MCN members have continued to develop their interfaith networks and participate in a range of dialogue projects to help deepen the ties across communities in New York City (to learn more, see Partnerships).
Members have also continued to be active on a range of issues including Darfur, immigrant rights, detentions, and anti-war actions. Click on "Interfaith Activities" and "Speaking Out" albums above to see photos of some of our activities and projects!
Support for Arab language school
More recently we as members of the NYC Muslim community have been attacked in the rhetoric of right wing groups and Islamophobes like Daniel Pipes and his colleagues. Organized by community partners and network associates,
the NYC Muslim Day Parade (9/9/07) was denounced this year in strident and sometimes hateful terms. Even closer to home, our board member Debbie Almontaser helped to found the Khalil Gibran International Academy
(KGIA)
a Department of Education school that features Arabic studies along with the regular curriculum. KGIA is in no way a religious school, and its community partner the Arab American Family Support Center, is a secular organization (AAFSC's Lena Al Husseini is a member of MCN).
Nonetheless, negative interest groups like Stop the Madrassa have incorrectly targeted the school as such and also influenced the discourse of right-leaning media on the issue.
MCN works to defend community diversity by supporting the KGIA against unfair allegations in the tabloids and on the internet. Many interfaith partners and community leaders signed onto a statement of support for the school and for Debbie.
For updates on this issue, see Communities in Support of KGIA. Debbie was also attacked by the Arab community newspaper
Aramica; here is our letter to the Aramica editor. City Councilmen Liu (Queens), Jackson (Chair, Education Committee), and Barron (Brooklyn)& State Senator Perkins
have been active in supporting Debbie. See more photos from the recent rally and announcement of her filed lawsuit. Although the district court denied a preliminary injunction, the U.S. Court of
Appeals has ordered an expedited review of its decision.
Dialog with NYPD
The report of the NYPD, "Radicalization in the West: The Home Grown Threat" also caused us concern about our own NYPD-community relations. Following the report's publication, over 25 community members
met with Commissioner Kelly, including members of MCN's board (See brief minutes). In addition, at our request Aziz Huq of the Brennan Justice Center also supplied a brief,
titled "Concerns with Mitchell D. Silber & Arvin Bhatt, N.Y. Police Dept., Radicalization in the West: The Home Grown Threat," which helped inform our recent community statement to the NYPD.
The NYPD has indicated an interest in regular, monthly
dialogue with the Muslim community to discuss this report and related issues, and members of MCN as well as other organizations hope to continue
this dialogue and engagement on an ongoing basis. Safety is our primary concern and we believe that better relations between the NYPD and NYC communities is a key factor in keeping us safe.
MCN members look forward to further strengthening the Muslim community in NYC through collective efforts to be proactive rather than simply react to crises as they occur.
We are grateful for the opportunity to serve.
