The panel began with a discussion of the recent wide publicity of police violence and violation of civil rights, which is upsetting Muslim communities. Community outreach by the government is flawed and must improve.
This speaker, Sahar F. Aziz, associate professor of law at the Texas Wesleyan School of Law, said that the outreach was male-dominated and more female leadership is needed. All our issues revolve around discrimination, she said, and then quoted President Obama's recent speech dedicating the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial: "Change is difficult . . ." for Muslim children as much as for anyone else.
Dwight C. Holton, former U.S. attorney and current senior litigation counsel, District of Oregon, said that FBI training portrays Muslims as violent or prone to violence. They must be disabused of the idea that we are at war with Islam. Attorney General Eric Holder is strongly committed to rectifying these falsehoods, he said.
His effort to better orient law enforcement officers toward the Muslim community in Oregon marks the highlight of his fifteen-year career, said Holton. Part of this policy is building trust through hospitality. He held a dinner for fifteen Muslims, which he considered would probably be reciprocated fifteen times.
His policy also involves bringing together religious groups, businesses, doctors, and others to promote better "inter-communication."
Efforts to further civil rights must be aggressive and effective, he said. The filled auditorium bodes well--we are all here to discuss civil rights. What can we do? Muslims do not always report assaults--police must encourage them to. The government should reveal how its policies have changed from 9/11 until now; more attention should be paid to Islamophobia and propaganda, and more people should speak out against religious bigotry and hatred.
Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America, spoke of the group Shoulder to Shoulder, consisting of twenty-six organizations that fight Islamophobic bigotry and hatred. Dialogue should take place in mosques, synagogues, and churches, he said, and weed out those who are preaching hatred.
We must learn from experience, asking where did it work? and what can we learn from it?
Rabbi David Saperstein, director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, praised the "vibrancy and robustness" of this administration in the area of civil rights. Every religious tradition can be used to justify both the good and the bad that we come upon.
We must always put a human face on events and see them in human terms. As far as bullying is concerned, in both secular and religious schools, we must teach and learn the beauty of diversity and avoid defining any group in terms of its worst moments, which does infinite harm.
Said the rabbi, Muslims are in an impossible situation; we must stand shoulder to shoulder in a battle between good and evil. The role of the interfaith community is indispensable--those dissatisfied with the way things are always receive the most attention.
And regarding the contagious stereotypes being perpetrated about Sharia, this country would be outraged if the laws of other religions were accused of "taking over America." We must pass legislation guaranteeing religious freedom in each state.
"We must learn about each other, not just talking but doing."
We must work together serving the community. We should become a model for the world of "how to do it right."
Together the legal communities and religious communities can change the world.
Among the questions raised by this audience emerged the anecdote from Imam Magid about Jewish women donning head scarves to psychologically protect Muslim women afraid to go shopping in their religious attire.
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