

• Seminars and Lectures
• Workshops – Wisdom of Religion, all the beautiful religions
• The Journal of Pluralism – Monitoring the trends in Pluralism
• 4th Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides - all day
• 14th Annual Thanksgiving Celebrations; a multi-cultural event
• 6th Annual Unity Day USA; Americans coming together

WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS

To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence of humanity. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; Life and Matter.

Our Mission is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed towards justice and equity to attain peace for the humankind with a firm grounding in commonly held values. We cannot have advantages at the cost of others. Such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world, and vice versa, to sustain it.

PROJECT SOAM

This is a collaborative societal project effort in the DFW Metroplex to promote social awareness, solidarity, development and co-existence amongst humanity. The word Soam comes from an Arabic word that has been widely used in the Quran meaning "to abstain from actions in order to be dedicated towards a noble duty or cause", thus in Project SOAM individuals, institutions and organizations are all called upon to sacrifice their welfare, effort and time to provide sustenance and development towards the most vital causes of humanity and environment around us.

As a global community whose wounds and entanglements are felt by all nations and people, let us join together in order to dedicate ourselves towards this great cause for the future security and welfare of all mankind. The Project is an initiative the World Muslim Congress.

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READERS COMMENTS AT DALLAS NEWS
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/01/center-for-spiritual-living-ho.html

Posted by Matthew Cappiello @ 4:32 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
Sounds like a fantastic event. Regardless of faith, ethnicity, or political views, injustice is still injustice to all.
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Posted by Rizwan Sheikh @ 4:41 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
Excellent initiative. We as a human race need to recognize the sufferings before we can expect them to never happen again. I appluad the organizers..
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Posted by Tatiana Androsov @ 4:45 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
It is very important that we consider how cruel we have been, are and can be to each other. We should not forget that we are all prone to reacting badly when outside our 'comfort zones' and forgetting about the Golden Rule that we all refer to. Come and stretch your comfort zones.
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Posted by Khawaja N. Anwar @ 5:29 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
It never ceases to amaze me how we humans are able to snuff out another human life without feeling any pangs of conscience.We all need to continue to reflect upon this question unceasingly till we,God willing, can find a lasting answer to this persistent, recurring phenomenon.
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Posted by Hind Jarrah @ 5:57 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
I am so hopeful to see that ALL atrocities are being remembered and acknowledged "The Holocaust was a major human tragedy and a failure of humanity. Among Genocides, Massacres and other tragedies we will reflect upon the Indigenous American people, the Mayans, the Toltecs, Darfur, Polpot, Congo, Armenia, Rwanda, Falun Dafa, Burma, Tibet, Bosnia, India, Gaza and the transatlantic slave trade". ; It is great that people from all faiths and background are starting to acknowledge and admit that these tragedies were and are still being inflicted by human beings on each other. I do pray -though- that admitting and acknowledging will be only the first step towards a sincere and persistent effort to stop these tragedies and prevent any new ones and to compensate those who had to endure the suffering; I pray that our creator bless this effort with success.
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Posted by Rev. Dennis Hamilton @ 6:19 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
I just finished reading Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, which tells the story of an American building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. What a wonderful alternative scenario to military solutions. We know that humanity is capable of genocide. But we have seen that we are also capable of great generosity, love, forgiveness and peace. I want to say never again to war, to genocide. I want humanity to see the enormity of the Holocaust, and all the holocausts of history. I want us to see that the victims are our own brother and sisters, though they speak another language and have different customs. Maybe then we will all say, together, Never again.
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Posted by Rev. Angie Buchanan @ 7:35 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
We cannot dwell in the house of suffering and resentment for it will poison our souls but, we can express our sorrow and our grief with one another, and determine that we will be ever vigilant in our efforts to not repeat the offending behavior.

We cannot change what has happened in the past but, we can certainly use it to shape how we go forward.

Simply saying "I'm sorry" as the Australian government has done with the Aboriginals is an honest beginning. To acknowledge that harm has been wrought and that harmful practices will be stopped goes a long way to promote healing of wounds that have gone unattended to for so long.

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Posted by dr.b.m.sharma @ 7:55 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
O Lord.!! This Existential System is yours. And we are also yours. Total aggregated wish of the Existence flowers. And genocides and holocausts event...as part of this system and as part of this system Science is attempting to know the reasons and what could be preventive measures to avoid and save life too. And in these systems, human lives have lost and people have suffered.. and people do get filled in with fear. So as part of the Existential system, another sub system is there to assemble and calibrate the self: heart, soul, mind, thoughts and their flows.. to pay homage and regards.. and prayers for the peace of the Departed Souls.. and at the same time prayers are the applications to prevent such further holocausts with almost zero losses..I in front of You kneel down and bow down and pray that Grant Your Heart to Those Departed Souls and give energies and courage to those people so they rise again and live their life joyfully. And fill of us with your Love... and bless that we forget the fear of such genocides and holocausts and get associated with construction, reconstruction and cultivation of love in All Human Hearts and Souls.. In your prayers.. In Your Love.. drbmsharma.
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Posted by Amina Rab @ 8:18 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
Why have we not learned anything from history? Why do we still continue to inflict pain and suffering on each other? Programs like these serve to remind us of our folly and give us a wakeup call. I sincerely hope we do not continue to add to the list of Genocides, Massacres and other tragedies in the world.
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Posted by Razi Raziuddin @ 9:27 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
The best form of learing will come only through interaction and engagements with those who are unlike you and think and act differently.

The miseries of this world is mostly due to two prime reasons; temptation to dominate others, and resistence not to acknowledge others.

Arranging this kind of ggatherings, seminars and cultural events will certainly help heal the wounds and pains, as well as create space for others to exist.

Good luck.

Razi Raziuddin
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Posted by Razi Raziuddin @ 9:29 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
The best form of learing will come only through interaction and engagements with those who are unlike you and think and act differently.

The miseries of this world is mostly due to two prime reasons; temptation to dominate others, and resistence not to acknowledge others.

Arranging this kind of ggatherings, seminars and cultural events will certainly help heal the wounds and pains, as well as create space for others to exist.

Good luck.

Razi Raziuddin
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Posted by Mirza A. Beg @ 10:57 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
The only indisputable lesson of human history from very long ago is all of our ancestors were nomadic and immigrated from place to place. At the beginning of this millennium it is very important that we appreciate this truth and learn that we are part of an extended human family and Earth is our common home.

Depriving others of what we want for ourselves by claiming exclusive rights should be passé. Let us join and outlaw by consensus, ethnic cleansing, genocide and wars for land. That is the only way to reach universal peace. Best wishes,

Mirza A. Beg

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Posted by Anand Krishna/Anand Ashram Foundation, Indonesia (www.anandkrishna.org) @ 11:22 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
Wonderful, more awareness, more of such initiatives, and we shall have a better world. On behalf of my foundation, and the peace loving people of Indonesia, i congratulate all of you involved in this program.
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Posted by KC Ohanaja @ 11:26 PM Fri, Jan 22, 2010
I am very delighted that an event such as this one is occuring on an annual basis. genocides,massacres and tragedies such as the ones that will be discussed during the event have been constantly occuring throughout human existence, and although history is not repeating itself, todays event are displaying that it is rhyming. For the sake and welfare of mankind, we as human beings really need to address these issues and find constructive ways to mitigate injustices against all people and learn to accept the sanctity and dignity of each and every human being. I know that there will be some people who have their own personal biases or apprehensiveness against the event or some of the issues that will be discussed which in itself shows a critical point of the problem and is very disappointing as they do not see the value and potential that this type of work can have to affect the relations amongst different communities. Once we learn to uphold the justice and speak up against the wrongs of ALL people, we will begin to see peace and repsect amongst each other, there will be no need for a sense of fear or insecurity amongst different groups and people if we are all uphold the rights and treat each other justly. It is only when societies stray from these values or remain silent to the inhumainity around them, that there occurs injustice,fear and breeding of prejudice.

I am very proud of the novel and unprecendented work that Mike Ghouse has done in and outside the Muslim Community to build bridges between different communities and defend their rights of belief and practice. I hope that these types of events receive the much need attention and exposure that they deserve and in return will encourage other communities and religious leaders to do similar work to promote peace and co-existence.
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Posted by Edip Yuksel @ 12:46 AM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
I command Mike Ghouse and his friends for organizing such an event.

Remembering past tragedies should not remain as mere remembrance of evils of the past, but should be remembered to guide us not to repeat those tragedies. The Nazis, Hitler, Mussolini may not be alive but their ditto-heads were/are in action among us, in Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, Palestine...

As the children of Adam, we should promote peace and justice without discriminating because of religious affiliation or ethnic background.

Peacemakers of the World, Unite!

Peace,
Edip Yuksel
islamicreform.org
19.org
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Posted by Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk @ 5:19 AM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
Looking forward to speaking and to hearing all the other speakers and meeting with the various community people in attendence! Way to go, Mike Ghouse! Dallas is so grateful for all the work you do!
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Posted by Nayyara Bukhari @ 9:41 AM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
Join Respect all religions no Fanaticism-No Extremism No terrorism
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Posted by Larry Larney @ 9:54 AM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
On September 13th, 2007 the UN General Assembly adopted The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with over whelming majority. (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States) 4 Negative votes. The combine views and Interests sets the framework of the future. It is a tool for Peace and Justice, based upon mutual recognition and mutual respect. Quoted; Article, IWGIA
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Posted by Matthew @ 10:42 AM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
Peace for all of the individuals in the world created by God. Fight injustice in all forms!
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Posted by Peter Plantec @ 10:51 AM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
In my experience most people around the world are descent and warm individuals. As an American I also find that people in countries where America is hated, I'm am often welcomed by families. The problem seems to be religion and governments. As we have seen it is not the basic tennents of religion that are at fault, but the people practicing religion and running governments that cause the problem. So it is my opinion that humans are basically good until greed or hatred sets in. Both religion and Government are vehicles for expressing greed and hatred. So my conclusion is that humans in general would be better off with core ethincs but without religion and with governments that have little power. It would have to be universal or the governments with power would dominate and kill the whole plan.
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Posted by Aliza Hava @ 11:28 AM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
Thank you for organizing such an important and timely event. The world desperately needs to unite around such issues to ensure that these atrocities never occur again. Kol Hakavod (Hebrew for 'Great Respect') to Mike Ghouse and all involved.
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Posted by iftekhar Hai @ 12:14 PM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
I have been consistently watching Mike Ghouse for his work on bringing communities together in acknowledging their pain and suffering. This event is one such that will help plant seeds of peaceful living for years to come.
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Posted by Mike Ghouse @ 12:32 PM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
Ya'lls comments indicate the human desire to see each other face to face, eye to eye and resolve the conflicts for each others good.

Our goodness has to transform from "good for nothing" to good for everyone. Peace, safety and security comes to each one of us, when we ensure it is there for every one. I cannot be safe, when people around me are not, I or my nation cannot have peace, when others around aren't. It is in my selfish interest to ensure every one is treated fairly and justly. To do that, we have to speak and stand up for those in need.

On that note, I want to share several more events taking place in Dallas on Holocaust including this one:

The first annual Holocaust candlelight march will happen on Wednesday, January 27th at 7:00 PM, the march will start at the Fountain at Oak Lawn/ Armstrong to the Oak Lawn/Cedar Spring's Memorial and move up to Melrose Hotel in Dallas, Texas. It is to make one aware of the targeting and massacring of the Gay community.

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Posted by ben boothe Sr @ 6:19 PM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
It is important for all enlightened people, the "connected" generation, to stand, walk, and talk for love, tolerance and find our spiritual areas in "common" so that we can build a world of peace. Ben B. Boothe Sr. Global Businessman. www.benboothe.com
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Posted by Veronica Valles, RScP @ 8:52 PM Sat, Jan 23, 2010
In the fundamental belief of the ONENESS of LIFE expressing as and through the many,the underlying value of all is LOVE. Without this essential, soul nutrient, one is blinded in radical beliefs of separation which is the seed of war, ignorance and violence. There can never be such atrocities when living from a place of LOVE--when we look directly into someone's eyes...meeting heart to heart, soul to soul.

To reflect upon the tragedies of the Holocaust and Genocides is to unroot the belief of "other" as we begin to see clearly our brothers, sister, mothers, fathers throughout this world. Interconnected, we begin to creatively come together to provide food, water, jobs, education, safety, opportunities so all may experience a full and glorious life.

The shift is from pain and suffering to positive possibilities, infinite potentialites when we align in the highest common denominator which is LOVE. Serving side by side, guided from an inner compass of the UNITY and CREATIVITY of life, we can transform the world.

I bow in deep gratitude for Mike Ghouse...he is a gentle, powerful presence of TRUTH in the community. He is grounded in his beliefs while honoring the variety of expressions and finds common ground to expand and experience life in peace.

How beautiful when we can see clearly from this place of ONENESS while honoring the individualized expressions of life. When we reach this level of awakening we will no longer have to gather to remember the tragedies but gather to celebrate our inherent GOOD. We will then be able to say, as in "Avatar" -- I SEE YOU. This then becomes poetry in action.
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Posted by Rodwaan Saleh @ 10:32 AM Sun, Jan 24, 2010
What is it that makes a man speak ill of another, for no reason except their own formulated preconceived ill notions; and what is it that makes a man look at another with gazing eyes of disgust and belittlement for no reason except, bigotry, hate, and ignorance.

7 Minutes, 7 Topics and 7 Reflections

When: Sunday, January 24th at 5:00 PM
Where: Center for Spiritual Living,
Address: 4801 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, TX 75244
Website - http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/
Email – HolocuastandGenocides@gmail.com
(214) 325-1916

This is an educational program, where 7 speakers will reflect on 7 topics for 7 minutes each along with contributing a few simple things that you and I can do to prevent such tragedies. The topics range from the Holocaust to Genocides, massacres and tragedies. It is a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other.

The Holocaust was a major human tragedy and a failure of humanity. Among Genocides, Massacres and other tragedies we will reflect upon the Indigenous American people, the Mayans, the Toltecs, Darfur, Polpot, Congo, Armenia, Rwanda, Falun Dafa, Burma, Tibet, Bosnia, India, Gaza and the transatlantic slave trade. Through these representative events, our goal is to reflect upon every human tragedy. We plan to have a full day conference to remember every tragedy and we hope you will attend the full day next year.

Sponsored by the Center for Spiritual living and organized by the Foundation for Pluralism, where co-existence is our value. An initiative of American Muslims; striving to contribute towards building civil societies.
-----------------------------------------------------

Press Release on Holocaust and Genocides

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916,
email: MikeGhouse@aol.com
event email: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com
Website: http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

III ANNUAL REFELCTIONS ON THE HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDES

DALLAS – (January 14, 2010) –The Foundation for Pluralism announces the 7/7 speakers Panel to reflect upon the Holocaust and Genocides event at 5:00 PM on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the Center for Spiritual Center, 4801 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, TX. 75244.

Each individual in the seven member panel would acknowledge the inhumanity in each one of us and reflect upon the solutions for co-existence. It is a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things, that we humans have inflicted upon each other.

What can you do as individual?

Join us with individuals and leaders from different faiths, races, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds to express your solidarity and commitment to co-existence. It is a tribute to those who stood up, raised their voices and risked their lives to save the life of others.

The seven-minute topics would range from the Holocaust to Genocides and massacres, such as Genocides and massacres of Indigenous American people, the Maya, Toltec, Darfur, Polpot, Congo, Nanking, Armenia, Rwanda, Falun Dafa, Burma, Tibet, Bosnia and others. They will also speak about the tragedy in Gaza and other places, and the effects of cultural massacres through the transatlantic slave trade.

Mike Ghouse, Chairperson of the event adds, “We mean to include all genocides, but due to time limitations and funding, we will limit to the few as representations of all other, if you would like to include a specific event, we will include the event name at this time.”

The Jewish and other communities have borne the suffering of the Holocaust for over sixty years; it is time for us to share it. No community should bear the suffering alone; we all have to stand up, and be there for each other.

We have to learn to see each other with dignity and honor the otherness of other. Gatherings such as this offer hope and opportunity for a more secure and safer world. I would appreciate your attendance. Please bring your friends.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Spiritual Living and World Muslim Congress.
It is a Muslim initiative, an effort towards creating peaceful civil societies.

You are invited

2010-01-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

7 Minutes, 7 Topics and 7 Reflections

When: Sunday, January 24th at 5:00 PM
Where: Center for Spiritual Living,
Address: 4801 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, TX 75244
Website - http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/
Email – HolocuastandGenocides@gmail.com
(214) 325-1916

This is an educational program, where 7 speakers will reflect on 7 topics for 7 minutes each along with contributing a few simple things that you and I can do to prevent such tragedies. The topics range from the Holocaust to Genocides, massacres and tragedies. It is a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other.

The Holocaust was a major human tragedy and a failure of humanity. Among Genocides, Massacres and other tragedies we will reflect upon the Indigenous American people, the Mayans, the Toltecs, Darfur, Polpot, Congo, Armenia, Rwanda, Falun Dafa, Burma, Tibet, Bosnia, India, Gaza and the transatlantic slave trade. Through these representative events, our goal is to reflect upon every human tragedy. We plan to have a full day conference to remember every tragedy and we hope you will attend the full day next year.

Sponsored by the Center for Spiritual living and organized by the Foundation for Pluralism, where co-existence is our value. An initiative of American Muslims; striving to contribute towards building civil societies.

Press Release on Holocaust and Genocides

2010-01-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

7 Minutes, 7 Topics and 7 reflections, an educational program
5:00 PM on Sunday at Center for Spiritual living

It is an educational program, where 7 speakers will reflect on 7 topics for 7 minutes each along with simple things that you and I can do to prevent such tragedies. The topics range from the Holocaust to Genocides, massacres and tragedies. It is a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other.

Holocaust is a major human tragedy and failure of humanity. Among Genocides, Massacres and other tragedies we will reflect upon the Indigenous American people, the Maya, Toltec, Darfur, Polpot, Congo, Nanking, Armenia, Rwanda, Falun Dafa, Burma, Tibet, Bosnia, India, Gaza and the transatlantic slave trade. Through these representative events, our goal is to reflect upon every human tragedy. We plan to have a full day conference to touch upon every issue in the coming years and we hope you would attend the full day event next year.

Please join us on Sunday at 5:00PM at Center for Spiritual Living, 4801 Spring Valley road, Dallas, Tx 75244. Please find the directions before hand as no one would be available to take the phone calls on the day of the event.

Website - www.HolocaustandGenocides.com
Email – HolocuastandGenocides@gmail.com
Phone – As a last resort (214) 325-1916

It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to work for responsible societies. Organized by the Foundation for Pluralism, where co-existence is our value.

PRESS RELEASE

3rd Annual Reflections on the Holocaust and Genocides.

DALLAS – (January 14, 2010) –The Foundation for Pluralism announces the 7/7 speakers Panel to reflect upon the Holocaust and Genocides event at 5:00 PM on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the Center for Spiritual Center, 4801 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, TX. 75244.

Each individual in the seven member panel would acknowl
edge the inhumanity in us and reflect upon the solutions for co-existence. It is a purposeful event to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things, that we humans have inflicted upon each other.

What can you do as individual?

Join us with individuals and leaders from different faiths, races, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds to express your solidarity and commitment to co-existence. It is a tribute to those who stood up, raised their voices and risked their lives to save the life of others.

The seven-minute topics would range from the Holocaust to Genocides and massacres, such as Genocides and massacres of Indigenous American people, the Maya, Toltec, Darfur, Polpot, Congo, Nanking, Armenia, Rwanda, Falun Dafa, Burma, Tibet, Bosnia and others. They will also speak about the tragedy in Gaza and other places, and the effects of cultural massacres through the transatlantic slave trade.

Mike Ghouse, Chairperson of the event adds, “We mean to include all genocides, but due to time limitations and funding, we will limit to the few as representations of all other, if you would like to include a specific event, we will include the event name at this time.”

The Jewish and other communities have borne the suffering of the Holocaust for over sixty years; it is time for us to share it. No community should bear the suffering alone; we all have to stand up, and be there for each other.

We have to learn to see each other with dignity and honor the otherness of other. Gatherings such as this offer hope and opportunity for a more secure and safer world. I would appreciate your attendance. Please bring your friends along.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Spiritual Living and World Muslim Congress.

It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to work for responsible societies. Organized by the Foundation for Pluralism, where co-existence is our value.

Contact: Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916,
email: MikeGhouse@aol.com
event email: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com
Website: http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/
# # #

Holocaust and Genocides Event

2010-01-07T09:11:00.000-08:00

INVITATION

You are invited to the III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides, a purposeful event to create awareness of the inhumanity in us, and discover solutions for peaceful co-existence.

Individuals and leaders from different faiths, races, ethnicities and backgrounds will gather to express their commitment to co-existence and well being of every human being. It is a tribute to those who stood up, spoke up and risked their lives to save the life of others.

Please join us with your friends from work, place of worship, social networks and ask them to confirm at: i.will.attend.holocaust.event@gmail.com

You can forward this posting to your friends by clicking the evelope symbol at the bottom and writing your friends email address.

WHEN :: 5:00 PM, Sunday, January 24, 2010
WHERE :: Center for Spiritual Living, 4801 Spring Valley, Dallas Texas 75244
COST :: The event is free

PDF POSTER: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/Holocaust-and-Genocides-Poster_122809-.pdf

JPG POSTER: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/Holocaust-and-Genocides-Poster-122809.jpg

We are looking for volunteers and sponsors.

Pictures from I Annual event: http://picasaweb.google.com/FoundationforPluralism/HolocaustCommemorationByMuslims#5278725720284191074
Pictures from II Annual event: http://picasaweb.google.com/HolocaustandGenocides/IIAnnualReflectionOnHolocaustAndGenocides#5300647098115563810
Report from the first Event: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/HMD2006_ProgramReport.asp
Public Comments: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Holocaustday_Comments.asp
Media coverage: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Holocaustday_Media.asp

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916
http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/
~~~

III Annual Reflections on Holocaust & Genocides

2009-10-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED

Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas - The Foundation for Pluralism, the World Muslim Congress and several participating organizations invite you to III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides, a purposeful event to create awareness of the inhumanity in all of us, and discover solutions for peaceful co-existence. No community should bear the burden alone, we must be in it together.

This Link: http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2009/10/iii-annual-reflections-on-holocaust.html
PDF Poster: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/Holocaust-and-Genocides-Poster_122809-.pdf
JPG Poster: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/Holocaust-and-Genocides-Poster-122809.jpg

WHEN :: 5:00 PM, Sunday, January 24, 2010

WHERE :: Center for Spiritual Living, 4801 Spring Valley, Dallas Texas 75244

WHO :: Individuals from every faith, ethnicity and race as well as leaders from civic, spiritual and business communities. No one is excluded.

COST :: The event is free, the only requirement is a firm confirmation by email to: i.will.attend.holocaust.event@gmail.com

WHAT :: People of every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background will gather to express our commitment to co-existence, Unity, safety, prosperity and well being of every human being.

Learn about the acts of courage of common people; who dared Nazi pogroms against fellow beings; who defied the acts of Genocides; who survived the massacres; and here at home, how the indigenous Americans have dealt with it.

It is time for us to "act united" and come together from every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background to express our commitment to co-existence, security and well being of every human being. Let's act like one family.

MISSION: Our Mission is to create awareness of the inhumanity within us and find solutions for sustainable co-existence for a safer and a secure world.

It takes guts to acknowledge that some one from our ethnicity, race, nationality or faith has committed atrocities, but when we do that, it will empower us to be peacemakers. Indeed it will bring peace to all. It is the right thing to do.

We cannot have security and peace when others around us don't. It is in our long term interests and security to abandon "me, me and me" and adapt "we, we and us"

We will do our best to list, recite and acknowledge each Genocide, and request you to take the responsibility to make the list complete. No one’s pain is lesser or greater than the other’s. This program allows us to reflect without blaming, forgiving but not forgetting, empathize without bias and learn to value life, every God given life.

Please remember the event is a reflection on your part as an individual, and peaceful, purposeful change towards making the society a better place.

You have the power to make a difference.

The first step in doing the right thing is, to commit to ourselves as individuals, in our own hearts, minds and souls to say “never again” to any and all atrocities and brutalities towards other human beings at home and abroad. Then we are lining up speakers to share the next steps.

INVITATION :: Your presence is requested to express solidarity with Americans; it is being an American regardless of one’s faith, ethnicity or race. It is about experiencing the sense of unity with fellow Americans with our own uniqueness and re-dedicating our pledge to liberty and justice for one and all.

We are looking for volunteers and sponsors. Details are on the website: http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

We prefer contributions of $100/individual, giving every individual a chance to support the event. Sponsorship for the full program is also welcome, at this time the budget is $5000.00. All funding will be accounted on this website.

Your organization can participate as a supporting or a sponsoring organization. All funds received will be listed on the website http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

This is an initiative of World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism towards creating a better world. The program will be taped in its entirety.

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse, Chair
(214) 325-1916
Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
email: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com
personal email: MikeGhouse@aol.com
Website: http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

Genocides

2009-10-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

List of Mass Murderers
Mike Ghouse

These men were solely responsible for the genocides associated with their names. It was their decision that led to Holocaust, Genocides and Massacres.

It takes one to start or to stop these attrocities, had the people surrounding these men stopped them, the world would have been different.

Indeed, we the good people are responsible for these crimes. Some times a simple word "NO" would stop one from doing bad things, perhaps you may have stopped doing a bad thing because someone had said NO. How many times have you walked away doing nothing when some one was mugged, raped, beaten up or abused? Should others do the same to you if you were in that situation?

It was not their religion that caused them to do these evil things, religion is created to wean people away from doing evil things, and we need to hold our eagerness to blame the religion. Religion is not the culprit, it is the messed up individual.

The least you can do is speak up, write up or discourage one from saying ill things about others. If you are a Palestinian, stop some one from denigrating Jews, and if you are a Jew, don't enjoy some one bashing a Palestinian, stop them. Are we honest enough?

We have to become the mitigaters of conflicts and nurturers of goodwill.

Mike Ghouse
~~~~~~~~~

SUBJECT TO VERIFFICATION
I would welcome any verification on this,

I would like to add all the verifiable mass killings (between 1900-2010), I know there are several major items missing here, when you send the info or when I get the time, I will update it. For example off the bat; The Jalianwala Massacre in 1919, the Sikh Massacre in Delhi, the Gujarnt Massacre in 2002, Sabra and Shatila, Congo....

Mao Ze-Dong (China, 1958-61 and 1966-69, Tibet 1949-50) 49-78,000,000
Jozef Stalin (USSR, 1932-39) 23,000,000 (the purges plus Ukraine's famine)
Adolf Hitler (Germany, 1939-1945) 12,000,000 (concentration camps and civilians WWII)
Hideki Tojo (Japan, 1941-44) 5,000,000 (civilians in WWII)
Ismail Enver (Turkey, 1915-20) 1,200,000 Armenians (1915) + 350,000 Greek Pontians and 480,000 Anatolian Greeks (1916-22) + 500,000 Assyrians (1915-20)
Pol Pot (Cambodia, 1975-79) 1,700,000
Kim Il Sung (North Korea, 1948-94) 1.6 million (purges and concentration camps)
Menghistu (Ethiopia, 1975-78) 1,500,000
Yakubu Gowon (Biafra, 1967-1970) 1,000,000
Leonid Brezhnev (Afghanistan, 1979-1982) 900,000
Jean Kambanda (Rwanda, 1994) 800,000
Suharto (East Timor, West Papua, Communists, 1966-98) 800,000
Saddam Hussein (Iran 1980-1990 and Kurdistan 1987-88) 600,000
Tito (Yugoslavia, 1945-1987) 570,000
Fumimaro Konoe (Japan, 1937-39) 500,000? (Chinese civilians)
Jonas Savimbi (Angola, 1975-2002) 400,000
Mullah Omar - Taliban (Afghanistan, 1986-2001) 400,000
Idi Amin (Uganda, 1969-1979) 300,000
Yahya Khan (Pakistan, 1970-71) 300,000 (Bangladesh)
Benito Mussolini (Ethiopia, 1936; Libya, 1934-45; Yugoslavia, WWII) 300,000
Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire, 1965-97) ?
Charles Taylor (Liberia, 1989-1996) 220,000
Foday Sankoh (Sierra Leone, 1991-2000) 200,000
Slobodan Milosevic (Yugoslavia, 1992-96) 180,000
Michel Micombero (Burundi, 1972) 150,000
Hassan Turabi (Sudan, 1989-1999) 100,000
Jean-Bedel Bokassa (Centrafrica, 1966-79) ?
Richard Nixon (Vietnam, 1969-1974) 70,000 (vietnamese civilians)
Efrain Rios Montt (Guatemala, 1982-83) 70,000
Papa Doc Duvalier (Haiti, 1957-71) 60,000
Hissene Habre (Chad, 1982-1990) 40,000
Chiang Kai-shek (Taiwan, 1947) 30,000 (popular uprising)
Vladimir Ilich Lenin (USSR, 1917-20) 30,000 (dissidents executed)
Francisco Franco (Spain) 30,000 (dissidents executed after the civil war)
Fidel Castro (Cuba, 1959-1999) 30,000
Lyndon Johnson (Vietnam, 1963-1968) 30,000
Hafez Al-Assad (Syria, 1980-2000) 25,000
Khomeini (Iran, 1979-89) 20,000
Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe, 1982-87, Ndebele minority) 20,000
Rafael Videla (Argentina, 1976-83) 13,000
Guy Mollet (France, 1956-1957) 10,000 (war in Algeria)
Paul Koroma (Sierra Leone, 1997) 6,000
Osama Bin Laden (worldwide, 1993-2001) 3,500
Augusto Pinochet (Chile, 1973) 3,000
Al Zarqawi (Iraq, 2004-06) 2,000

(Note: the crimes committed by right-wing dictators have always been easier to track down than the crimes against humanity committed by communist leaders, so the figures for communist leaders like Stalin and Mao increase almost yearly as new secret documents become available. To this day, the Chinese government has not yet disclosed how many people were executed by Mao's red guards during the Cultural Revolution and how many people were killed in Tibet during the Chinese invasion of 1950. We also don't know how many dissidents have been killed by order of Kim Il Sung in North Korea, although presumably many thousands). Main sources:

* Charny (1988) Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review
* Stephane Courtois: Black Book on Communism (1995)
* Matthews: Guiness Book of Records (2000)
* Clodfelter: Warfare and Armed Conflicts (1992)
* Elliot: Twentieth Century Book of the Dead (1972)
* Bouthoul : A List of the 366 Major Armed Conflicts of the period 1740-1974, Peace Research (1978)
* R.J. Rummel: Death by Government - Genocide and Mass Murder (1994)
* Matt White's website
* Several general textbooks of 20th century history

~~~

Volunteers wanted

2009-09-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

If you wish to volunteer, please send the email to: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com - in the subject line, please write "Volunteer for Holocaust & Genocides event" - Thanks

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

First, download the flier at this site, first item on the top left or and then you can forward the link, or simply copy the jpg file and paste it in the email and forward it.

1. Invite your friends
2. Please reach out and invite people from every race, faith and ethnicity.
3. Invite Faith based organizations to participate - No money is required
4. Invite leaders from religion and education services
5. Invite Civic & Corporate leaders
6. Be a Volunteer to do different Chores
7. Donation from your friends or you in multiples of $100.00 is welcome
8. Sponsorship in multiples of $500.00 is welcome
9. Compile a list of Genocides with a 500 word write up on each

Our Mission is to encourage individuals to develop an open mind and an open heart toward their follow beings. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. We believe that knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of a different point of view.

Foundation for Pluralism,
Studies in Religious Pluralism & Pluralistic Societies
Workshops Seminars Education News Letters
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206,
Dallas, TX 75234 (214) 325-1916

Please send the information to HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

I am looking for a few good volunteers to invite every possible organization to the event.

Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916

# # #

Holocaust Industry

2009-09-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

I wrote about the Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides this morning and am bombarded with reckless comments about Holocaust and phrases like the “Holocaust industry” . It hurts me; indeed it should hurt every one.

If you feel what Jews feel, you probably would understand their anxieties. After nearly 2000 years of “wandering” they found a home in Germany, they became a part of the story [1] of Germany and contributed to her growth and prosperity and when they got comfortable, guess how they got rewarded? Inhuman brutal shameless gas chambers for 6 million of them!

Jews assimilated in Germany and felt secure, you think it is a thing of the past? Hell no, it goes on, a few years ago, right here in my home town Dallas, one city council man referred to another as “you people” because that “you” was a Jew. I was outraged and every one in America should. How dare one question another American? I wrote to Dallas Morning News expressing my disgust and thank God they printed it.

You may not keep up with it, but as a peace volunteer I do, their fear is real. Some idiot or the other is painting a swastika on someone's house or a synagogue, it happened in Carrollton some ten years ago, the ignorant imbeciles thought that the lady was Jewish, and marked her house. The holocaust Museum in DC was attacked recently [2]. Some one walked into a Synagogue in Seattle and opened fire. Are you aware of these? If you are what is wrong when they guard themselves with remembrance of Holocaust?

Holocaust industry is a misnomer... you cannot feel their pain, anguish and discomfort. Of course there are always people who take advantage of the situation, but talking and remembering about holocaust must go on, their grief should be every one’s grief and we should all shoulder their burden and help them feel secure. A just society brings peace and security to every one and each one of us must work for it. Ultimately every one feels safe and secure.

No matter how insignificant you and I are, we must speak out when there is injustice. The hopelessness of Palestinians and the insecurity of Israelis is the doing of their Neocon leadership which ignores the voices of moderate Palestinians and Jews, they need to listen to them and be just to the Palestinians and not do unto them what they want not done to them. Justice is the key to peace and security for every one, [3] we must speak up and find security for them and justice for the Palestinians.

Taking a stand for justness pisses people off on both sides; the extreme ideologues among the Jewish and the Palestinian communities will not like you or I to speak about justness, each one wants you to take their side. That is the precise reason there is no security for Jews in Israel and Justice for the Palestinians. Sixty years have gone by and the policies have not worked for the common Israelis and the Palestinians, it is time to change. Should we sit pretty and not rattle? Or should we speak up for the good of one and all? The choice is yours.

President Obama will do the right thing; he will bring security to Jews and Justice to the Palestinians, these items are not mutually exclusive.

It is being "American" to stand up for the underdog, and I am pleased to be an American and want my fellow American Jews to know that I am with them when injustice is done to them, I will stand up for them in my own little ways. My faith teaches me to do my share of repairing the world and I am grateful to Jews, Muslims and persons from every faith in Dallas for joining me in commemorating the Holocaust and Genocides [4] twice in the last few years and again, God willing we will do it in 2010.

The world is shrinking, exclusive conclaves would become obsolete and people will be living together more harmoniously than ever before as the new society would define it as a necessity. Religion will continue to be an important aspect of people’s life, but it will be the religion of justice that Moses taught, religion of love and forgiveness that Jesus taught, religion of humility and equality that Mohammad taught, religion of taking responsibility for one's good and bad that Zarthustra taught, religion for caring for others that so many earth based and indigenous traditions taught, religion of respect for every being that Krishna and Mahavir taught, religion of caring (even) for the enemies that Nanak taught and the idea of one humanity that Bahaullah taught… and all the goodness that every peace maker in the world has contributed to. Despite the issues of the world, we will be living in a better tomorrow.

Don't expect or demand others to be just and peaceful, if you as an individual are not. Let’s stand up for a just world, and the least we can do is to speak up.

[1] http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2009/04/are-muslims-part-of-american-story.html
[2] http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2009/06/muslims-condemn-display-of-hate-at.html
[3] http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2009/09/solutions-for-israel-and-palestine.html
[4] http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2009/09/iii-annual-reflections-on-holocaust-and.html

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer speaker and an activist of pluralism, interfaith, co-existence, peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on http://www.mikeghouse.net/

2009-09-14T13:59:00.001-07:00

Morocco's king takes risky stand on Holocaust

2009-07-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

(07-26) 04:00 PDT Rabat, Morocco -- From the western edge of the Muslim world, the King of Morocco has dared to tackle one of the most inflammatory issues in the Middle East conflict - the Holocaust.

At a time when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's dismissal of the Holocaust has made the biggest headlines, King Mohammed VI has called the Nazi destruction of the Jews "one of the most tragic chapters of modern history," and has endorsed a Paris-based program aimed at spreading the word among fellow Muslims.

Many in the Islamic world still ignore or know little about the Nazi attempt to annihilate the Jews during World War II. Some disbelieve it outright. Others argue that it was a European crime and imagine it to be the reason Israel exists and that the Palestinians are stateless.

The sentiment was starkly illustrated in March after a Palestinian youth orchestra performed for Israeli Holocaust survivors, only to be shut down by angry leaders of the West Bank refugee camp where they live.

"The Holocaust happened, but we are facing a similar massacre by the Jews themselves," a community leader named Adnan Hindi said at the time. "We lost our land and we were forced to flee."

Like other moderate Arab leaders, King Mohammed VI must tread carefully. Islamic fervor is rising in his kingdom, highlighted in 2003 by al Qaeda-inspired attacks in Casablanca on targets that included Jewish sites. Forty-five people died.

The king's acknowledgment of the Holocaust, in a speech read out in his name at a ceremony in Paris in March, appears to further illustrate the radically different paths that countries like Morocco and Iran are taking.

Morocco has long been a quiet pioneer in Arab-Israeli peace efforts, most notably when it served as a secret meeting place for the Israeli and Egyptian officials who set up President Anwar Sadat's groundbreaking journey to Jerusalem in 1977.

Though Moroccan officials say the timing is coincidental, the Holocaust speech came at around the same time that Morocco severed diplomatic relations with Iran, claiming it was infiltrating Shiite Muslim troublemakers into this Sunni nation.

The speech was read out at a ceremony launching the "Aladdin Project," an initiative of the Paris-based Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah (Holocaust), which aims to spread awareness of the genocide among Muslims.

It organizes conferences and has translated key Holocaust writings such as Anne Frank's diary into Arabic and Farsi. The name refers to Aladdin, the young man with the genie in his lamp, whose legend, originally Muslim, became a universally loved tale.

The Holocaust, the king's speech said, is "the universal heritage of mankind."

It was "a very important political act," said Anne-Marie Revcolevschi, director of the Shoah foundation. "This is the first time an Arab head of state takes such a clear stand on the Shoah," she said in a telephone interview.

While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict often aggravates Arab sentiment toward Israel, Morocco has a long history of coexistence between Muslims and Jews.

Jews have lived in Morocco for 2,000 years. Their numbers swelled after they were expelled from Spain in 1492, and reached 300,000 before World War II, when yet more fled the German occupation and found refuge in Morocco, then a French colony.Today they number just 3,000, most having emigrated to France, North America or Israel, but they are free to come back to explore their roots, pray at their ancestors’ graves and even settle here.Simon Levy heads the Jewish Museum in Casablanca, a treasure trove of old Torah scrolls, garments and jewelry illustrating the rich culture of Moroccan Jewry.

“That I still run the only Jewish museum in the Arab world is telling,” he said.
Andre Azoulay, a top adviser to the current king, is Jewish and one of six members of the king’s council in a monarchy that oversees all major decisions. Considered one of Morocco’s most powerful men, he views his country as “a unique case” for the intensity of its Jewish-Muslim relations. “We don’t mix up Judaism and the tragedy of the Middle East,” he told The Associated Press in an interview.

A founding member of the Aladdin project, Azoulay says part of the program’s goal is to show the West that Muslims aren’t hostile to Jews, and that Morocco was among countries that resisted Nazi plans to exterminate their Jewish populations. He points to king Mohammed V, the current ruler’s grandfather, who is credited with resisting French colonial anti-Semitic policies.
Such actions were rare, but not unique in North Africa during World War II. In Tunisia, the late Khaled Abdelwahhab hid Jews from the Nazis on his farm, and was the first Arab to be nominated as “Righteous Among the Nations,” a title bestowed by Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, on those who risked their lives to save Jews in the Holocaust. His case is still under study.

The Aladdin project is only just beginning. Its work has yet to reach schools or bookstores in Morocco, although the Shoah foundation’s Revcolevschi said Anne Frank’s diary is among Holocaust memoirs available in Arabic and Farsi on the Internet, and is being sold under the counter in Iran.“People speak of a clash of civilizations, but it’s more a clash of ignorance,” she said. “We’re countering this.”Hakim El Ghissassi, an aide to the senior Islamic Affairs official who delivered Mohammed’s speech, said the king is uniquely positioned to promote Islam’s dialogue with Judaism, because his titles include “Commander of the believers” — meaning he is the paramount authority for Moroccan Muslims.

“What the king has said on the Holocaust reflects our broader efforts,” said El Ghissassi, listing such reforms as courses to reinforce Morocco’s tradition of tolerant Islam by familiarizing local imams with Jewish and Christian holy books.

“We want to make sure everybody can differentiate between unfair Israeli policies and respect for Judaism,” he said.

This article appeared on page A - 11 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/26/MNGK18V5G7.DTL#ixzz0MbKK5H9d

Dallas Muslims have been commemorating the Holocaust since 2006

6 Million Jews were massacred because of their faith. The whole world stood by and did nothing until after the genocide of a 3rd of the Jewish People….I would paraphrase Einstein’s wisdom: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ It is the silence of good people that is responsible for the evil more so than the people who do bad things. I hope each one of you at the end of the program, would walk out with a feeling that “I” must stand for justice and the least I would do is to speak.

Never again, I would remain silent when I see an atrocity”
http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/HMD2006_ProgramReport.asp

Mike Ghouse, Chair
www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

Muslim condemn Ahmedinejad's statement

The utterances of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition party in Egypt, perhaps do not reflect even their own constituents, let alone Muslims. Muslims do not subscribe to such nonsense, for it is the duty of a Muslim to stand up for a just world.

I grew up in a Muslim family and read about the Holocaust. My devout Muslim mother took away the book, telling me to read when I can understand the suffering.

Thanks to her, I am one of the volunteers in organizing Holocaust Memorial Day on Jan. 26. To save a life is saving the whole of humanity. Holy Torah and Holy Quran say it, and Hinduism talks about the whole world as one family. All faiths teach the same goodness. I recently visited the Holocaust Museum and would urge every disbeliever to visit and understand it.

My mom would be pleased to know I am doing what it takes to be a "good Muslim," to respect every life God created.

Mike Ghouse, Carrollton in 2006
#

Confronting Genocide

2009-07-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

Confronting Genocide: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

There is a new book published by Rowman and Littlefield "Confronting Genocide: Judaism, Christianity, Islam." The book is edited by genocide scholar Dr. Steven Leonard Jacobs with contributions by other genocide scholars.

http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=%5EDB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0739135880&thepassedurl=%5Bthepassedurl%5D

"Confronting Genocide is an essential exploration of this complex dimension of the conceptual foundations of genocide. Steven Jacobs has done superb work in bringing together a broad and rich range of scholarly perspectives. A necessary contribution to genocide studies."—Peter Balakian, author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response

"It is the first collection of essays by recognized scholars primarily in the field of religious studies to address this timely topic. In addition to theoretical thinking about both religion and genocide and the relationship between the two, these authors look at the tragedies of the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, Rwanda, Bosnia, and the Sudan from their own unique vantage point. In so doing, they supply a much needed additional contribution to the ongoing conversations proffered by historians, political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, and legal scholars regarding prevention, intervention, and punishment."

List of Contributors

Paul R. Bartrop; Donald J. Dietrich; Mohammad Omar Farooq; Zev Garber; Leonard B. Glick; Stephen R. Haynes; Henry F. Knight; Leo Kuper; Paul Mojzes; James Frazier Moore; Chris Mato Nunpa; David Patterson; John T. Pawlikowski; Gary A. Phillips; Carol Rittner; John K. Roth; Richard L. Rubenstein

About the Editor

Steven Leonard Jacobs is associate professor of religious studies and holds the Aaron Aronov Endowed Chair of Judaic Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.

Reviews:

"Confronting Genocide is an essential exploration of this complex dimension of the conceptual foundations of genocide. Steven Jacobs has done superb work in bringing together a broad and rich range of scholarly perspectives. A necessary contribution to genocide studies."—Peter Balakian, author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response

"Religion has too often been a cause of genocide. The essays in this collection examine why, and then propose how religious texts and traditions could be re-interpreted so that religions could become forces against genocide."—Gregory Stanton, President, The International Association of Genocide Scholars

"My God! This book about what our Gods really instruct us—is it 'Do Not Kill,' or is it 'Yes, Kill in My Name' (or alternately both notwithstanding the contradiction)—deserves our deep thoughtfulness along with considerable appreciation to the editor for addressing soundly a largely neglected and censored topic. Steven Jacobs leads us to important encounters with 'exclusivity, superiority, privileged access to God'; 'chosen people'-ness and 'promised land-ness'; 'nationalist-racist ideology undergirded by religious thought'; and how religion often 'divides humanity into believers and infidels, into the saved and the damned.' Highly recommended."—Israel W. Charny, author of Fascism and Democracy in the Human Mind and and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Genocide

Contributed by: Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq

By the way, I also maintain a website on Genocide 1971, which you are welcome to visit at http://www.globalwebpost.com/genocide1971. I contributed a chapter to this book "Islam and Genocide: The Case of Bangladesh in 1971", pp. 139-150.

Holocaust observance in Israel.

2009-07-18T15:56:00.001-07:00

Holocaust observance in Israel.

http://maoz.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=maoz_holocaust_video

It is one of the most beautiful and moving videos, showing how people honor the holocaust, Insha Allah, I will observe that from next year and would remind every one to do the same.

Indeed, in Madinah, a funeral procession was passing by, the prophet asked his companions who it was, and they identified the person from a certain Jewish tribe. The prophet stood up in silence and respect until the procession passed and said we have to honor every person who leaves this world. From God we come and to God we go.

As peace makers we have to mitigate the conflicts and nurture goodwill, we need to focus on evoking the kindness and bringing people together on such a somber occasion. I wish the maker of the video deleted Ahmedinejad from the video, during that feeling of kindness and love, his picture negated that feeling. I have argued with Muslims and others about the purpose of such inclusions on other occasions and now, I would recommend that it be removed. Let people feel the sorrow and not hate.

Many Muslims in Dallas including me have condemned Ahmedinejad's statement, it is not reflective of the people of Iran or Muslims either, the subscribers to Ahmedinejad idiocy are as few as the subscribers to hate mongering in Israel, yet it feeds the base emotion by highlighting such events, as though the whole population is behind it, it is not, and we need to remind ourselves to be truthful in our understandings, as truth relieves the pain.

May God bless every soul that lost his and her life during the Holocaust and Genocides; May God bring justice to such a huge injustice and restore the balance in the world. Amen

Mike Ghouse
#

Texas Holocaust and Genocides Bill Signed

2009-06-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

.
Texas Holocaust and Genocides Bill Signed
Susan, Mary Lee, Cynthia and Elly share this good news:

We are happy to report that on June 19, 2009, Governor Perry signed SB 482, which creates the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission. The legislation takes effect on September 1, 2009; information about the legislation can be found at
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Actions.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB482.

Thanks to each of you who wrote to your legislator, testified at the hearings, and contacted other individuals and groups to raise awareness about the need for this commission. Together, we have ensured that future generations learn about the Holocaust and other genocides. We especially wish to express our deep appreciation to the bill’s sponsors in the Texas legislature who guided us through the process and showed their commitment to the education and commemoration of these events.

With warm regards,
Susan, Mary Lee and Cynthia
Cynthia Capers, Associate Director of Education, Holocaust Museum Houston
Elliott Dlin– Executive Director, Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education & Tolerance
# # #

III ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES
SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2010 - 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

From Mike Ghouse,

Signing of the Senate Bill 482 is indeed a good step in the right direction.

I will be calling on a meeting in mid to late July to plan on the 3rd Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides to be held on Sunday, January 24, 2010. We would certainly want to invite the Governor and the Senators who have made this possible. I will prepare a letter of appreciation and together we can sign and send to the Governor and the Senators.

As individuals and organizations, we want to invite every one to do their share in preventing the atrocities against other humans.

Pictures from the last two events are at: http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/
An initiative of World Muslim Congress and the foundation for Pluralism.

Silent no more, speak up.

Feel free to send an email to: holocaustandgenocides@gmail.com

Mike Ghouse
Event Chair
III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

.

Muslims Condemn display of hate at Holocaust Museum

2009-06-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Muslims Condemn display of hate at Holocaust Museum

As Americans and as Muslims, we condemn this expression of hate; killing innocent people at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.

We all have a moral responsibility to protect and preserve life on earth, each time we see hate expressed in this fashion, we feel the responsibility to do our share of repairing the world. A lot of work needs to be done and we need to stand together and be a guard to each one of the 301 Million Americans. Our Obligation to one and all is to see us become one nation under the creator and be one community.

We mourn the loss of Stephen Johns, the security guard whose life was lost in protecting the lives of Members and the visitors to the Holocaust Museum.

As Americans we stand with the Jewish community and the symbols that represent the community including the Holocaust Museum.

Mike Ghouse
In behalf of the Muslim Community,
World Muslim Congress
# # #

Security Guard Dies in Attack at US Holocaust Museum
By Kent Klein
White House
10 June 2009
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-06-10-voa53.cfm

A man opened fire inside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington on Wednesday, killing a security guard before being shot by another guard. Local officials say the suspected gunman, who is believed to have ties to neo-Nazi groups, is in critical condition.

Washington police chief Cathy Lanier says the man walked into the crowded Holocaust Museum Wednesday afternoon and fired several shots.

"It appears that immediately as he entered the front doors of the museum, he raised the rifle and started shooting," said Cathy Lanier.

David Unroe was visiting the museum with his wife and grandchildren when the shots rang out.

"They yelled, 'Hit the floor, hit the floor!' So we did," said David Unroe. "We huddled up with another young family for what seemed like quite awhile, but was only a couple of minutes. At that time, we were scared, wondering what's next, if we're next. And at that time, they yelled, 'Get up and run out, run out!' So we did and followed the crowd."

Security guard Stephen Johns (undated photo)
Museum officials identified the guard who was killed as Stephen Johns. In an e-mail, the museum director said he "died heroically in the line of duty."

According to news reports, law enforcement officials are investigating the suspected gunman, James von Brunn - a man in his late 80s who is believed to have connections to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Von Brunn has a racist, anti-Semitic Internet website.

Police chief Lanier says there is no evidence that any threats had been made before the incident.
"We had no prior information," she said. "There were no prior threats of this nature about this incident. So it appears to be a lone gunman who entered into the museum and opened fire."

Rabbi Andrew Baker is the Director of International Jewish Affairs for the American Jewish Committee. He cautioned that U.S. Jewish groups need to be more vigilant about their security.

"This is something that all of us at Jewish organizations, for a long time, at least in the U.S., did not pay much attention to and particularly, if you contrasted it to what has been the norm in at least European capitals, at synagogues, Jewish organizations, where the security is much more secure, much more intense," said Rabbi Baker.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama is "saddened" by what happened and that he is monitoring the situation.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington condemned the attack.

II Annual Reflections on Holocaut & Genocides

2009-02-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

II ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Unity Church, Dallas

A Muslim initiative
Program Outline & Draft Script

On the stage;
Master of Ceremonies : Imam Zia Shaikh

Mike Ghouse - Opening
Bernie Mayoff - Introduce Imam Zia Shaikh
Imam Zia Shaikh - Acknowledgements
Mike Ghouse - Purpose statement
Mike Ghouse - Silent Prayers
Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk - Signs of Genocides
Mike Ghouse - Abridged 14 minutes documentary Scream Bloody Murder
Bryan Rigg - Key Note Speaker - Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
Mike Ghouse - Recognitions; Bernie Mayoff and Elliott Dlin
Nancy Rebal - Station II, assimilation of voices of forgiveness
Todd Collier - Benediction
Maryam Ruhullah - Refreshment Announcement

Opening by Mike Ghouse

I am pleased to welcome ya’ll to the Unity Church here in Dallas.
Organizing this event was not easy. I sincerely hope those few men and women who were anxious about the event, may find it comforting that the event is purely a humanitarian event. It is to acknowledge human suffering. God willing, we have carefully crafted this event to be a bridge building event. This event is one small step towards opening our hearts and minds towards fellow beings.

Let me quote Ruth Fishel “if we cannot stop the battles in our own minds, how can we expect to stop the battles in the world? We need to begin with ourselves and understand first our own personal conflict. Each time we are willing to look at our own issue, we come to a greater understanding of the conflicts others have.

Let me start with the Greetings; when people greet each other, there are three essential components to that – i) acknowledgment of the other ii) A desire to connect and iii) Build friendship with peace of mind.

You will be pleased with the wisdom embedded in the greetings; in a Hindu Greeting “ I would invoke the good in you to interact with the good in me” . You will find similar meaning in all greetings. In the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions the word “Peace is used” – when you greet them, you are actually invoking the best of that person, the peacefulness of that person to interact your peacefulness. I wish, we all understood the power of the greetings. Wow! I am setting up the other to be showered in peace and meet with me. That is powerful.

Please feel free to repeat after me;

Bahai Buddhist Christian Hindu Islam
Jain Jewish Sikh Wicca Zoroastrian

May you be showered in peace, may your words and actions emanate peace. Amen

Bernie May off – intro by Mike Ghouse

Bernie Mayoff is active in a wide variety of volunteer activities in Richardson and across the Metroplex. He is a volunteer with United Way, a past president of the J. J. Pearce Homeowners Association, a member of the Richardson Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association and a graduate of the Richardson Citizen Fire Academy.

He has been a wish granter for Make-a-Wish. He has been Treasurer of Congregation Beth Torah in Richardson. Bernie co-chaired the Long Range Planning Committee of Network of Community Ministries and is a Lifeline volunteer with Jewish Family Service repairing emergency call buttons and phones for seniors and other subscribers to Lifeline services. He worked with displaced victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita following those storms. He has been a Facilitator at Dallas Dinner table and is a member of the planning team of Metroplex Breakfast Dialogues.

Bernie was a candidate for Richardson City Council in 2005 and served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment. He is a graduate of Leadership Richardson. Bernie is a member of the local Selective Service Board (the draft board) and a past president of North Texas Mensa.

Bernie retired early from IBM

Bernie is a member of Congregation Beth Torah in Richardson and Temple Shalom in Dallas. Bernie is involved in a number of interfaith and multicultural activities promoting mutual understanding and tolerance. Together with Rabbi Haas, Bernie helped Mike Ghouse with the first Dallas observance of the UN Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005.

He is an amateur photographer and a SCUBA diver. He has had an amateur radio license since he was a teenager. He likes to read, swim and travel. Bernie and his wife Denise have been Richardson residents since 1980 and his four children attended Richardson schools. They have three grandchildren and that will become four in June.

Please welcome Bernie Mayoff.

Introduction of Imam Zia Shaikh – by Bernie Mayoff

And I am pleased to introduce, our Master of Ceremonies, Imam Zia Shaikh.
He is a founding member and Board Member of the North Texas Islamic Council, an umbrella organization representing Islamic Organizations in the North Texas Area. He is also one of the Board Members of Irving Faiths together, a group of various religious organizations, dedicated to Peace and Harmony between faiths.

He is a Hafiz –a- Qur’aan that is the title for the one who has memorized the Qur’aan. He has studied various aspect of theology including Arabic Syntax, Etymology and Grammar, Logic, Qur’anic Exegesis, Hadith Exegesis, Comparative Religions, Islamic Jurisprudence of the four main schools of thought, Foundations of Jurisprudence, Qur’an and Hadith, and other subjects. He has a Masters degree in Islamic Theology and continues to interact with scholars to further his understanding of Islam.

He is one of the instructors at Suffa Academy in the Islamic Association of North Texas, teaching subjects such as Life of the Prophet, research and Hadith studies.

He also conducts regular study circles at the Islamic Center of Irving, and is often invited to speak at colleges, universities, conferences and seminars.

He is actively involved in interfaith work, indeed he was a speaker at the first UN Holocaust memorial event in Dallas two years ago.

He has served as an Imam in the USA since 1996, and he is fluent in Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati and English.

He is also a soccer Imam, weight lifting Imam and an Imam who is fit emotionally, physically and spiritually.

He has co-authored a rebuttal article to Geert Wilders, the Dutch parliamentarian who had misquoted Qur’aan and made a movie based on misquote. He has developed power point presentations to understand the misunderstandings about Qur’aan.
Please welcome Imam Zia Shaikh.

Welcome and Acknowledgement by Imam Zia Shaikh

I am pleased that we are here together this afternoon, just 2 days before the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp that took place on January 27, 1945.

January 27th was declared by the United Nations as the International Day of Commemoration of the Holocaust and for the prevention of Genocides. It is a day for us to stand together in order to promote tolerance.

Acknowledgements

•I am please to acknowledge our supporters for this event, as I call the name of each organization, would your please stand up and wave.
Memnosyne Foundation
Dallas Peace Center
Today Marks the beginning
Universal Peace Federation
Unity Church
Cathedral of Hope

We appreciate the support and encouragement we have received from these organization.

• Volunteers: Todd Collier, Nancy Rebal, Maryam Ruhullah, John Shore
• Thanks to Anthony Chisolm for the Flower arrangements
• Thanks to Alan Keith for security arrangements
• Thanks to Constance Hargis, Reem Al-Ghonim and Rita Clarke – register
• Thanks to Maryam Ruhullah for arranging the refreshments after the program. Refreshments after the program is a courtesy of Cindy's delicatessan
• Aftab Lakhani and his crew for the Video and the photography

Nothing good ever happens in life, unless we strive for it. The world is going through difficult times now, and it is our duty to do our share and consciously create a better world. I am glad to see the Muslims taking this initiative to build bridges between the communities.
Qur'an, Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13: "O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of God, is the best in conduct. God Knows and is Aware of everything you do."

Introducing Mike Ghouse – By Imam Zia Shaikh

I am pleased to introduce Mike Ghouse; who will share the purpose and effort made for this event. Indeed, he is the initiator of this event, the first one was initiated two years ago and now this event at the Unity Church, here in Dallas

He co-chairs the center for interfaith inquiry at the Memnosyne Foundation, and presides the Foundation for Pluralism. He presides the World Muslim Congress a think tank with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world and vice-Versa. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and 20+ Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town.

Mike's is a Neighborhood Commissioner at the City of Carrollton, and a Board Member of Dallas Peace Center and has initiated the annual events like Thanksgiving, Unity Day USA, Holocaust and Genocides and other events. He was Past President of Indian Creek HOA and North Texas Cricket Association and has been a member of several Boards.

If I have met a true pluralist – a person who has an open mind, I would have to say that it is Mike Ghouse. Mike has been written up in major news papers and has been interviewed on every Television network.

His life revolves around the mission to promote goodwill amongst peoples of different affiliations, be it religious, nationalistic, racial, and linguistic or any other uniqueness. He believes in the divinity of all religions, and certainly emphasizes that it is the individuals that are the problem in the world and NOT their religion.

He has got a tough road ahead of him, when he boldly promotes the idea that all of us are created by the same divinity, and all the goodness, all the holy scriptures are God’s words and accepting and respecting that divinity in every faith is the greatest form of worship to him.

Please welcome my friend, a fellow Muslim, Mike Ghouse

Purpose statement – Mike Ghouse

Our Mission for this event is to create an awareness of the inhumanity in all of us and discover solutions for peaceful co-existence. We need to remind ourselves frequently to do our share to make the world a better place to live. Indeed, this event would firm up a commitment within all of us to say “never again” to atrocities against other humans.

If I were to say one main purpose of this event, I would say this is it.” Learn to speak up and say never again. We encourage each one of you to practice the power of forgiveness. If we want a better world, we have to do our share.

To be a Religious is to be a peacemaker, one who seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; that is indeed the purpose of religion, every religion. In every faith, the message is similar; how to live in peace with oneself and what surrounds; life and the environment. Most people get that message and a few don’t and resort to do the opposite of peace making. Every prescribed act in any faith is programmed to build co-existence in it, most of us get it and a few don’t.

I believe the world is driven to the wall by a few individuals, as Edmund Burke had said, all it takes for the evil to persist is for good men to do nothing. A majority of the people, no matter how you slice them; by race, religion, ethnicity or any other uniqueness are good human beings who care for their families and live their own life. Individuals create chaos and individuals can also work on creating peace.

The most critical value in societies is Justice. If an individual robs, steals, or kills someone, he should be the one to be incarcerated and not his family, community, ethnicity, or his religion. Justice is served when the individual is punished and NOT others. You cannot punish one’s religion, it is an intangible. However, if we can focus on holding an individual’s responsible and punish, then Peace is guaranteed. I believe this is the solution for terrorism, isolating individuals responsible and punishing them and sparing the religion.

Our Mission at the World Muslim Congress is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed towards justice and equity to attain peace for the humankind with a firm grounding in commonly held values. We cannot have advantages at the cost of others. Such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world, and vice versa, to sustain it.

The mission of the Foundation for Pluralism is to encourage individuals to accept the otherness of other, and develop an open mind and an open heart toward their fellow beings. “If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.”

As Muslims, Jews, Christian, Hindus and people of faith we have to pray for the well being of every life. Both the Torah and Qur’aan say “saving a life is like saving the whole humanity” and I wish the Jews, Muslims and every one of us follows the principles of our faith. If we do, we will find peace and security.

Peace and security will come to us, when we value other’s life as we would value our own, peace and security will come to us when we create an environment around us that is conducive to peace and security. We owe it to our retirement, our children and generations to come to keep them miles away from revenge, hate and malice. No one should cherish the death of other person, as that act would amount to validation of the other persons’ revelation in our death.
May God help us bring peace (refer to the quote in peace book).

Now Let’s observe a minutes silence.

Elly and I carefully chose to observe silent prayers to accommodate and acknowledge every pain, genocide and atrocity. In your silence, I would like you to reflect upon every known genocide and massacre, and detach yourselves from the emotions, and find solutions with compassion and co-existence in mind.
Let’s begin reflecting….

Thank you.

Imam Zia introduces Mary Ann:

"Described by Chicago’s Woman Made Gallery, where she serves on the
Advisory Board, as “a prolific artist, writer and social
activist!"

Mary Ann, public speaker and award winning artist, has
also received several awards for her philanthropic and activist
efforts including being recognized by Philanthropy World Magazine
as a 2006 Honoree and The Foundation For Pluralism 2007 Award.

She was also selected out of the state of Texas to receive the 2008
Brilliantly You Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. She has
served on over 14 different boards that range from local to
international in their scope, including as a current member of the
Board of Trustees for The Interfaith Center of New York, Board of
Advisors for The Indigenous Institute of The Americas, as
President/Co-Founder of The Memnosyne Foundation and of The John
Philp Thompson Foundation for Brain Cancer Research.

Together with her husband, Joshua Frenk, Mary Ann has sponsored various human rights, arts and environmental programs both individually and via the Memnosyne Foundation."

She has given a tremendous support for this event, and given the cross roads we are at, she believes events like this are timely and will be a good step forward towards consciously creating a better world for us.

She is an inspirer and an effective speakers,
please welcome Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk.

Ten Signs of Genocide – Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk

The points of my speech will be based on the 10 stages of genocide
I first encountered in the Kagali Memorial Museum in Rwanda. Eight
of them are based on the work of Gregory H Stanton:

1. Classification - defining "us and them"
2. Symbolization - forcing groups to wear symbols
3. Dehumanization - one group denies the humanity of the other group.
4. Organization - genocide is usually an organized effort by the society that has bought into the dehumanization of a select group.
5. Polarization - moderates are eliminated to prevent protests within the ruling class.
6. Preparation - victims are separated from the rest of society
7. Extermination - mass killing
8. Denial - perpetrators attempt to hide evidence of genocide or/and blame the victims.
The additional indications the Kigali Memorial Museum identified are:
9. Hate-Propaganda - (Stanton includes this as part of #3 & 5,
Rwandans list it after #3 as its own warning sign.)
10. Unquestioning Loyalty - to ruling government (Stanton includes
this as part of #4 & 5, Rwandans list it after #4 as its own
warning sign.)

SCREAM BLOODY MURDER - ABRIDGED DOCUMENTARY
OF CHRISTIANA AMANPOUR - 14 MINUTES

Introducing the Key Note speaker – Imam Zia

Bryan Mark Rigg worked in the Private Banking Division of Credit Suisse as a Private Wealth Manager from 2006 to the end of 2008. Recently, he has set up his own firm called RIGG Wealth Management.

Before entering the financial world, he was a professor at Southern Methodist University and American Military University from 2000 to 2006.

He has published three books on the Holocaust, the Third Reich and World War II history. He earned a BA from Yale University and both an MA and PhD from Cambridge University.
He served two years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He lives in Dallas with his wife of 12 years and their three young children.

Please welcome Bryan Rigg

Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides - Bryan Mark Rigg

Recognitions:

There are two individuals I would like to recognize at this time and request them to join me here:

Elliott Dlin

for his commitment to promoting peace through education and tolerance in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex. His heart knows no prejudice and is an all inclusive, caring human being. He believes in accepting and respecting the God given uniqueness in each one of the seven billion of us.

We hereby confer the title of “Pluralist” to Elliott Dlin, on this Sunday, January 25, 2009 on the eve of the “II Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides”.

Bernie Mayoff

for his encouragement and support in organizing the first Holocaust Commemoration event, and his commitment to promote peace through participation and the communities of Dallas Fort Worth.

We hereby confer the title of “Pluralist” to Bernie Mayoff, on this Sunday, January 25, 2009 on the eve of the “II Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides”.

Vision – Mike Ghouse
From this day forward,

Let’s pledge to ourselves that no individual or a community should bear the pain alone, your suffering is mine and my suffering is yours.

Shame on me if I do not feel the pain because that dying person is Jewish, Muslim, Christian or another human… Shame on me if I let a Child die of hunger because she believes differently.

Let’s pledge that when there is a human atrocity, the least we will do is to speak up, regardless of whom it is directed at.

When we talk about One God, it is more than the number one. It is rather oneness of God, oneness of Humanity. Oneness of God is a state of conflictless-ness and accepting the intentional creation of diversity. Trillions of stars are out there in the Galaxy, each one has its own trajectory, its own space and it is a model for us to follow – that 7 billion of us can live our own life.

The real conflicts are i) Your space, spiritual, physical and emotional ii) the food that sustains you and iii) the loved ones that nurture you spiritually. All other conflicts are to be handled through a dialogue as they are not real conflicts.

My vision is for us to learn to accept the otherness of other, and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. I believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view.

From this day forward, let’s pray that the religious folks and the secular non-religious folks come together for the common good of humanity.

Let’s pledge to save and protect each life. It was a Jew who took the lead in stopping the genocide in Bosnia , it is the Jews who have taken up the Darfur case, and we all need to join for the common good of humankind. Let the goodness in each one of us prevail over the revenge.

We have to bring justice and hope to the Palestinians, and security to the Israelis. Thank God, quite a lot of people including many Jewish organizations are working on it. May God bless them all and encourage them to do more. Yasher Koach.

Nancy Rebal – Imam Zia to introduce
I am pleased to invite Nancy Rebal to speak about her and her vision.

Station 2 – Nancy Rebal

I am an artist. The life of my dreams finds me alone at home painting all day, every day. But after a while, I need food, I get lonely and...I need something to paint about. I need other people. The values I was raised with name me a citizen, not just a consumer, and citizenship comes not only with rights but with personal responsibility.

I am finally grown up...which, to me, means saying YES when asked to do something I am able to do that needs to be done...no matter how much I would rather be home alone painting.

Lately I have been saying YES to a path I never expected, and it keeps leading me to more YESES and more YESES. I never know a moment ahead where this path is going, but I know it is asking me to follow. And I answer YES. In 3 weeks it is leading me to Africa. I will be taking STATIONS TWO, an interactive public artwork, from Dallas to Rwanda, to appear at the International Gathering of Forgiveness in Kigali to mark the 15th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide. This trip will be the first leg of STATION TWO's pilgrimage around the globe, creating the collective voice of human forgiveness, a sound never before heard.

Here's the story. I volunteered here in Dallas at the Women's World Peace Conference in the summer of 2007, for the nonprofit Truth in Translation, a nonprofit making peace through art . Diane Hosey president of TmtB asked me to create an artwork to travel with the South African play Truth in Translation. The play is the story of the translators at the post-Apartheid Hearings in South Africa. They translated stories between the victims and perpetrators. As human conduits, they themselves were traumatized, needing outlet. The play's audience too left the theatre carrying the pain. They needed catharsis. I said YES. Art could play that role.

I gathered a team of artists. Artists are people who say: “How can I look at the world in a different way” and “what can I make out of what I have here and now?” A writer, a sculptor and sound designer and I created STATIONS ONE to gather the collective INTENTION to FORGIVE. I will explain how in a moment. We were stunned at how eagerly people participated when it debuted at SMU. People wanted this. Within a week, we found ourselves in NYC presenting STATIONS ONE to Desmond Tutu. He and many many others have added their voices and written words of forgiveness to the STATION. STATIONS ONE has now traveled across the US and to Belfast Ireland and back. In sight and sound it is an amazing, candid evidence of the willingness of the human hearts to open.

A year later, late this August, I was asked to meet with Rev. Lyndon Harris and Carly Ritter in NYC. Rev. Harris is the rector of St. Paul's Chapel, the old old church that became the staging ground for rescuers of 9/11. They were feeling discouraged. In a survey Americans were asked if they wanted a Garden of Forgiveness at Ground Zero. They were very disheartened: only 2% said yes. They had seen the wonderful reception of STATIONS ONE at the Tutu Center the year before. Could the STATIONS project work with their project of creating Gardens of Forgiveness around the world.

I said YES. We have identified the issue, let's do something about it. I committed STATIONS to travel with them in February 2009 to Rwanda for the International Gathering of Forgiveness where the next Garden of Forgiveness would break ground (the first is in Beirut, Lebanon). We had work to do.

So, STATIONS TWO was conceived. STATIONS TWO has picked up the task of collecting the voice of forgiveness that STATIONS ONE had given birth to.

Here's how it works. STATIONS TWO is a cube with a small grill on each side, inside of the cube simple electronic equipment records the voices of those speaking into the grills. The voices can be heard to echo a few times, then sink, becoming a part of a large whole of recorded sound. The day's voices are transferred to a flashdrive, and labeled as the voice of that time and place. When the sampling seems complete, they will all be combined as humanity's single voice, a sound never before heard. It will be released back into the air, at a significant time and place.

This is an artistic experiment, we offer a blank slate and an idea. It is not unlike the Vietnam Wall. It simply states “Vietnam”. People are given a place to act. STATIONS states FORGIVENESS. People will react as they choose, address the issue as they are able, or not able, to do. This is an artistic experiment. People are invited to write forgiveness on the cube as well. We will gather what they offer in voice and writing. The manner of the art created will become clear as it comes into being. The possibilities are wide open.

The STATIONS TWO that is enroute to Rwanda as we speak is a 6 foot cube made of recycled milk jugs that we use as blackboards to be written on with chalk. It is not intended to be pretty or easy to approach. Real forgiveness can be hard. But when we dare to get close, we see inside: there is light. And it is only a light bulb at that. It shines above the laptop computer that is accepting our voices, our intention. Nothing more, nothing less.

The computer that is creating the voice of the intention to forgive is here tonight in the four foot wood version of STATIONS TWO. We will take voices collected tonight to Rwanda with us to join the growing voice of intention to forgive. Please join us with the spoken and written words that can only come from each of you. It is the right time to say YES. There is no better place than Dallas Texas for this sound to begin. There is no better time than now. Thank you.

Rev. Todd Collier – Imam Zia introduces

Todd currently serves as Director, Center for Interfaith Inquiry for the Memnosyne Foundation in Dallas, Texas. The Center is committed to life-preserving and life-enhancing values. It welcomes all spiritual paths that foster mutual trust, understanding and cooperation in order to work together for the common good.

Todd has a Doctorate from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA, a Master's from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ, and degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, OK, and New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM. After a brief career in business, Todd was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1994. Todd served churches at Canyon Creek in Dallas; Memorial Drive in Houston; First Presbyterian, Bay City, Texas; Skidaway Island in Savannah, Georgia; and Bentwood Trail Presbyterian Church in N Dallas.

Todd’s compassion and inclusiveness are reflected in his ecumenical vision of God’s concern for all people. This is evidenced by his crowning achievement as founder of Faith in Practice, one of the largest volunteer healthcare providers in Guatemala. Based in Houston, Todd’s interfaith vision and his compassion for the poor gained the trust of skilled medical professionals who now venture forth from several U.S. cities. In a collaborative venture from the start, Faith in Practice involves over 1000 people a year who volunteer their surgical, medical, dental and needed support skills to meet the medical needs of the poor. Todd has three children and lives in Plano, Texas.

Benediction – Rev. Todd Collier

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Maryam Ruhullah – Imam Zia introduces

I am pleased to introduce Madeline Elaine States; she also goes by the name of Maryam Ruhullah. She is an accountant and an author. Her career was in the defense industry at McDonnell Douglas, which is now Boeing located in St. Louis, Missouri.

She believes that it is the commitment of individuals with social awareness; social conscience and most importantly social involvement that will help secure the values needed for world peace and inclusive freedom.

As an author, Maryam was the recipient of a Fellowship offered by the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of Taos, New Mexico. She is an officer at the Peacemakers Incorporated, a Dallas,

Writing and volunteerism is her way of contributing towards the issues that will help create a more humane and better managed world.

Please welcome Maryam Ruhullah.

# # #

Refreshment Announcement – Maryam Ruhullah

Thanks - Imam Zia & Mike

OLIVE BRANCHES

Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk came up with a great idea of passing on the real olive branches to each one of the attendees and then asking them to exchange with each other.

The pictures can be viewed at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/HolocaustandGenocides/IIAnnualReflectionOnHolocaustAndGenocides#slideshow
http://flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157613500804689/show/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CREDITS

Sponsorship: Memnosyne Foundation
Flowers: Anthony Chisolhm Interioris
Photography: Bombay Photogrpahy
Refreshements by: Cindy's Delicatessen
Reception: Maryam Ruhullah
Olive Branches: Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk
Security - Alan Keith
Registration: Constance Hargis & Reem AlGhonim
Station II - Nancy Rebal
Key Note Speaker - Bryan Mark RiggSigns of Genocides -
Benedictions - Todd Collie
Reception - Maryam Ruhullah
Station II - Nancy Rebal
Purpose, vision and Mission - Mike Ghouse
Master of Ceremonies - Imam Zia Shaikh, Imam of the Largest Mosque in Texas

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse

Academics reflecting on Holocaust

2009-02-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2009/02/academics-reflecting-on-holocaust.html

Dear Dr. Farooq, Dr. Thomas and Dr. Crane;

First of all, thanks for sharing the link about "The World's Worst Massacres". Secondly, out of respect for your scholarship and genuine query, I am pleased to write a rather detailed response with quotes from some of my corrospondence.

I agree with your statement “In this world if we cannot accept the entire humanity on this equal footing, every group will consider themselves special and when they attain power they may abuse others, as in the case of Israel.” No one’s pain and suffering is less than others, and no genocide is to be up-played or down played. Killing one life is like killing the whole humanity or saving a life is like saving the whole humanity.

The idea of the program “II Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides” and the site that goes with it “HolocaustandGenocides.com” was simple. It is to create an awareness of the inhumanity in all of us and at the same time, discover and create solutions for peaceful co-existence. We need to remind ourselves frequently to do our share to make the world a better place to live, vow to say “never again” to human atrocities, and at this annual occasion dare to practice the power of forgiveness.

Initially we asked the public at large in a message on December 2, 2008 through extensive emails to list all the genocides around the world and we started with a few as a step towards it including;

Genocides*: Auschwitz, Macabre, Holocaust, Bosnia, Darfur, Congo, Sri Lanka, Gaza, Gujarat, Ireland, Hadita, Kashmir, Rafa, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Nanking, Armenia, Sabra, Kurds, Falun Dafa, Native Indians, Inquisitions and the ones you know.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following letter was sent to over 3000 Muslims on my list and posted to several groups comprising over 10,000 Muslims on December 2, 2008. You probably got one too;

II ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES
Saturday, January 24, 2009 7:00 PM to 9:15 PM

AA,

An appeal to Muslim Leaders

I hope at least a few Muslims can see this vision of including all Genocides right along with Holocaust, something that was not done before. We cannot drop this because a few Muslims’ prejudice against Jews and have a short sighted vision.

Most of the Jews are willing to include all atrocities along with the Holocaust, which was commemorated exclusively for nearly six decades. The wise men see that, all of us have to share the burdens of the society and jointly bring about a change to prevent these from happening to the Jews, to the Muslims or to any human being. “

By sharing the pain of all inhuman acts, we are indeed aspiring to create one people, one nation and one community, a sure way to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill.
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We invited Christian Amanpour on December 11, 2008 in the following letter
Dear Christiana,

Thanks for producing the movie "Scream bloody Murder" it brought to attention the horrors of Genocide.

I am a Muslim and have made efforts to commemorate Holocaust to build bridges with the Jewish community and extending to all communities by including all Genocides. We did the first event in January 2006 and now we have expanded it to Holocaust and Genocide and your documentary captured the essence of what we want to do.

The event is Saturday after sundown called "Reflections of Holocaust and Genocides" and it is an all inclusive event, just on similar lines as your documentary. Most of the details are in the website.

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On December 17, 2008 we wrote to Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis;

The Honorable Rodney G. Ellis
Texas State Senator
Austin, Texas

Dear Senator Ellis;

I just spoke with Orianna and am pleased to invite you to address the “II ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES” on Saturday, January 24, 2009, after Sundown 6:30 PM -9:00 PM at Double Tree Hotel on Midway in Dallas, Texas.

Your initiative on the SB160 is appreciated and we want to gather public support for the same.

PICTURE GALLERY Holocaust & Genocide pictures
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We wanted to include all genocides and wanted to have a poster board in the size of 2’x 3’ to go on the easels. We were not able to get much, while we know some, but could not get information with the limited resources we had. There was one right here in Dallas some 150 years ago, where the Caddo Indians were massacred leaving not a soul alive, we could not get any documentation on it. Indeed, there is a documentary been shown next month, where one of the American Generals had said something to the effect of killing all Indians. We sent repeated request to people to send in a 600 word essay on the genocides they knew.

We have done every thing we could, and hope next year, we can gather up information on all genocides, at least list them if we don’t have the information.

To list a few would diminish the value of the ones we would miss out; an abridged documentary of Christiana Amanpour was shown to give an example to reflect on genocides she had documented;

I am yet to post my speech; a video will be posted as well, here is a partial speech;

“Peace and security will come to us, when we value other’s life as we would value our own, peace and security will come to us when we create an environment around us that is conducive to peace and security. We owe it to our retirement, our children and generations to come to keep them miles away from revenge, hate and malice. No one should cherish the death of other person, as that act would amount to validation of the other persons’ revelation in our death.

May God help us bring peace (refer to the quote in peace book).

Now Let’s observe a minutes silence.

We carefully chose to observe silent prayers to accommodate and acknowledge every pain, genocide and atrocity. In your silence, I would like you to reflect upon every known genocide and massacre, and detach yourselves from the emotions, and find solutions with compassion and co-existence in mind. “

We wanted to include all genocides and atrocities and I would certainly request you and the members on this esteemed group to share on genocides you are familiar with. We hope next year, it will be a complete comprehensive list.

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse

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CORROSPONDENCE BELOW
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Dear Mr. Ghouse,
Salam and greetings.

There are many things that I and you commonly agree, but this is not one of them.

"Holocaust is the term used specifically to refer to the genocide of Jews in WWII" is not a justification for its continued use that way. The enormity of the massacre is beyond doubt. But that does not justify a specific name for it. Indeed, I am not sure whether you are familiar or not, but in terms of scale, there have been other genocides much bigger than the Nazi Holocaust. Please see "The World's Worst Massacres" http://www.globalwebpost.com/genocide1971/articles/general/worst_massacres.htm.

I also find no justification for separating Nazi Holocaust from all other genocides. This is clearly diminishing all other genocides. There is another reason why such specialness must not be allowed. Treat any people as special and you might face the prospect that such special status would be abused to victimize others. Unfortunately, instead of being a prospect, it has become a reality.

If I have to call upon my fellow Muslims that they should not think that their suffering in the world in the hand of others is not unique, it would be unprincipled to acknowledge that somehow others are special. In this world if we cannot accept the entire humanity on this equal footing, every group will consider themselves special and when they attain power they may abuse others, as in the case of Israel.

As I do work in the field of genocide, each genocide is special to me. There is one genocide that probably closer to my heart because I have personally experienced it. Yet, reflecting on all these genocides, there are times when I close my eyes and try to imagine the time of Nazi Holocaust and imagine myself as a Jew or a non-Aryan. As a human being I want to feel their suffering. I do the same for every people who have thus been victimized.

If we have to share the grief of humanity, and I wholeheartedly agree, then we must not grieve for one exclusive group as "special." This is logically and morally unacceptable. I would go even one step further. In light of the experience of Israel for which abuse of the Nazi Holocaust remains a key factor, treating any genocide as special is dangerous. Thus, I have to categorically disagree with the premise that there is one holocaust and the rest are genocides. This site www.holocaustandgenocides.org diminishes other genocides, even much bigger in scale and scope, by elevating genocide against the Jews to a special status. This is not the way we find ourselves in tune with the humanity, where some are more special than others.

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Mike Ghouse
To: SOCIOLOGY
Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 1:31:48 AM
Subject: Re: A comparison that is becoming all the more compelling

Dear Farooq;

Holocaust is the term used specifically to refer to the genocide of Jews in WWII, the enormity of the massacre deserves a specific name. Whether 6 of 6 millions the pain is the same to the families who have lost the dear ones. However, the 6 million number is too large a number not to be identified distinctly.

The the term Genocides can be used for all other atrocities.

We just did our II Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocide, to make Genocide the problem of the world, not just the Jews. We all need to come together and share the grief of humanity and fall the barriers of ownership of pain. www.HolocaustandGenocides.org

Thank you.
Mike Ghouse

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Dear Mike,

If the term Holocaust is to be appropriated for the genocide of the Jews, what term do you want to use for the genocide of the Native American Indians or the genocide of slaves during the Slave Trade?

Estimates of the number of American Indians who died vary enormously, the highest (to my knowledge) being 100,000,000 in Stannard's 1992 book American Holocaust (note the title). See also Russell Thornton's American Indian Holocaust and Survival (1987). The problem with figures like Stannard's is that this includes deaths by all causes (including disease caused by contact with Europeans) and this obviously skews the statistics. Transmission of disease is not normally a means of inentional genocide, any more than we can blame the American Indians for the millions who have died from smoking tobacco around the world.

However, one reasonable estimate which tries to factor out causes like disease is still 20 million, though obviously over a much longer time scale than the relatively short period of time of the Jewish genocide in WW2. See http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm If the term Holocaust is to apply exclusively to the genocide of the Jews on the grounds that it refers to the unparallelled event of 6 million deaths (and therefore, in your words, "deserves a specific name" because of the "enormity" of this event), what term do we use to describe the genocide of the 20 million American Indians? Was that a more heinous genocide because more people died? How do you calculate equivalence?

As I explained in a previous posting to this list, I can see no logical reason why the term Holocaust should be appropriated for the genocide of the Jews.

I should think that the civilians (including many children) who are being regularly incinerated by American bombs in Afghanistan must regard the experience as a holocaust, in its true meaning of 'complete destruction by fire' (the sense first used by Milton in the 17th century; before then it meant a 'burnt offering').

On the native American genocide, see:

 M. D. Aletheia, The Rationalist's Manual (1897): 30,000,000 Mexicans and Peruvians were slaughtered.

 David Barrett, World Christian Trends: Conquistadors killed 15M Amerindians

 Coe, Snow and Benson, Atlas of Ancient America (1986)

Total pre-Columbian population: 40M
Mexico: Original population of 11M to 25M ("lower figure commands more support") fell to 1.25M (1625)
Peru: Pop. fell from 9M (1533) to >500,000 (early 17th C)
Brazil: Original population of 2.5M to 5.0M ("recent commentators favoring the higher") fell to 1M
 Massimo Livi-Bacci, Concise History of World Population History 2d (1996)

Mexico: Population fell from 6.3M (1548) to 1.9M (1580) to 1M (1605)
Peru: Pop. fell from 1.3M (1572) to 600,000 (1620)
Canada: from 300,000 (ca. 1600) to < href="http://www.globalwebpost.com/genocide1971/articles/general/worst_massacres.htm">http://www.globalwebpost.com/genocide1971/articles/general/worst_massacres.htm.

I also find no justification for separating Nazi Holocaust from all other genocides. This is clearly diminishing all other genocides. There is another reason why such specialness must not be allowed. Treat any people as special and you might face the prospect that such special status would be abused to victimize others. Unfortunately, instead of being a prospect, it has become a reality. If I have to call upon my fellow Muslims that they should not think that their suffering in the world in the hand of others is not unique, it would be unprincipled to acknowledge that somehow others are special. In this world if we cannot accept the entire humanity on this equal footing, every group will consider themselves special and when they attain power they may abuse others, as in the case of Israel. As I do work in the field of genocide, each genocide is special to me. There is one genocide that probably closer to my heart because I have personally experienced it. Yet, reflecting on all these genocides, there are times when I close my eyes and try to imagine the time of Nazi Holocaust and imagine myself as a Jew or a non-Aryan. As a human being I want to feel their suffering. I do the same for every people who have thus been victimized. If we have to share the grief of humanity, and I wholeheartedly agree, then we must not grieve for one exclusive group as "special." This is logically and morally unacceptable. I would go even one step further. In light of the experience of Israel for which abuse of the Nazi Holocaust remains a key factor, treating any genocide as special is dangerous. Thus, I have to categorically disagree with the premise that there is one holocaust and the rest are genocides. This site www.holocaustandgenocides.org diminishes other genocides, even much bigger in scale and scope, by elevating genocide against the Jews to a special status. This is not the way we find ourselves in tune with the humanity, where some are more special than others.

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Mike Ghouse
To: SOCIOLOGY_OF_ISLAM@LISTSERV.VT.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 1:31:48 AM
Subject: Re: A comparison that is becoming all the more compelling

Dear Farooq;

Holocaust is the term used specifically to refer to the genocide of Jews in WWII, the enormity of the massacre deserves a specific name. Whether 6 of 6 millions the pain is the same to the families who have lost the dear ones. However, the 6 million number is too large a number not to be identified distinctly.

The the term Genocides can be used for all other atrocities.

We just did our II Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocide, to make Genocide the problem of the world, not just the Jews. We all need to come together and share the grief of humanity and fall the barriers of ownership of pain. www.HolocaustandGenocides.org

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse

II Annual “Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides"

2009-01-18T15:33:00.000-08:00

II ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES Website: http://www.holocaustandgenocides.org/

Our Mission is to create awareness of the inhumanity in all of us,
and discover solutions for peaceful co-existence.

UNITY CHURCH • 6525 FOREST LANE • DALLAS, TX 75230
Sunday, January 25, 2009 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

• Master of Ceremonies: Imam Zia Shaikh
• Opening : Bernie Mayoff
• Purpose - Mike Ghouse
• Silent Prayer to acknowledge Holocaust and Genocides
• Signs of Genocide – Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk
• Abridged Documentary on Holocaust and Genocides
• Key Note Speaker - Bryan Mark Rigg, Ph.D., Historian and Author
• Vision –Mike Ghouse
• Stations Two – Nancy Rebal
• Benediction - Todd Collier
• Refreshments - Maryam Ruhullah

An American Muslim initiative, sponsored by Memnosyne Foundation
Dallas Peace Center Universal Peace Federation Today Marks the Beginning
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com www.MemnosyneFoundation.org

Continued: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/Holocaust-and-Genocides-Press-Release-011709.asp

Information

2009-01-12T15:23:00.000-08:00

Please go to the website

www.HolocaustandGenocides.org

for all the updated information.

II ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES
SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2009 5:00 PM to 7:15 PM
Unity Church, 6525 Forest Ln, Dallas, TX 75230

The Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas Holocaust Museum, Memnosyne Foundation and the World Muslim Congress have come together to commemorate the Holocaust and Genocides. Our Mission is to create an awareness of the inhumanity in all of us and at the same time, discover and create solutions for peaceful co-existence. We need to remind ourselves frequently to do our share to make the world a better place to live, vow to say “never again” to human atrocities, and at this annual occasion dare to practice the power of forgiveness.

The event this year will be unique. We are hosting a gallery displaying a few pictures of the horrors humans have inflicted upon other humans. Furthermore after receiving Desmond Tutu's signature and blessing on STATIONS ONE, we are introducing "STATIONS TWO: An Interactive Public Artwork." It is a 6 foot "Black Cube" gathering inscriptions and recording voices of forgiveness as has never seen or heard before on the international stage.

Program:
Master of Ceremonies: Imam Zia Shaikh, Islamic Scholar and the Imam
Purpose – Mike Ghouse
Signs of Genocide – Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk
Silent Prayer to acknowledge Holocaust and Genocides
A Ten minutes abridged Documentary on Holocaust and Genocides
Key Note Speaker - Bryan Mark Rigg, Historian and Author
Recognitions – Elliott Dlin and Mike Ghouse
Stations Two – Nancy Rebal and Todd Collier
Refreshments

Confirm your attendance and Invite friends to: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com

Supporting Organizations: Dallas Holocaust Museum, Dallas Peace Center, World Muslim Congress, Memnosyne Foundation, Universal Peace Federation and Today Marks the Beginning.

Call in to list your organization

Please feel free to contact the following individuals:
Elly Dlin (214) 741-7500
Nancy Rebal (214) 948-4948
Rev. Todd Collier (214) 228-5695
Maryam Ruhullah (214) 407-2956
Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916

An initiative of American Muslims; a commitment to build bridges between communities

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse, Event Chair

Scream bloody murder, reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

2008-12-10T00:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Myrna Weinrich wrote "Mike did you know Christiana Amanpour's Scream Bloody Murder," a definitely unflinching history of genocide, premieres tonight on CNN http://snurl.com/7gwxv"

I watched most of 'Scream bloody Murder" in the middle of the night, the feeling was familiar; anger followed by sorrow, and a sense of helplessness. I urge you to watch the documentary.

It is natural to feel angry knowing that the world stood by silently when the Jews were put on the train to the gas chambers; when the live skeletal bodies were thrown into the ditches; when the Bosnian Muslims children were given chocolates and told not to worry and go right behind and open gunfire and massacre them; when the Canadian general sends faxes upon faxes to the United Nations to send help, while the UN and USA chose not to get involved and 800,000 Rwandans were massacred in day light, they were even announcing on their radio how to torture pregnant women by pulling the unborn out of their wombs… they did that in Gujarat Massacre and the world did not do anything about it. It was a difficult documentary to watch, but you must watch and face the world; you have to do your share to clean your own slate of conscience. If you don't feel anger or sadness because they were not of your faith, race or ethnicity, shame on you.

Years ago when I was in my early teens, my mother hid a book “Eichman, killer of 6 million Jews” from me. It was written in Urdu, my mother tongue, she thought I could not handle the horror, she thought I may lose trusting the society. She may have been right but that put a damper on me for the next 40 years. I did not have the guts to watch the horrors of the Holocaust; I made several attempts to watch them on History and other cable channels, and the moment they show the scene of train loaded with skeletal bodies or when they were thrown in the ditch, I froze, I could not see any more and I realized my weakness and fought against it, still failed to see the documentaries on Genocides.

When Dr. Irving and Ahmedinejad belittled the enormity of Holocaust, it pained me that something so heinous is being belittled. Thanks to Bernie Mayoff for sharing the DVD of Schindler’s list, I watched it with a shrinking heart. I was going through my own life’s movie and understood my Mothers concerns, then my fears in watching the Holocaust documentaries.

I took quite a lot in me to finally watch it and thank God for giving me the courage to watch it. Then another life time moment came when Bernie and I visited the Dallas Holocaust Museum to talk about commemorating the Holocaust that the United Nations had just proclaimed for the first time in 60+ years. I met Elliot Dlin, the man with a lot of passion for life and humanity, he gave us the tour of the Museum, and I discovered he was my kind of guy, Holocaust goes beyond the Jewish thing, it is a lesson for humanity, a lesson about trusting the people around you. In my own small way, I understood the horror of a few people I knew, who had encountered it when they were betrayed by the very ones they trusted, and were sexually abused by them in their childhood. How difficult it must have been when they were sent to gas chambers and the world stood by doing nothing. It is the ugliest aspect of being human and the very reason for religion to come in to being to remove the ugliness from us, 99% of us get it and that 1/10th of 1% doesn’t.

My Muslim friends agreed that it was time to come together as religious persons and as humans, and they supported me in organizing the first Holocaust commemoration by Muslims on Sundown, Sunday, January 26, 2006. My Jewish and Muslim friends were joined in by individuals and clergy from every faith in this moment of reflection. Mr. William and Mrs. Rosalie Schiff, the survivors of Holocaust spoke for about two hours while every one listened with a pin drop silence. http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/HMD2006_ProgramReport.asp

When Ahmedinejad belittled Holocaust in 2006, it irked me to no point and I spoke out along with several Muslims here in Dallas, nearly 40 Muslims wrote condemning Ahmedinejad, a few of the letters were published in Dallas Morning News, and here is mine. http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_Press/Holocaust_DallasMorningNews_Macesch.htm

“"The new deniers – Muslim leaders are calling the Holocaust a Western myth, says Lee Harris, and it's catching on," Jan. 15 Points.

The utterances of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmedinejad and Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition party in Egypt, perhaps do not reflect even their own constituents, let alone Muslims. Muslims do not subscribe to such nonsense, for it is the duty of a Muslim to stand up for a just world.

I grew up in a Muslim family and read about the Holocaust. My devout Muslim mother took away the book, telling me to read when I can understand the suffering.

Thanks to her, I am one of the volunteers in organizing Holocaust Memorial Day on Jan. 26. To save a life is saving the whole of humanity. Holy Torah and Holy Qur’aan say it, and Hinduism talks about the whole world as one family. All faiths teach the same goodness. I recently visited the Holocaust Museum and would urge every disbeliever to visit and understand it.

My mom would be pleased to know I am doing what it takes to be a "good Muslim," to respect every life God created.

Mike Ghouse, Carrollton http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_Press/holocaust_dallasmorningnews_lettertopoints.htm

The frustrations

The frustration shared by a few was never to belittle Holocaust, indeed, it was their cry for the world to hear about genocide and massacre happening to their people. In a Public forum, a fellow Muslim screamed at me for ‘betraying’ the plight of Palestinians without even knowing anything about what I do. He did not understand that I have only 24 hours in a day and I challenged him to set up an event for dialogue and show the plight of Palestinians, to this day, I have not seen any work, other than the talk. My fellow Indians, Hindus and Muslims alike told me about the Gujarat Genocide. My Hindu friends cry out loud about the plight of Hindu Pundits in Kashmir and the Buddhists about Tibet, the African Americans about their own sad story and the Native Indians about the annihilation of their cultures and civilization. All these events are shameful and must be acknowledged and talked about with openness, so that all of us can work on rededicating our pledge "never again".

We must understand our linguistic and spatial limitations, in any given breath and in any given moment, we cannot to do verbal justice in reciting every atrocity. We cannot even read one paragraph in one instance. Everything has to be done in a sequence and each sequence has a different priority to the ones that suffer.

No Genocide should minimize the other; it is our collective responsibility for the peace. If we can realize “I cannot have peace for me, if my family members, my community or the world around me is not having it” then it becomes our responsibility to do our share and do it without keeping a score on what others do. Peace exists in mutuality. Others should have peace for me to have a piece of it. Let’s do our share.

Holocaust Industry

There is a myth out there that Holocaust is an industry. The record is otherwise, Jews are not doing this to gain sympathy, they are doing this to make this world a better place. I read with sadness that the media publishes and gives currency to writers who belittle Holocaust calling it a Jewish way of manipulating the world without ever visiting the Holocaust Museums. I do wish that the Media gives proportionate space for those Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Bahai’s, Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Wiccan, Pagans, Hopis, Toltec’s and others who understand the need to learn about Holocaust and what it represents. The do-gooders don't get the news coverage, where as we see and hear only the ugly things in bad disproportion. We are all in it together for the common good and let's act inclusive.

On my part, I have no gain to have and have never received any benefit from any one. On the contrary the extremists few (1/500th of 1%) among Muslims and Jews have sent nasty emails from time to time and I understand their point of view but disagree with them. Criticism is always an essential element of democracy and truth, and I welcome it, it keeps us on our toes.

Richard Holbrook and Eli Wiesel, both Jews, have been in the forefront to stop the Genocide in Bosnia and Darfur both places where Muslims were and are being persecuted. The Jewish community has taken the initiatives and the Muslims, Hindus, Christians and other are doing their part as well, we need to acknowledge them with gratitude. We need to work for co-existence of all.

I owe my gratitude to Eli Dlin of the Dallas Holocaust Museum for sharing the larger concept of Holocaust with me; to make the world aware of the dangers of remaining silent when horrors engulf one, if it does to one, it does to the other and then to you. We have to speak up and learn the pledge “Never again” and should not let this happen.

Dedicating the event to Honor Mr. Dlin

Indeed, it was Eli Dlin’s idea to commemorate the Holocaust and Genocides with a larger concept, to include every massacre around the world. I am pleased to dedicate this event to Elliott Dlin for seeding the idea.

What can you do?

When you see or hear news or information that uploads you with hate and prejudice against the other, please question it, even if it came from your Imam, Rabbi, Pandit, Priest or Pastor. Ultimately, it is you who will be burning inside for your judgments; it is you who feels the pain, not them.

When you watch any biased television broadcasts, resist all temptations to judge any group based on the actions of individuals. If you can do that, you have raised yourselves to be good human being, and you will feel the goodness in you. If every one keeps distancing themselves with the other, what are the chances of creating a better world for you and I?

Finding the truth is your own responsibility for it releases you from a negative bondage. It is achieved through hearing the diametrically opposite views along with other views. If the goal of such effort is co-existence, then truth will emerge from all sides and you will find peace within you with the action you take. It is a commitment to your own peace of mind, your own liberation, salvation, Mukti, Nijaat, Moksha, Nirvana and ultimate freedom from hate and tension.

When you see or hear an atrocity, hold the temptation to blame the religion. There is always an individual behind an evil, not the religion. We need to place the blame on individuals for committing the horrors, possibly stop them when they are plotting and round them up and bring to justice. Individuals do wrong and they should be responsible for it not their parents, community, religion, race or ethnicity.

Your peace hinges on mine; your security is guaranteed when others around you are secure. We need to take this approach to solve the problems. Aren't we all in it together?

The Event

Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is set in Dallas, after sundown on Saturday, January 24th and we wish to produce a small booklet to list all such horrors. You can send us the list and any information about it. You may undertake to write an essay in 600 words about the event. You may find additional joy if you could understand and write the tragedy of people other than your own faith or ethnic group. Try it; there is peace in it for you.

Website: www.holocaustandgenocides.com

Mike Ghouse., M.B.A., M.Com.,SPEAKER, WRITER & A THINKERHe co-chairs the center for interfaith inquiry of the Memnosyne Foundation, and presides the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, interfaith, Islam, India, Multiculturism, Terrorism, Peace, Politics and Civic issues. He is the president of World Muslim Congress a think tank with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world and vice-Versa. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town.

Mike's Profile, he is a Neighborhood Commissioner at the City of Carrollton, and a Board Member of Dallas Peace Center and has initiated the annual events like Thanksgiving, Unity Day USA, Holocaust and other events. He was Past President of Indian Creek HOA and North Texas Cricket Association and has been a member of several Boards.

Our Mission is to encourage individuals to develop an open mind and an open heart toward their follow beings. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. We believe that knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of a different point of view.

www.FoundationforPluralism.com
Studies in Religious Pluralism & Pluralistic societies
WORKSHOPS SEMINARS EDUCATION NEWS LETTERS
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234 (214) 325-1916

2008-12-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

II ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST & GENOCIDES
VOLUNTEER WORK

Listing your and other organizations on the website and brochure as a participating organization, all we need is the name of your organization, website and at least one individual to attend the event in behalf of the Organization.

Please invite other organizations to participate. These organizations are civic, educational, religious, business, non-profits, governmental and other organizations. We need their full name, website address, contact name and a phone number. You can send an email to: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

Collecting information on Genocides from 1900-present, you can find the Name, a 600 words description, links, pictures. It will be listed on the website: www.HolocaustandGenocides.com
Inviting friends and confirming attendance to: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com

Need to seek websites of various organizations to list the event, or link the event. Please send an email to: HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com .

The following organizations were listed in the first year: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Holocaustday_Participants.asp

Faith based Organizational participation :Organizations (all) listing – website and contact
Governmental Agencies, Human rights agencies, Inviting clergy from all faiths, Inviting Mayors, councilman. Inviting congressmen/women, Inviting state representatives, Corporation participation, Ethnicities affected by Genocides

Other Work

Sound System - Assigned to: Ali soundz
Photography - Assigned to: Bombay Studios/ Aftab Lakhani
Videography - Assigned to: Bombay Studios/ Aftab Lakhani
Projector/ Screen - Assigned to: Ali soundz
Refreshments
Program Brochure
Display Materials
Seating
Stage
Easels
Display Boards size 2'wide x 3'tall to go on easels

Advertisement

A book will be produced and distributed that day, which will also go on the website.

Advertisement rates:
Full page inside - $ 300.00 -(7.5" wide x 10"tall) Camera ready.
Half Page inside - $200.00 -(7.5" wide x 5" tall) Camera ready.
Front inside and back inside - $500/$400 each
Back page $750.00

BUDGET FOR THE PROGRAM :
$ 5,000.00

All sponsors will be listed with their contribution amount.
The funds will be given to a 501(c) Non-Profit organization.

A Magazine will be published Sponsors and Advertisers are invited to contact
Mike Ghouse @ 214-325-1916

Report/ First Event - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/HMD2006_ProgramReport.asp
Public Comments - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Holocaustday_Comments.asp
Media Coverage - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Holocaustday_Media.asp
Participants - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Holocaustday_Participants.asp

Supported by : Dallas Holocaust Museum Dallas Peace Center Foundation for Pluralism www.TodayMarksTheBeginning.org

Underwritten by : Memnosyne Foundation,

Sponsored by : Your Name/ Your company Name
An initiative of American Muslims,

World Muslim Congress
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206,
Dallas, TX 75234 (214) 325-1916

Our Mission is to encourage individuals to develop an open mind and an open heart toward their follow beings. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. We believe that knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of a different point of view

Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

2008-12-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE
September 12, 2008

Event: Holocaust and Genocides
When: Saturday, January 24, 2009
Time: After Sun down
What: Reflections on atrocities against humanity
Where: To be determined
Contact: Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916 and MikeGhouse@aol.com

Previous Report: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Images_HolocaustDay/HMD2006_ProgramReport.asp

Reflections on Holocaust:
http://www.mikeghouse.net/Articles/Reflections-on-holocaust.asp

Texas Jewish Post:
http://www.texasjewishpost.com/print_this_story.asp?smenu=106&sdetail=2794

The Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress have announced the commemoration of the 2nd Annual Holocaust remembrance day on Sunday, January 24, 2009.

On this day residents of the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex would come together as humans of all affiliations to learn to understand the Human suffering and to develop an open mind and an open heart towards each other in the process of healing and repairing the world. "I believe the biggest contributor in the process of healing is acknowledgement, understanding and feeling the suffering of the other" Mike Ghouse.

My dear friend Eli is a good human being, and has suggested that, let this Remembrance be anchored in the Holocaust but reflect upon atrocities against humanity, no matter where and when. If my heart cannot cry out for the suffering of another human, then I should not expect any one to understand my suffering, but then it would be a world without soul.

I believe the biggest favor we can do to ourselves is to be human, to be human is to feel the pain of another human, helplessness of another being.

We invite an essay in 500 words or less to express the atrocity that you are aware of, that you feel the pain for, together let’s reflect upon the viciousness of a few humans and what we can do “never again” it.

Peace is caused by each one of us, just as atrocities are also initiated by each one among us.

My peace and my security hinges on peace and security around me. If others are not secure and safe, I cannot expect safety for me either. I cannot expect my safety, if I threaten others. I cannot expect peace in others, if it is not in me.

It is in our selfish interests to work for peace. Indeed, it is our duty to cause peace, to initiate peace and to work for peace. Each one of us is responsible to create a better world for ourselves and for human kind. We have to work toward the belief that saving one life is like saving the whole of humanity.

To sustain peace “being peaceful is not enough”, you have to nurture it though your words, actions and initiatives.

In 2006 the United Nations proclaimed January 27th as a Holocaust remembrance day to commemorate the greatest atrocity the world had ever witnessed. In support of that, the Foundation for Pluralism organized an event on Thursday, January 26, 2006 to accommodate the Jewish Sabbath as January 27 fell on a Friday in 2006. Information on last year’s event can be found at: Holocaust day 2006

Reflections on Holocaust: http://www.mikeghouse.net/Articles/Reflections-on-holocaust.asp

Texas Jewish Post: http://www.texasjewishpost.com/print_this_story.asp?smenu=106&sdetail=2794

* I welcome the appropriate words for this press release, please do not complain, if you know the right words and chose not to share. The essence of this action is to be human and connect with other human as human jettisoning all other identities.

Our Mission is to encourage individuals to develop an open mind and an open heart toward their follow beings. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. We believe that knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of a different point of view.

Workshops Seminars Education News Letters
Foundation for Pluralism, Studies in Religious Pluralism & Pluralistic Societies
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234 (214) 325-1916