By Sudarsan Raghavan

Sudarsan Raghavan/TWP – St. Pierre Parish in the town of Bouali, Central African Republic, is shown on Feb. 6. Here, thousands of Muslims sought refuge inside the church.

BOYALI, Central African Republic — Fatimatu Yamsa will never know her baby’s fate, but in an instant she altered it forever.

They were fleeing violence, traveling in the back of a truck packed with Muslims and Christians. The vehicle pulled into a checkpoint outside a ransacked mosque in this shattered town. Armed Christian vigilantes ordered all the Muslims to get out.

Yamsa stood up and handed her baby to a Christian woman who said she would pretend the girl was hers. She whispered to the woman: Find my brother-in-law in the next town and give the infant to him.

Then she got out with her three young sons and several other Muslims.

The baby’s name was Shamsia, and her ordeal had just begun.

Retracing her journey from that tragic morning helps explain the complexities of the sectarian war engulfing the Central African Republic. It is a conflict so vicious that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned it could spiral into genocide and effectively partition the country. This week, he called for a nearly 12,000 strong U.N. peacekeeping force to bolster an existing contingent of French and African Union soldiers that have failed to halt the violence.

Shamsia, now 8 months old, will one day learn how she was saved by a split-second decision by two women who refused to be influenced by the hatreds enveloping their country. She will also one day learn how her mother and her brothers died.

“They were all killed in front of the mosque,” said Serge Gougodou, a farmer who witnessed the massacre. The assailants hacked their prisoners to death with machetes and knives, he and other witnesses said. Then their corpses were dumped in a mass grave.

In recent weeks, the conflict has deepened. While hundreds of thousands of Christians remain displaced, and many continue to die, human rights groups are warning of ethnic cleansing as assaults against Muslims increase. Yet there are also people willing to take great risks to preserve the bonds that once unified their communities for as long as anyone can remember.
This report is based on visits to the places Shamsia passed through and interviews with her relatives and other people who helped her along her journey. Witnesses to the massacre of her family and the Christian vigilantes who now rule the countryside outside Bangui, the capital, were also interviewed.

Shamsia, whose name in Arabic roughly means “shining star,” would flee more violence with her relatives and find refuge in the unlikeliest of places.

“It was a miracle she survived,” said Aalaji Yamsa, her uncle.

Bangui: A crisis worsens

On the morning of Jan. 14, the Yamsa family decided to leave Bangui.

It had been four days since the nation’s first Muslim leader, Michel Djotodia, had resigned under pressure from regional leaders. The Muslim rebels, called Seleka, who had helped install him in a coup last March had committed atrocities against the country’s Christian majority. The violence fueled the rise of Christian militias known as “anti-balaka,” or anti-machete, in the local Sango language.
With Djotodia gone, the Seleka began to withdraw, leaving Muslims unprotected. Then the Christian vigilantes escalated their attacks on Muslims.

The Yamsa family, like most Muslims, had lived peacefully with Christians. Since gaining independence in 1960 from France, their country has had many coups and few periods of stability, but rarely any religious violence. The two communities traded with each other, intermarried, lived in mixed areas.

Now, with tensions rising, the Yamsas packed up their belongings. Shamsia’s father, Bouba, and an older brother stayed behind to watch over their home. The rest of the family piled into the back of a truck headed to neighboring Cameroon.

Boyali: A vow not to let Muslims return

Like many areas in the country, control of the hamlet of Boyali, 80 miles northwest of Bangui, had shifted several times in recent weeks.

A few days before the Jan. 14 massacre, the Seleka forces left town. The Christian militias then killed more than two dozen Muslims, burning houses and destroying the mosque. Most Muslims fled. Then, Seleka fighters returned. They killed many Christians and burned down scores of Christian homes. None of the roughly 6,500 French and African peacekeepers, empowered by the U.N. Security Council to safeguard civilians, were in Boyali during the rampage.

By the time the truck carrying the Yamsa family rolled into town, the Christian fighters were back in control. It was their time to seek revenge.

After the Yamsas and other Muslims got out of the truck, the militias led the prisoners inside the mosque and ordered the truck to leave. Inside the mosque, the fighters took their money and belongings, witnesses said, then chopped them to death outside on the road.

The dead included two of Shamsia’s brothers, ages 5 and 3, and an 18-month-old relative, according to her uncle. But another brother escaped during the confusion and made his way to a nearby town where a relative lived.

After the killings, the anti-balaka fighters hauled the corpses to a nearby mango grove. “They brought the bodies over there, and dug a large hole,” said Sonya Infana, a neighbor, pointing at a mound. “They threw the bodies inside.”

On a recent visit, clothing still lay scattered on the reddish earth. Children played, and mothers washed clothes, steps from the grave. A group of anti-balaka fighters sat under a tree, near charred houses. There were no more Muslims in the town.

Outside the destroyed mosque, stripped bare by looters, splotches of dried blood still stained the road.

Every witness spoke matter-of-factly about what happened, as if killing had become mundane. No Muslims can live here again, vowed Augustin Bonizo, a Christian resident. “We will kill anyone who returns.”

Bossembele: ‘We were never friends’

The truck carrying Shamsia then arrived in Bossembele, 20 miles north of Boyali. At a truck stop in the town center, the Christian woman asked for the baby’s uncle. Some people went to find him. When Aalaji Yamsa arrived and identified himself, the woman handed him the infant and told him what happened.

“Has my family been killed?” he recalled asking her.

“What I know is that they were taken into the mosque,” she replied. “I don’t know what happened next.”

Then the woman got back into the truck. It was getting late. They had to get to Cameroon.

“I didn’t even get her name,” said Yamsa, 46, shaking his head with regret.

He took Shamsia to his house, where he lived with his wife and 10 children. Within hours he had learned about the deaths of his relatives.

But there was no time to mourn. Two days later, the last of the Seleka forces pulled out of Bossembele with thousands of fleeing Muslims. The Christian militias entered the town and hunted down remaining Muslims, killing scores, according to human rights activists.

By then, Yamsa, his family and Shamsia were in two minivans heading to the capital, where they hoped to catch an evacuation flight to Chad.

They cannot return home. Today, the anti-balaka militias dominate the town. Several anti-balaka fighters, manning a checkpoint, said they knew the Yamsa family and vowed to target them if they return.

“We were never friends,” said Sylvain Danboye, one of the fighters. “If any Yamsa comes back, we will kill him.”

As the minivans passed through Boyali, they drove over the spot where Shamsia’s family was butchered, Yamsa would learn later.

Bouali: Bullets ‘flying through the church’

When the vans entered the town of Bouali, 62 miles outside the capital, a tire blew out on one of them, sending it careering off the road. Yamsa’s son Ibrahim was severely injured. Yamsa sent his nine other children onward. But he waited, with his wife and Shamsia, by the side of the road until a Red Cross vehicle arrived. Escorted by French soldiers, the Red Cross took Ibrahim, his mother and Shamsia to a hospital in Bangui.

But there was no room in the vehicle for Yamsa.

The safest place for a Muslim to spend the night in Bouali was St. Pierre’s Parish. Thousands of Muslims were already there, sleeping in the pews with all their possessions. Yamsa joined them. But the next morning, the anti-balaka had surrounded the church. Yamsa and the other Muslims were trapped. The anti-balaka occasionally fired bullets at and around the church and attacked any Muslim trying to leave.

In early February, Chadian peacekeeping soldiers arrived in Bouali and clashed with the anti-balaka fighters. Two Chadian soldiers were killed as well as several Christian fighters and residents.

At one point, the church was in their crossfire.

“We were lying on the floor,” Yamsa said. “Bullets were flying through the church, striking walls.”

On Feb. 6, Yamsa left Bouali in a truck headed to Bangui, protected by Chadian peacekeepers.

Bangui: ‘They think only of themselves’

But by the time Yamsa reached the capital, the baby was no longer with his family.

A Christian pastor and family friend named David had visited the ward where Yamsa’s son was recuperating. He noticed how tired the boy’s mother was and offered to take care of Shamsia.

Today, the infant is living with the pastor’s family in the most improbable place: a Christian enclave of Bangui. Anti-balaka fighters roam the area. On a recent day, in front of his house, Christian youths wielding machetes and knives chased a truck carrying Muslims fleeing the city. Gunfire erupted.

“If the people who run the country understood how much Muslims and Christians depend on each other in their lives, they would not bring such turmoil,” David said a few moments later. “But they think only of themselves.”

Shamsia’s journey is far from over. Her father and two brothers are now in Chad, struggling to survive. They have not sent for her, and her uncle has yet to visit her. It’s too dangerous for a Muslim to enter the Christian neighborhood, and he has his own large family to care for. Pastor David agreed to continue caring for Shamsia.

But in today’s chaos, even caring for a baby brings risks. If David’s neighbors learn of Shamsia’s existence, it could bring trouble, even death. His surname has been withheld for this reason. “I never tell anyone she is a Muslim,” he said. “I fear what they will do.”

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By Geoffrey Cook, TMO

Men pray in the mosque of the Khan’s Palace in the Crimean town of Bakhchisaray March 10, 2014. Bakhchisaray is the historic capital of the Crimean Tatars, the largest minority on today’s Crimean peninsular. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Alameda California–When there is news coming from a place that is but is not associated with Islam, your author — mostly out of curiosity – researches to see if there are Islamic influences.  He found them in his articles on these pages on Haiti and Sichuan (China) after the two earthquakes. 

So it is with the Ukraine.

(All of the research was done on the web.  Most of this article is an updating of two Wikipedia articles plus newspaper ephemera, and the checking of facts in various research sources.)

Most Ukrainian Muslims are Tatars and reside on the Kiev side of the Crimean peninsula, located on the northern coast of the region which was recently overrun by the Russian Army. 

The number of Muslims in the Ukraine is about 500,000–and 300,000 resided in the Crimea as of the year before last.  The total percentage in the whole country are about 0.6%, but the Tatar believers equals about 12% of the population there.

The Crimean Tatars are Sunnis.  The Mufti is the preeminent religious figure there, taking precedence over the imams–and there are nearly 150 mosques in the whole of the Ukraine.

The Islamic Crimean Tartar Khanate emanated out of the Peninsula from 1441 to 1783.  They were Turkic-speaking.  The Ottoman Empire, which succeeded the Khanate, was overseen by Istanbul with autonomy.  In the late Eighteenth century C.E. this area became part of Russia’s expanding Empire.

At the Communist Revolution (1917), Muslims equaled about one-third of the peninsular territory’s inhabitants. 

In 1944, 200,000 of the Muslims were subjected to resettlement in the Central Asian Republics during Stalin’s ruthless reign.  Nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars were deported.  Of those, 45% died on the journey.  In 1967, Moscow rehabilitated the deported Crimean Muslims although there was no provision for them to reoccupy their former homes on the north shore of the Black Sea.  The restoration of Islamic Tatars to their ancestral home commenced in 1989 after the collapse of the Soviet State.

Since the 1960s, there has been a Crimean “parliament” or mejlis–with a degree of proportional representation.  Further, Muslims in the Ukrainian Crimea are afraid that that institution along with the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of the Crimea (DUMK) would be repressed under a Russian-controlled area between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Which side is the Muslim community on in the current crisis? 

Hakan Kirimli, an international affairs advisor in the Crimean Tatar National Movement said in a recent interview reported in the U.K.’s Guardian that such a split, which could see areas of the country annexed by Russia, would be “totally suicidal” for the country’s Crimean Tatar Muslim minority, such a split, which could see [large] areas of the country become part of  Russia, would be “totally suicidal” for the country’s Crimean Tatar Muslim minority. He alluded to the 1944 deportation of Tatars; therefore, “They are for staying in [the] Ukraine and by no means [wish to go to] Russia.”

Marc Schneier, who has observed Islamophobia in the Ukraine, said that “it’s too early to tell” whether the unrest will have a negative effect on the country’s Muslims.  “We must…be vigilant…so that Muslims – particularly in the Crimea – will not be targeted in any xenophobic or any negative way,” he said.

Succinctly the Muslim population in the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea favor being part of the Ukrainian State and the fear of the effect of a new Russian empire would have upon the            Islamic people in the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea.

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By Adam Taylor

General Cisse with officers & soldiers of General Bosquet’s Division, Crimean War. Photo approx 1860 by Roger Fenton. Officers and soldiers, posed, wearing various uniforms; a zouave at the far left.

When President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev this week, it was tempting to assume that Ukraine’s crisis was over: Euromaidan had won, and the forces of Western-style democracy had prevailed over Yanukovych’s Kremlin-led repression.

If only it were that simple. For the past few days all eyes have been on southern Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, and things don’t look so rosy. Crimea, which is not only populated by 60 percent Russian speakers but is the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has seen some worrying developments in the past few days: On Thursday gunmenreportedly seized government buildings in the capital, Simferopol, barricading themselves in and raising Russian flags.

Crimea’s situation is, as with many things in Ukraine’s political crisis, compounded by a complicated history. For most in America and Western Europe, however, that history is likely obscure — wasn’t there a war or something there? Let’s take a look back.

What even is ‘the’ Crimea?

It’s revealing that Crimea is, much like Ukraine, often prefaced with a “the” when referred to in English. As I wrote late last year, the once-widespread use of “the Ukraine” has often angered Ukrainians, many of whom believe that the implication is that Ukraine is a region, not a country, that could be conquered by greater powers. The same logic could be applied to Crimea: For centuries the Crimean Peninsula, which occupies a strategically important location on the Black Sea and has arable land, has been fought over by various outside forces.

Before it was even known as Crimea, for example, the peninsula was known was “Taurica” by the Greek and Roman empires, both of which at points incorporated the region into their empires. These weren’t the only outside forces that dominated Crimea, and at other points in its past it has been invaded or ruled by Gothic tribes, the Kievan Rus’ state, the Byzantium empire and the Mongols, among many others. From the mid-1400s it existed as the Crimean Khanate, a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire, during which time it became the center of a roaring slave trade.

The modern name “Crimea” seems to have come from the language of the Crimean Tatars, a Turkic ethnic group that emerged during the Crimean Khanate. The Tatars called the peninsula “Qırım.” While Russia, which annexed the state in 1783, officially tried to change the name back to Taurica, Crimea was still used informally and eventually reappeared officially in 1917.

In “The Tatars of Crimea: Return to the Homeland: Studies and Documents,” Edward A. Allsworth explains that its name may been derived from the peninsula’s strategically rugged landscape and may have meant “fortress” or “stronghold.” If that’s accurate, it’s apt that Crimea is perhaps best known in the English language for the Crimean War, which began in 1853 and involved three years of bloody fighting between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, Britain and Sardinia. While Russia eventually lost the war and Crimea suffered significant damage, it remained part of Russia.

The peninsula had a very tricky 20th century

After the October Revolution ended the Russian Empire in 1917, Crimea briefly found itself a sovereign state. That didn’t last long, however: It was quickly dragged into the Russian civil war, where it became a stronghold for the White Army. Following a succession of governments in a few short years, Crimea eventually became the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1921, part of the Soviet Union. It remained like this until 1945, when it became the Crimean Oblast, an administrative region of Russia.

Like much much of the Eastern Front, Crimea’s experience in World War II was incredibly traumatic: It was occupied by Nazi Germany, and the port city of Sevastopol was almost destroyed in the fighting. Once the Red Army retook Crimea in 1944, it forcibly deported the entire population of Crimean Tatars to Central Asia as punishment for collaboration with German forces. Almost half are believed to have died along the way. The Tatars, who had been on the peninsula for centuries, were not allowed to return to Crimea until the end of Soviet Union. They wouldn’t forget their hardships, however.

With the Crimean Tatars deported from the peninsula, along with large numbers of Greeks and Armenians, Crimea was a very Russian place. Then, in 1954, something unusual happened: Russia gave it to Ukraine.

Why exactly did Premier Nikita Khrushchev transfer the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic? In an informative post over at Slate, Joshua Keating picks up on a few possibilities. For one, the award of Crimea — a strategically important place also great for agriculture — was seen as a “gift” for Ukraine, whose people had suffered terribly during World War II. Peasants from Crimea could now be rewarded with land in Ukraine. Khrushchev, though Russian himself, had worked his way up through the Ukrainian Communist Party and likely felt a tie to the region.

It also probably didn’t feel like a big deal at the time: Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the difference between Ukraine and Russia perhaps felt nominal. By 1991 and the Soviet collapse, things were obviously a little different. While many apparently expected new President Boris Yeltsin to demand that Crimea be returned to Russia, it never was. (As a side note, when hard-liners tried to force President Mikhail Gorbachev out in a coup in 1991, the Soviet leader was at his vacation home — in Crimea).

When Ukraine held a referendum on independence in December 1991, 54 percent of Crimean voters favored independence from Russia. It was a majority, but the lowest one found in Ukraine. Following a brief tussle with the newly independent Ukrainian government, Crimea agreed to remain part of Ukraine, but with significant autonomy (including its own constitution and legislature and – briefly – its own president). In 1997, Ukraine and Russia signed a bilateral Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership, which formally allowed Russia to keep its Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
So why does this matter now?

The Euromaidan protests have frequently been portrayed as a battle between the pro-European West and the pro-Russian East, a legacy of Ukraine’s own history of Russian domination. That could be something of an  oversimplification, sure, but it’s an idea that resonates with many, both abroad and within Ukraine.

Given that Crimea has a modern history intrinsically linked with Russia, contains the largest population of ethnic Russians within Ukraine, and harbors a significant portion of Russia’s navy in Sevastopol, Crimea is clearly an important place in that narrative. Add a minority Crimean Tatar population (12 percent in 2001) that has pretty good reason to be wary of Moscow, plus a lot of Ukrainians, and the situation could easily look explosive.

Of course, Crimea’s history doesn’t automatically mean conflict. While the Russian nationalists in Crimea have been given a lot of attention in the past few days, some say they aren’t a coherent force. Ellie Knott, a doctoral candidate at the London School of Economics who conducts research in Crimea, has argued convincingly that the Russian nationalist and Crimean separatists are in practice hindered by their own internal divisions, and that many ethnic Russians in Crimea have a more complicated sense of national identity than might first appear. And while Russia has shown itself willing to get involved in the affairs of post-Soviet states, most recently with Georgia over the breakaway state of South Ossetia, few are predicting it will openly get involved in a dispute with Ukraine anytime soon.

If there’s one thing you can say about Crimea’s history, it’s that it’s been full of surprises. Its future might be, too.

Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for the Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University. You can follow him on Twitter here.

16-11

By Brenda Naomi Rosenberg and Samia Mustafa Bahsoun—a Jew and an Arab Muslim – partners in building a new future

Brenda Naomi Rosenberg (l) and Samia Mustafa Bahsoun (r)

We are two women from radically different professions, backgrounds,cultures,ideologies and beliefs who share a passion to bring our opposing communities together. When Stephen Goldman, executive director of the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus in Farmington Hills called to say he secured the BESA exhibition from Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial Center) in Jerusalem, we were elated! So few people in either of our communities know the story of BESA – Muslim Albanians who rescued Jews durning the Holocaust. “BESA literally means to keep the promise. A code of honor. One who acts according to BESA is someone who keeps his word,someone to whom one can trust ones life and the lives of ones family. The help afforded to the Jews and non Jews alike should be understood as a matter of national honor. The Albanians went out of their way to provide assistance, moreover they competed with each other for the privilege of saving Jews.These acts originated from compassion, loving-kindness and a desire to help those in need, even those of another faith or origin.Albania, the only European country with a Muslim majority, succeeded in the place where other European nations failed. Almost all Jews living within Albanian borders during the German occupation, those of Albanian origin and refugees alike, were saved, except members of a single family. Impressively, there were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than beforehand.”

BESA resonated with us. It mirrored one of the guiding principles of our Tectonic Leadership model – being committed to care equally about self and other. We began to think of ways it could be an effective tool to bring our communities together. Divine timing rang Brenda’s phone. She received a call from Sheryl Olitzky who lives in New Jersey. Sheryl had just finished reading Friendship and Faith: the WISDOM of women creating alliances for peace, the book Brenda inspired, and wrote with 29 women from WISDOM’S a women’s interfaith group. Sheryl was starting Sisterhood of Shalom Salaam, an organization to bring Jewish and Muslim women together and wanted Brenda’s insights. You can imagine Brenda’s delight and surprise when Sheryl shared she was presenting the BESA documentary at Rutgers with Norman Gershman, the photographer and writer of the BESA book, and Majlinda Myrto, one of the most renowned and important leaders of the Albanian-American community in United States.

We began emailing and talking with Norman and Majlinda. We learned Majlinda was born in Albania and has lived in the United States since 1993. She holds a Master Degree in Public Affairs (receiving the distinction award for “Recognition and Awareness of Human Rights”), and an MA in Political Science. She is the Director of the “Eye Contact Foundation” an organization that promotes religious, political, cultural and economic understanding and tolerance among people worldwide. Part of her work is dedicated to establishing school curricula for teaching tolerance through BESA as manifested in the saving of Jews by Muslim Families. Majlinda‘s in laws Shyqyri and his Celebrating BESA: Muslims who rescued Jews during the Holocaust by Brenda Naomi Rosenberg and Samia Mustafa Bahsoun a Jew and an Arab Muslim – partners in building a new future parents Abdullah and Lje Myrto are honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among Nations. And we learned that “Norman Gershman spent four years photographing Muslim families who saved Jews during the Holocaust, converging between two seemingly opposed worlds.” His photographs are to be found in a variety of public collections, including the International Center of Photography, New York; the Brooklyn Museum; the Aspen Museum of Art and a number of galleries in Russia”

The four of us met last fall in New York City. We saw how the BESA exhibition and our TECTONIC LEADERSHIP model can work together to engage our communities. And we saw the power and the necessity of pairing. Their relationship is based on positive inter dependency just like ours. On March 9th we are co sponsoring with the Holocaust Memorial Center, the ADL, AJC Detroit, WISDOM, and VOICE VISION the BESA exhibition and we are presenting our Tectonic Leadership model for systemic change.

Join us and hear our story of how we chose to use the tension that once separated us to cement our relationship,seal our friendship,and develop a model for creating the next generation of leaders. Learn how our Tectonic Leadership model pairs leaders from across divides to face challenges together and find solutions that benefit both communities by building social and business enterprises and creating policies together.

At the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus 28123 Orchard Lake Road Farmington Hills MI: BESA- a code of honor Muslim Albanians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust
The photographic exhibition: on view February 13th – May 11th ADMISSION: free with museum admission

TECTONIC LEADERSHIPA road map to systemic change. Presentation and round table discussion on March 9th from 3 pm to 5 pm. Discover how you can use Tectonic Leadership to transform conflict in your personal life, on campus, in the work place and in your community Admission: free – Light refreshments at Roundtable Discussion.

DOCUMENTARY FILM: BESA – THE PROMISE: showing: Thursday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. Admission: Free with museum admission

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Prof. Najeeba Syeed-Miller Presents Ways to “Heal the World” Through Empathy, Insight

Syeed-Miller, who is both a recognized author and an assistant professor at Claremont School of Theology, primarily focused her talk on how understanding the role of religion can aid in conflict resolution, and the problems that ignoring those roles can cause.                    Photo by Cameryn Brock / Daily Nexus.

Najeeba Syeed-Miller, an internationally recognized author and assistant professor of interreligious education at Claremont School of Theology, gave a talk about religious conflict and mediation at the MultiCultural Center Theater.

Titled “Interfaith Peacemaking: Healing the World,” the talk highlighted the importance of understanding religion’s role in conflict escalation and resolution, as well as the consequences of ignoring this role. Miller’s work focuses on resolving a number of complex religious and cultural conflicts in the Middle East, and she has intervened in disputes between urban gangs in Southern California. Her efforts have garnered a Southern California Mediation Association’s “Peacemaker of the Year” Award in 2007, and in 2008, she received the California State Legislature Women in Law Award for her work to reduce conflict worldwide.

Miller said religion and culture play a role in every conflict, regardless of context, even if these roles may not be immediately evident. As a result, she said understanding how these two ideas initially play into a conflict is critical to reaching a resolution.

“If one doesn’t have a very multidimensional lens, then religion could be at play as a source of a conflict, but it could also be a source of part of the resolution,” Miller said. “You may not be able to identify the problem, or you may not be able to identify it as part of the solution.”

According to Miller, people tend to seek information that confirms their biases, but Miller said there are greater rewards for abandoning that tendency and adopting another person’s perspective of an issue.

“To me, part of maturity and perspective-taking is when you can actually learn and put yourself in someone else’s shoes,” Miller said. “If you’re able to move into that capacity, a lot of research shows that you will actually be more successful academically.”

However, Miller said she understands that perspective-switching is no easy feat: “Empathy takes practice … Empathy is not just a feeling; empathy is a skill.”

Miller advised students to improve specific abilities of diffusing tension and communicating effectively, as she said these abilities revolve around the interworking of interpersonal relationships and rapport-building, even with people of different opinions and ideas.

“I think some of the classes and topics that are helpful around peacemaking are learning to be an active listener, learning to build trust around parties in conflict, understanding how a community is organized [and] how it builds leadership … and also just being able to handle — as a mediator — really diverse viewpoints,” Miller said.

Miller said she hopes students will learn new skills for resolving conflicts from their own life experiences, especially in a university setting, since such experiences can teach students valuable life lessons.

“This environment is a great one for learning and also practicing the ability to work across differences,” Miller said. “If you do it well, you’ll also learn about yourself and you’ll learn something about whomever it is you’re engaging with.”

A version of this story appeared on page 3 of Wednesday, March 5, 2014′s print edition of the Daily Nexus.

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By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Major League Baseball’s Oakland A’s promoted longtime executive Farhan Zaidi to the title of Assistant General Manager/Director of Baseball Operations. Zaidi, 37, has been with the organization for 10 years and for the last five years had been the club’s director of baseball operations. He is the second assistant general manager under GM Billy Beane, joining David Forst, who remains Beane’s top assistant.

Zaidi’s primary responsibilities include providing statistical analysis for evaluating and targeting players in the amateur draft, free agent and trade markets. He also assists on arbitration cases, minor league contracts and works closely with the coaching staff during the season in analyzing data from advance scouting reports.

Prior to joining the A’s, Zaidi served as business development associate for Small World Media, the fantasy sports division of The Sporting News, and also worked as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. He earned his bachelor of science degree in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998, followed by a Ph.D in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011.

Beane positively gushes when he speaks of his new assistant.  “He’s absolutely brilliant,” Oakland general manager Billy Beane told the San Francisco Chronicle. “He has a great qualitative mind, but also a creative mind. The ability to look at things both micro and macro is unique, and Farhan could do whatever he wants to do, not just in this game, but in any sport or any business. I’m more worried about losing him to Apple or Google than I am to another team.”

Zaidi grew up in Canada and the Phillipines. And he has some pretty impressive siblings: Zeeshan, 39, a talented musician, works for LiveNation and has a band, the Commuters, based in New York; Jaffer, 33, went to Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and works at Google; and sister Noor, 28, is a Columbia graduate who is getting a doctorate in history at the University of Pennsylvania.

And opposing baseball organizations have taken notice of Zaidi’s acumen. One un-named executive confided to the San Francisco Chronicle that covets Zaidi as much as anyone in the league. That puts Zaidi on a list with the Chicago Cubs’ Shiraz Rehman, and Omar Khan of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, as executives with a strong chance of becoming the first Muslim general manager in American sports.

16-11

Syed Kazmi among Maine’s TopDocs

Dr. Syed Kazmi of New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland was chosen for inclusion in Down East Magazine’s “Maine TopDocs Physician Survey 2014” as the top physician in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Kazmi has been a member of the rehabilitation hospital staff since 1996. He is the medical director for the stroke and neuroscience programs, and a past president of the medical staff. He is also on the medical staff at Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital.

Yasir Hasnain wins Macon County Bee

DECATUR,IL–Yasir Hasnain was declared the winner of the Macoun County  spelling bee competition. The eighth grader will now advance to the regional competition along with eight other students to be held on March 22. He has been winning the regional competition for past four years.

Yasir’s younger sister Rabya, a fifth-grader, placed third and also advances to the regional competition.

Mahmood, Abdul-Muqit among Hopwood award winners

The Hopwood Awards are the oldest and most prestigious college writing prizes in the country. A total of $11,350 was awarded in the Hopwood Underclassmen Contest and $14,450 in other contests. Among this year’s award recipients are:

Omar Mahmood, a class of 2016 LSA linguistics major from West Bloomfield, Michigan, for “I am Urdu and Other Essays,” $1,200.

Yasin Ibn Abdul-Muqit, a class of 2015 LSA English major from Coldwater, Mich., $1,500.

Islamic Center of Fort Collins holds open house

The Islamic Center of Fort Collings held its first open house in its new facility on March 1.Throughout  the day, discussions were held on topics such as women’s role in the mosque and youth perspectives on the religion.Outreach committee  chairman Shakir Muhammad stood before a seated group of around 100 for a question-and-anwer session that spanned from theology and ritual to the meaning and length of prayers.

“I think there was a really healthy level of respect and curiosity in the room,” said visitor Elizabeth Sink, who attends a unitarian church normally and had brought her 6- and 3-year-old children to the open house, to the Coloradoan.com.

Religious, school and any interested groups can  tour the center by contacting admin@icfc.org.

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Muslim Family Services Press Release

The audience at the Muslim Family Services Fundraiser.

On the evening of Sunday March 2nd, 2014, Muslim Family Services, a Division of ICNA Relief USA Programs (MFS) held their 7th Annual Fundraising Dinner. The event started at 5:00PM with over 300 guests attending. Beautiful faces from every South Eastern Michigan community decorated the room. In November, 2013, Muslim Family Services had the honor of opening Michigan’s 1st Muslim developed and operated women’s transitional home called ‘Sakinah House’. It is primarily this very establishment that the organization sought to raise funds for. The keynote speaker of the night was Dr. Mohamed Rida Beshir hailing from Canada. It was an honor to hear the author, engineer, and humanitarian, among many other titles, speak for this cause. Br. Saleem Khalid, a community gem, humanitarian and director of Muslim Enrichment Program (MEP) was the fundraiser.  The friendly family man and community member Br. Naveed khan was the MC for the night.

The event started off with a video presentation of Sakinah House: Women’s Transitional Home. The video touched on the need for safe establishments for displaced Muslim women, in addition to details about enrichment programs that the Sakinah House Women’s Committee is developing. These programs include but are not limited to courses on financial management, resume building, employment seeking strategies, English language literacy and public speaking. The committee also has planned fun days with residents during which they do arts, crafts and have halaqas (spiritual reminders) in order to increase residential cheer and support them on their journey towards stability. Guest were impressed by the efforts of Sakinah House staff to meet all the attainable needs of their residents.

MFS also shared another video that highlighted their numerous, ongoing programs and initiatives. Their food pantry has fed thousands of families in the metro-Detroit area. They offer financial support to individuals needing assistance with utility bills among many other hardships. Janaza (burial services) are sponsored for families below the poverty line. MFS also helps Muslim families become licensed foster parents in the state of Michigan. In addition to these wonderfully necessary programs, MFS also organizes seasonal programs like their; “Sponsor-A-Family Ramadan Project”, “Eid Toy Drive”, “Back-To-School Backpack giveaway” and Free Annual Health Fair which is coming up in April.

Dr. Mohamed Rida Beshir, the author of a plethora of books including “Blissful Marriage” and “Meeting the Challenge of Parenting in the West: An Islamic Perspective”, graced the stage. This humble family man was the ideal speaker to promote Muslim Family Services endeavors because he, like MFS is dedicated to promoting healthy and happy Muslim Families on a broad scale. Br. Beshir spoke about the need for organizations like MFS dedicated to serving the Muslim populace and promoting healthy, stable Muslim families. Dr. Beshir reminded guest that all Muslims have a duty towards one another. One of those duties is to support each other in doing good. He ended by encouraging all to donate to MFS in order to support Sakinah House and keep their programs operating.

The organization’s goal was to raise $110,000. $60K will be used for the maintenance, management of Sakinah House and comfort of their residents. $50K will cover the expenses until coming Ramadan towards all of the above mentioned programs and initiatives. By the grace and mercy of Allah (swt) this goal was met! Br. Saleem Khalid was a huge contributor to the success of the fundraiser. His familiarity with and belief in the initiatives that Muslim Family Services facilitates daily qualified him as an eye-witness in their efforts. This, paired with his charisma and keen understanding of societal challenges allowed him to speak eloquently and encourage all Muslims to show their support.

Alhamdulilah, the event was a joyous occasion for all. Guest dined on delicious cuisine as they enjoyed the news of Muslim Family Services newest establishment, Sakinah House. After hearing the plea of displaced women and the urge from local professionals to the community, the need for financial assistance was well understood. Muslim Family Services simply cannot continue to service those in need without your help. They are forever grateful to all of their supporters both near and far. Without you and your contribution, their programs would be but dreams. In addition, MFS would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Beshir, Br. Saleem Khalid and Br. Naveed for helping inform the masses about their works. May Allah (swt) reward you all immensely in this world and the next.

Muslim Family Services is located at: 12346 McDougall St. Detroit, MI 48128 and can be contacted via phone at 313-366-6800 and email at office@mfs.icnarelief.org. Donations can be made online at www.muslimfamilyservices.org or by check sent to the above address.

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By Laura Fawaz, TMO

The Lebanese Civil war officially ended in 1990, but the occupying Israeli forces still remained.

Our previous issues in this Lebanon series discussed the creation of this cedar country, as presented on its flag, the various religions tensions, and it’s early French influences.  All this evolved into two initials attacks, unraveling into a civil war that lasted from 1975 – 1990.  During this time, Israeli forces invaded a vulnerable Lebanon.  With its natural beauty, and snow-peaked mountains directly overlooking the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean, all bringing in high tourism, Lebanon was an ideal target for Israel.  Their first invasion was in 1978.  Though shortly after, in accordance with a United Nations mandate, it was to withdraw from Lebanon, but instead only withdrew from all but a narrow strip along the border, thus still having access to all of southern Lebanon.  This, along with corrupt political leaders within Lebanon, made it easy for Israeli’s second invasion in 1982; this lasted until the year 2000. 

When the civil war ended in 1990, 150,000 were people killed, 200,000 were wounded, and there were roughly 1 million new refugees.  Lebanon fought so hard to become an independent nation, but was now faced with multiple occupiers.  They were now determined not to let Lebanon slowly be dissolved into Israel, similar to Palestine.  With the village of Bint Ja Bail, for example, who’s populated went from 15,000 people to less than 50 after the 1982 invasion.  Bint Ja Bail conveniently became the base for the occupying Israeli soldiers, and as a result, the signs within the village were now in Hebrew instead of Arabic, with it’s residents required to have visas to enter their own village.  As a result, most of the residents of Bint Ja Bail, and other such villages of southern Lebanon that were dissolved, were either killed, taken as prisoners of war, or fled to another county.

But then on July 25th, 1993 Israel launched what the press described as its “biggest military assault on Lebanon” since the start of the 1982 invasion.  During which Israeli forces damaged or destroyed thousands of houses and buildings, causing close to 300,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians from southern Lebanon to migrate towards Beirut and other areas outside of the combat zone.  Israeli forces also targeted Lebanese infrastructure, (power stations, bridges, and roadways), in efforts to completely destroy daily Lebanese life, and to drive its people away from their homeland, therefore making it easier to takeover.  Hezbollah responded with more rocket attacks on Israeli occupying targets. 

By the time a US-arranged cease fire took place six days later, about 125 Lebanese were reported killed, along with three Syrians and three Israelis, while about 500,000 people were driven from their homes according to reports from Lebanon.  Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics and has delivered lectures around the world at universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and in New Delhi.  He also published a report when the attacks took place in 1993, and described it as, “Villages were deserted, with many casualties and destruction of civilian dwellings by intensive bombardment.”

The US government provides all necessary arms and machinery, and any required diplomatic support for Israel.  Thus according to Chomsky, Western powers ignore international law, UN Charter resolutions and the Geneva Convention.  As a result, Israeli’s July 1993 attack was intended to advance their agenda, making it clear to the Arab states and Palestinians that they have no choice but to yield to the force exercised by Israel under US protection.  On July 30th, Hezbollah announced that rocket attacks on northern Israel could only end “with the complete and permanent halt of aggression against villages and civilians and the stopping of Israeli attacks from air, land and sea on all Lebanese territory.” 

And yet again, on April 11th, 1996, Operation Grapes of Wrath took place, this time lasting for 16 days.  Israel’s air and artillery attack on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon was seen as massive all around the world, though no one stood up to officially condemn it.  Israel forces launched 1,100 air raids and fired nearly 25,132 shells at Hezbollah targets in attempts to end shelling of northern Israel.  Israeli shelling even went so far as to target a United Nations camp in Qana, Lebanon, killing 118 Lebanese civilians who sought shelter there.  With Israeli attacks into Lebanon growing, the Lebanese people felt the need for a strong resistance movement within their country.  This all lead to creating a stronger, more advanced Hezbollah, with one goal in mind, to free their independent land of oppressors and occupiers.

Israeli forces remained in control of south Lebanon until May 21st 2000.  According to a New York Times article published on May 23rd, 2000, “For the last two decades, Israeli troops have occupied an 11-mile-deep zone inside Lebanon, fighting alongside the 2,500-member, Israeli-equipped South Lebanon Army.”

On Monday, May 22nd, Israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed Hezbollah fighters, and their civilian followers, moving into the border zone.  Six civilians were killed six and dozens wounded, according to Lebanese officials.  Before dawn the next morning, the Israeli Army began evacuating troops and weapons from Bint Ja Bail, its second-largest base near the Lebanese border.  For Israelis watching the televised images of the suddenly transformed border zone, it was the beginning of the end of a costly occupation that began with the invasion of Lebanon 25 years ago.  Opinion polls within Israeli at the time show that Israelis overwhelmingly supported a withdrawal.  “All along the border, meanwhile, Israeli Army trucks continued to haul arms and other equipment out of Lebanon, while private Israeli crews erected electrified fences.  It was unclear how many Israeli soldiers remain in Lebanese territory,” the New York Times reported on May 23rd, 2000.

Ehud Barak’s, Israeli prime minister at the time, ordered the abrupt stealth pullout of Israeli troops, on the night of May 23rd, 2000.  During which some local villagers claim they saw some elements of the Golani brigade sliding down the hill on their backs at the village of Maroun al-Ras.  All while other Israeli occupation army units fled across the exiting points south of Aita Shaab and Bint Ja Bail, with Hezbollah resistance fighters hot on their tails.  They were driving them out in efforts to take back control of their own land, their independent country.  The Lebanese withdrawal was later used as an excuse for the Israelis to suspend peace talks with the Palestinians, or to release the Palestinian POW in Israeli jails.  According to the UNIFIL, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, July 2000 report from the Secretary-General, warning, “that while there had been enormous improvement, the situation in the Israel-Lebanon sector fell well short of peace, and the potential for serious incidents still existed.”

So how do you live in a country that is coming down from multiple wars?  There’s more unrest than you may think, with hazards at every turn.  We’ll hear first hand experiences attesting to this from people living in Lebanon, or vacationing there, post Israeli occupation, after May 25th, 2000, in next week’s issues on our Lebanon series.

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