[Dean's World] Dean: Ahmed Abaddi and Muslim Rennaisance Leaders

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dean:
Ahmed Abaddi and Muslim Rennaisance Leaders
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1147246251.shtml


   As Morocco's director of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Ahmad Abaddi and those
   working with him have the following accomplishments under their belt:

     * They embarked upon a campaign of interviews, speeches, and
     sermons that condemn al Qaedaâs teachings and violence. This
     accelerated after 9/11 and a series of suicide bombings that ripped
     through Moroccoâs Muslim- and Jewish-owned restaurants, as well as
     a bombing at a Jewish community center on May 16, 2003, that left
     some 45 dead and more than 100 wounded.

     * They helped mobilize more than one million Moroccans to take to
     the streets of Casablanca in May 2003 to denounce radical Islamic
     terrorismâa march in which 1,000 Moroccan Jews openly participated
     and were warmly embraced by the Muslim community.

     * They launched a theological training program for Imams to teach
     them how to promote moderation within Islam, to teach them more
     about Western history and the importance of Christianity and
     Judaism to Western social and political development, and to help
     them identify and oppose extremist forces and trends within Islam.
     Participants take 32 hours of instruction per week for a full year.
     The first class of 210 just graduated, and included 55 women.

     * They helped organize the âWorld Congress of Rabbis and Imams for
     Peaceâ in Brussels (January 2005) and Seville (March 2006) where
     some 150 Muslim and Jewish leaders âsit beard to beardâ to explore
     common ground, denounce extremists, and âwrite declarations of
     peace.â

     * They launched an initiative to build a âbridge of friendshipâ to
     evangelical Christians in the U.S., including on-going dialogues
     with Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals, Rob
     Schenck of the National Clergy Council, and Josh McDowell of Campus
     Crusade for Christ, among others. Abaddi and his colleagues have
     also invited pastors and evangelical business leaders to Morocco
     for conferences and high-level inter-faith talks, and have even
     helped organize a series of concerts in Marrakesh where Christian
     and Muslim rock bands perform together for thousands of Moroccan
     young people.

     * They published a book about the importance of encouraging
     religious freedom within Islam and even suggested that âMuslims
     have the right to change their religionâ if they so desire.

     * Abaddi also confirmed rumors swirling about in the Arab press
     that his government is quietly laying the groundwork with Israeli
     and Palestinian leaders to hold a new round of high-level peace
     talks in the Kingdom in the near future. He noted that King Hassan
     IIâthe late-father of the current monarchâopened secret talks with
     the Israelis as far back as the early 1970s and that Morocco was
     the first Arab government after Egypt to welcome an Israeli Prime
     Minister for a public visit (Shimon Peres in July 1986).

   Joel Rosenberg has lots more to say [1]right here.

   What, you say you don't hear about these things in the Mainstream
   Media? Well no you don't. Shame, ain't it?

References

   1. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDI4MDYxYmRjODNkOTE4NDE1NjZlMGNkZGUwMzMwMTg=