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A Memorable Night
In its efforts to live up to its civic mission, MACCA started a tradition that
it plans on upholding for generations to come. This tradition is one that takes
place in the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan. MACCA hosts and sponsors a fast
breaking dinner and invites members of the Malden community from all across the
ethnic and the religious spectrum.
This year, on Wednesday, October 3rd, MACCA fast breaking dinner was everything
but an ordinary dinner. It was certainly a night to remember. The food that
Vice President, Siham Sghir and Membership and library Director Fatima
Ibnouzekri toiled all day to prepare was a taste of some mouth watering
authentic Moroccan food but it was just half of the story. MACCA put together
an eclectic program that has the whole room thinking and talking about
increasing the frequency of these interactions.
Pat Parr, President of the first Parish UU was the first one to get on stage
and gave the attendees a warm welcome.
MACCA president, Mohamed Brahimi, was then introduced by Siham Byah who was on
hand as the MC for the night. He talked about the importance of cross cultural
fertilization and commended all representatives of the interfaith community for
their relentless efforts to make Malden a better place and to do their part in
furthering the notion of participatory citizenship. He also took the
opportunity to question Samuel Huntington’s theory of the clash of
civilization.
David Horst the Reverend at the first Parish was then given the floor to talk
about the level of appreciation that he has for the diversity that this
multicultural and multi ethnic tapestry that Malden boasts and what it has done
to enhance the level of tolerance and understanding between different groups.
Tri-Cap Executive Director, Philip Bronder Giroux took the floor and talked so
candidly about the kind of value that the interfaith dialogue has brought to
the community as a whole. He talked about MACCA’s outreach work and their
pervasive approach in doing so. He praised MACCA for being a pioneer in forging
relationships with different community groups regardless of their political and
religious affiliations.
Joni Pitch who converted to Islam in 1995 while working in Malaysia as a health
care professional took the floor and gave a jaw dropping presentation about the
benefits of fasting. She talked about fasting as a discipline to the soul as
well as a body cleanser. The audience was extremely taken by both the content
of her message and the method of delivering that message.
Next in line was Isaac Morris from a Jewish group who has shown great deal of
courage and righteousness in the aftermath of the much publicized conflict that
surrounded the construction of the Roxbury Mosque. Isaac Morris talked about
the Moral imperative that motivated him and his friends to speak out. Isaac
credits his Jewish tradition for the noble stand that his group took. Not only
they gave Muslims a much needed moral support, they went the extra mile by
raising funds for the purpose of the completion of the mosque.
Kevin Luce from The Seven Mile church spoke about the interfaith dialogue
Sessions that both his group and MACCA facilitated and expressed his infinite
gratitude to the amount of good will that those gathering have fostered and the
kind of personal relationships that they help develop. Kevin talked about the
insight that both groups have gain from these interactions and credited these
gathering for enhancing tolerance and helping dispel fear and ignorance.
Nanna Marie a Dean College student from Denmark was the last to speak and the
true icing on the cake. She gave the audience a first hand account of the
incidents that followed her hometown newspaper publishing of the much
controversial cartoons of prophet Mohamed (PBUH). Nanna told the audience about
how impressed she was with these type meetings and that had there been such
things in Denmark, a lot of mess would have been circumvented. She acknowledged
that ignorance has a lot to do with the rift and the animosity that
characterizes the relationship between different religious and racial
communities. She credited these civil society initiatives with much of the good
will that is starting to spring up and she also sees that the Media, if not
held responsible and forced to be an agent of good, can only further hurt any
possibility of cultural fertilization.
Mohamed Brahimi took the stage once again at the end of the gathering and
encouraged the crowd to do more in promoting the idea of a more engaged
citizenry. He cautioned that the work that the forces of good and
reconciliation that societies are entrusted with, if left undone, will
certainly be carried out by the forces of evil and separation.
Mohamed Brahimi
October 2007
Have you been civically engaged? We’d like to hear from you.
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