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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides - 6th year

PRESS RELEASE
December 21, 2012
VI Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Sunday, January 27, 2013
Unity Church of Dallas, 6525 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230
Rsvp to: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com 

www.HolocaustandGenocides.com
 
ANNUAL ANCHOR EVENT: Holocaust
HIGHLIGHTED: Sikh Genocide

Every year we have reflected on different aspects of Genocides and Holocaust, this year, we will highlight the Sikh Massacre of 1984 and address Rape, Stereotyping, Human Rights, Oppression, Bangladesh Mass Rapes and the idea of standing up for others. All Grim subjects, but we have to face them, at least once a year. It keeps our humanity intact. Holocaust continues to the be anchor event.

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, or simply turn the face.
To paraphrase Sir Edmund Burke, “evil continues to flourish not necessarily because of evil men, but more so because good men do nothing about it.”
The Massacres we witness against a group of people, are pent up frustrations and unresolved issues that reaching a boiling point and hurt everyone involved.  As civilized societies, we need to bring a closure to the issues, which happen through forgiveness, apology and restoration of justice.
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. It is a comprehensive event where all human failings, massacres, genocides and Holocaust will be addressed in one fashion or the other.

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.

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.


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 essay on the issue that agonizes you; please offer your solutions with co-existence in mind in another 100 words. Selection will be based on the comprehensiveness of the thought.

Please send an email to:
HolocaustandGenocides@gmail.com

Dr. Harbans Lal, Event Chair
 (817) 446-8757
email: japji@tx.rr.com

Mike Ghouse,  President (214) 325-1916 -
email: SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com
America Together Foundation
Foundation for Pluralism
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206
Dallas, TX 75234

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Rally against Shia Genocide in Pakistan

This should be classified as Massacre, rather than Genocide. Each life is precious, but each collective punishment is different. 

Mike Ghouse

The Universal Muslim Association of America encourages all momineen to participate in this important rally to protest the killing of innocent momineen in Pakistan. Buses from across the country are being organized. UMAA has sponsored a bus to leave from the Idara-e-Jaferia in Maryland. Please contactSoulsMarch@gmail.com for information about transportation from you area. 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Hitler's annihilation of the Romanis (the Gypsies of Europe)

URL - http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2012/12/hitlers-annihilation-of-romanis-gypsies.html

Holocaust and Genocides continue to haunt us. Are humans really capable of doing this? It saddens me every other day when I think about the Holocaust. On our part, the Muslims in Dallas have commemorated and continue to commemorate the Holocaust of Jews every year, and then we included the Gays and the Gypsies, each year, as we learn, and have someone to articulate, we have added Genocides of Native Americans, African Americans and the Genocides around the world. And now, we will add the annihilation of Romanis.

The least you can do is pause and think about it. We said never again after the holocaust, but genocides have continued non-stop, and we are currently witnessing the annihilation of the Palestinians people by the Israelis. We are (Americans) manipulated into hating the Palestinian, and that is stripping us from our own humanity of being just to them and justifying bombing them as revenge. Obama is damned wrong on it, so are the others. How can you support annihilation of a people? We have indeed condemned the shelling of rockets and harassing the Israeli population, both are wrong, but we cannot justify either, if we do, we need to ponder about our own humanity.

In this piece by Dilip Simeon adds the India connection with Hitler.

We have known about Subhash Chandra Bose meeting with Hitler, I will say the most unpopular thing to say, Subhash Chandra Bose is regarded with reverence by good percentage of Indian Population, including me once. His anti-British stance should not have caused him to befriend Hitler. The other admirers of Hitler are: Golwalker, Modi and a host of them, now Dilip adds Iqbal, Mashriki and Inayathulla Khan and I am asking him the sources for such information. If it is true, I will withdraw my admiration for the later three with an article, not the popular thing to do, but we must do.

Mike Ghouse


Photo: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Adolf Hitler - Germany 29 May 1942


Hitler's annihilation of the Romanis (the Gypsies of Europe)

NB:  I placed these comments on a Facebook site called Lets Speak India, where a photo of Subhas Chandra Bose shaking hands with Adolf Hitler has been shared over 1500 times, and 'liked' over 580 times. Many comments are full of admiration for Hitler. One person is moved to say this is a picture of the 'Tiger' meeting the 'Lion'. I had provided the link, but find that its been deleted. 


For many of our youth, the deaths of millions in wars and genocide are a mere throw of the dice. The disdain for history and the mania for glory are bad enough, but the normalisation of mass killing is the most disturbing. I've discussed this in my article A Hard Rain Falling and Armies of the Pure: The Question of Indian Fascism  (click the titles for the links)


Find below material related to the Nazi's genocide of the Romani (aka Gypsies) who were of Indian origin, and whose fate is seldom talked about. They remain the prime targets of racial hatred in Europe today.  The many Indian admirers of Hitler could spare a thought for these people, who were slaughtered with the same merciless barbarity as were Europes' Jews.

They could also reflect on Golwalkar's (the successor to RSS founder, Hegdewar) views on Nazism: "To keep up the purity of the race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the semitic races - the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here...a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by" (We, or Our Nationhood Defined, 1938).

Incidentally, Allama Iqbal and Inayatullah Khan al-Mashriqi were also fervent admirers f Hitler..


The Gypsies of Europe (also known as Romanis, of Indian origin) were registered, sterilized, ghettoized, and then deported to concentration and death camps by the Nazis. 



Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 Gypsies were murdered during the Holocaust - an event they call the Porajmos (the "Devouring"). Together with Jews, the Romanis were the only ethnic/racial population selected for total annihilation according to the genocidal policy of the Final Solution - ttp://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/a/gypsies.htm


On July 14th, 1933 Hitler’s cabinet passed the law against “lives not deserving of life” called The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring.” It ordered sterilization for “Gypsies and most of the Germans of black color”. It also affected Jews, the disabled, and others seen as “asocial” (i.e. social misfits). The Law for Revocation of German Citizenship was implemented against Romanies unable to show proof of German birth, as well as against the “Eastern Jews,” who constituted nearly 20% of all Jews in Germany in 1933. In the week of September 18th-25th, the Reichsminister for the Interior called for the arrest of Romanies, under the terms of the “Law Against Habitual Criminals.” Many were sent to concentration camps and made to undertake penal labor. From January 1934 onwards, Romanies were being selected for transfer to camps for processing, which included sterilization by injection or castration. Over the next three years, such centers were established at Dachau, Dieselstrasse, Sachsenhausen, Marzahn and Vennhausen..


The Romani people in Europe are today the most vilified and discriminated against of all ethnic or national populations, and the most victimized by racist violence and discriminatory governmental policies. “One exhibit [at the Holocaust Museum at Buchenwald] quotes SS chief Heinrich Himmler on December 8th, 1938, as calling for the ‘final solution of the Gypsy question,’ and cites his order of December 16th, 1942, to have all Gypsies remaining in Europe deported to Auschwitz.”


At the beginning of 1940, the first mass genocidal action of the Holocaust took place when 250 Romani children from Czechoslovakia were murdered during tests with the new Zyklon-B gas in the camp at Buchenwald..On December 16th, 1942, Himmler issued the order to have all Romanies remaining in Germany deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau for extermination, and so the end began for the second “major group which National Socialists proposed to exterminate in its entirety: the Gypsies” .. The final number of the dead Sinti and Roma may never be determined. We do not know how many were brought into the concentration camps; not every camp produced statistical material. Sinti and Roma often. . . do not appear in the statistics. Also, as the Auschwitz Memorial Book points out, Romanies were murdered unrecorded, sometimes by the hundreds, outside the camps, in the most numbers in the eastern territories, for which only scant records exist. As research continues, the figures rise higher. In order to estimate the percentage of total losses, we would have to know, in addition to the number of dead, the number of Romanies throughout Europe before 1933, and this we will never be able to determine accurately, although both Colliers Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Americana list the pre-war European Romani population as 700,000...


That there are Indians who are hailing the mass murderer of Romanis is indeed ironic.. Read more: 
THE ROOTS OF ANTIGYPSYISM: TO THE HOLOCAUST AND AFTER
http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_b_history_rootsofprejudice&lang=en&articles=true


Also see: Hitler's Assault on the Golden Rule : by Claudia Koontz 


And: Gypsies' fate haunts Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's favourite film-maker


As she approaches her 100th birthday this week (2002) Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's favourite film-maker, remains the pariah of the German cinema. Her first new movie for almost 50 years has been coolly received, and she faces renewed accusations that she failed to prevent more than 100 Gypsies being sent to die in concentration camps. Riefenstahl, whose centenary is on Thursday, faces a legal challenge by Gypsies who claim she has lied for decades by insisting that the Gypsy extras she used in her rustic melodrama, Tiefland (Lowlands), all survived the Holocaust. The production was filmed during the Second World War when she was director of Nazi propaganda films


Source: http://dilipsimeon.blogspot.in/2012/07/hitlers-annihilation-of-romanis-gypsies.html 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Sikh Massacre Observance, Euless Gurdwara

DRAFT

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Sikh Genocide Observance
Gurdwara Sikh Sangat
1400 W Euless Blvd, Euless, TX 76040
....................................

"The first response from those who support killing of other people is usually, "they asked for it", "we are fine now and there is no need to mess it up with these programs" and a few more extreme thoughts. These  ideas are born out of their inability to deal with the situation and find solutions. Nothing was really fine, if it was, this would not have happened. The idea of this and other programs is to understand the issue, beware and remove the cancerous cell that is destroying the fabric of the society.  No one needs to be blamed, but together, we need to remove the root cause. All of us deserve Mukti, an ironic element that one will not have, if the other does not. 

Education is the purpose; we have to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we (humans) have inflicted upon each other, and we have to understand that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us. In a given society there is a spiritual balance that allows each one to pursue his or her own happiness, when some one affects that balance, it hurts us all. There is a perpetrator in us that silently endorses the crimes by not speaking up and ultimately suffers from within, the law of karma is operative within every soul. No one goes scot free." Mike Ghouse, Chair, Annual Holocaust and Genocides event, Dallas. 


Click pictures for larger version - more pics at the link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157631922541157/show/

A seven minutes video clip about the Sikh Massacre
http://www.sikhgenocide.org/nov1984.htm

Dr. Pritpal Singh opens the event

Speakers include: Dr. _____, Mike Ghouse, Dr. Todd Collier, Saji, Richardson Police Officer, Cynthia from DOJ, Sulaiman Hemani and Dr. Pritpal Singh.

Plaques for the guest speakers

Ardas (concluding communion prayers)

Langar - Vegetarian Lunch served, a Sikh tradition around the world.

A few pictures

More pictures will be added.

The Sikh community was honored at the 8th Annual Unity Day USA event, n September 11, 2012 - Pictures from the event are as follows: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157631762797919/show/


The  Sikh community reaffirmed the right values when tragedy befell on their community in the Wisconsin shooting. Indeed, their response to the Wisconsin Gurudwara massacre was exemplary and reflects the teachings of the Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism and every one of the spiritual masters from Zarathustra, Confucius, Moses, Krishna, Mahavira, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Baha'u'llah, and other great spiritual masters. Your leadership in building a cohesive America is greatly appreciated by all.
We have a special program on Sunday, January 27 to reflect on the Sikh Massacre

Speaker's notes below 



Sikh Genocide Observance


Last week, I  posted an upcoming event "Remembrance and Reflection: 1984 Sikh Genocide (posted below)" at Dallas Indians, a 1800 member group in the Dallas area for all Indians. I am glad a few friends called in and sought clarifications. It is always good to inquire and find out before building up emotions against it. The event is on Saturday, November 3rd at Noon.  

Then I read a beautiful personal story by Kirpal Singh from Melbourne, who shared the story of stereotyping Muslims in Nigeria and alluded to bringing a closure to the Sikh Massacre in India.  

The humorous part of the story was, one of the callers was cursing Muslims that they do not understand free speech, and yet, he asked me not post events like this, he believed it was divisive.  Indeed on the surface it does sound like it, but when you read the entire note, you will find otherwise.

You might get away refusing to oblige your spouse or a child's request... or even compel them to obey you...but it builds resentment if not dealt with squarely, it puts a damper on the enthusiasm of the relationship and no one lives in peace. If there is a murder, child abuse or sexual abuse in the community, we cannot sit quite, we have to find a resolution so the victims can leave in peace, and justice is meted out to the abuser.

Taking the example to India - The Kashmiri Pandits, Dalits, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs have been treated unfairly and unjustly on occasions, especially when it comes to killing a large number of people. The wounds remain unhealed for the communities and every one lives with un-ease, discomfort and apprehension. Silence or Money compensation is not the way to repair the damage, but an acknowledgement is the way to go. An apology will heal the wounds for the entire society. We need to seek Mukti from the gnawing conscience, and no ones Karma will go unbalanced.

When Queen Elizabeth visited India a few years back, she apologized for the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre, that was the right thing to do and we welcomed it. There have been many more good examples of healing like that.

About six years ago a film was made by Memnosyne Foundation, "One source many paths" where I represented the Muslim community and 47 other people represented other faith traditions. Uma Mysoreaker, president of the Hindu Temple in New York represented the Hindu Community. The Hindus and the Native Americans shared their pain about the forced conversions by Muslims and Christians alike, while Muslims also have been a target of prejudice after 9/11. I apologized for the wrong doings done by Muslims kings like Aurangzeb and Ghaznavi and individuals like Bin Laden. 

The healing was done when a Native American offered a Bandana to be received as a closure, a Christian minister gracefully accepted it, .. every one remained silent and absorbed the moments, some of us cried, including me, it was indeed a relief. It is also an acknowledgement that we the people (living now) have nothing to do with what was done, and yet, we owed an apology as the wrong doing was committed in the name of the religion or the land we shared.

The Chapters on Pandits, Dalits, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs can be brought to closure by acknowledgment of the wrong doing, its not going to go away by hiding from it. Humility builds bridges, that is what every religion teaches; to be humble. It is wrong, and dead wrong to believe that we are all against each other, we are not, some of us are, but we need to work cohesively to make India a greater nation by being on a higher moral ground of shedding the arrogance or pretending that, we do not have a problem.

The Sikh Massacre is obviously not brought to the closure,  mass graves have been discovered and the identified remains have been given back to their families, but there are hundreds of kids, women and men missing from that period. An accounting needs to be done to bring a relief to families as to what happened to their loved ones. We are all in this together without blaming the past and to find solutions.

The bad guys are not Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or Hindus, the bad guys are those who went on a rampage and hurt fellow Indians be it in Delhi, Gujarat, Bihar or Orissa. No one should go Scot free,  an apology from them individual wrong doers, forgiveness from the victims or lawful action is in order to restart 
STEREO TYPING

This is the most common form of ignorance that surfaces every minute of the day in our lives. Our freedom to think is lost when we stereotype people and fall in the ditch when we justify it. If we want others to treat as fairly, we have to do it too.

If I murder someone, it is my heine that needs to be hauled off to the jail and mete out the deserved punishment under the law and serve justice. Stereo typing in this instance would be to blame my race, parents, siblings, spouse, nationality or religion, it is not wise, is it?? Yet we do it and let others do it without even imploring them to think. What has India or Islam got to do with my criminal act?

Shame on you and I to allow the mind to believe that the murder by a black man allows us to gossip that blacks are criminals, and start justifying some creepy facts to suit our beliefs. Oh well, the educated ones are not… that is even wronger than the first statement…Are all white people ruthless and war mongers? Are Muslims terrorists? Jews will get you one way or the other?

Catch yourselves in your stereotyping, where you make judgments about a people
We reflect on Holocaust and genocides every year, and one of the element is stereotyping. Details about the VII Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides at www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

Kirpal Singh's story is at url-  http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2012/10/sikhs-genocides-observation-in-dallas.html 

Event information from the Sikh Gurdwara is as follows:

Remembrance and Reflection: 1984 Sikh Genocide
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The DFW Sikh American Community extends its invitation to you for our event "Remembrance and Reflection: 1984 Sikh Genocide". We aspire to share the tragedy which unfolded and provide recognition to an event which has withered away in the annals of history. We seek to provide conversation and engage with our audience to ensure dark moments such as these never occur again and that justice prevails. As the great Martin Luther King stated, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

We urge and request everyone to attend
When: Saturday, November 3, 2012 from 12 PM – 1 PM
Where: Gurdwara Sikh Sangat 1400 West Euless Blvd. Euless, TX 76040

All our educators, our law enforcement officials, our elected officials, people of faith and in short all our fellow Americans are humbly requested to take advantage of this opportunity. We will highlight and recognize the fundamental principles of this great nation which was on prominent display during and in the aftermath of the Wisconsin massacre of how a nation is to respond and respect its citizens. This fundamental principle must be brought to the forefront for all to appreciate and fathom.
Sikh Americans have been an integral and constructive part of the DFW community for over 50 years and we invite you to share in our experiences and a history which permeates within all of us.
The institution of langar (community kitchen) will be in full effect in which everyone is requested to partake and have a delicious vegetarian meal. So please come by and ask your questions, eat and drink some food, or just engage with your neighbors.

For any questions or comments please contact: 
1. Gurvinder Singh   469.222.6288 gurvinder.singh@unitedsikhs.org 
2. Manmohan Singh 469.733.5190 m.singh.180@gmail.com 
3. Manpreet Singh   972-415-7897 kingmani15@yahoo.com 
4. Pritpal Singh   214-505-6375 pritpaltx@yahoo.com 

We will be honored and look forward to your presence. 
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mike is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, interfaith, politics, foreign policy, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. He is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, commentator on national radio network, writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and bi monthly at Huffington post and several periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

6th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

 VI ANNUAL  
Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Sunday, January 27, 2013
Unity Church of Dallas, 6525 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230
Rsvp to:  
ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com   

Highlight- Sikh Massacre of 1984

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. It is a comprehensive event where all human failings, massacres, genocides and Holocaust will be addressed in one fashion or the other. 

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
VI Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides.

http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Muslims commemorate Yom HaShoah

Muslims join Jews in commemorating Yom HaShoah. The best thing you can do to support Jews in their most solemn moment of history  is to visit the Holocaust Museum in your city and attend the Yom HaShoah commemorative prayers in your local synagogues this week.


The history, Wikipedia,  “Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah” known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accessories, and for the Jewish resistance in that period."


"In Israel, it is a national memorial day. It was inaugurated in 1953, anchored by a law signed by the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion and the President of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (April/May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to Shabbat, in which case the date is shifted by a day In other countries there are different commemorative days—see Holocaust Memorial Day.”
Holocaust survivor Rosa Lee Schiff and Mike Ghouse at Temple Emanu-El
Last year I was at Temple Emanu-El and was got to meet my favorite lady, the Holocaust Survivor, Rosa Lee Schiff who and her late husband William Schiff were the key note speakers at the first Holocaust commemoration after the United Nations proclamation in 2005. 

Lao Tsu’s prayer of peace explains the need to participate;
If there is to be peace in the world,
there must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
there must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,
there must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
there must be peace in the heart.

Peace on earth let it begin with me,
While listening to the notes of the Holocaust Survivors read by their family members tonight, I was in literal coma, grasping the pain and the betrayal of the world during the most difficult of times for the Jewish community. I sincerely wish the world understands this pain.


Muslims took the initiative to pray and commemorate the Holocaust event annually since the United Nations proclaimed it in November of 2005. 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.


Every year we bring people of different faith together to reflect upon the Holocaust and Genocides and make a personal commitment to speak up, whenever we see a sign of massacre and genocides that is the least we can do.



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.



Pictures for the last five years are at www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

We sincerely pray that 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