It's been almost a week now and things have quieted down. The stories have been removed from the headlines. Any kind of frustration, confusion or despair that we may have been feeling fades a little bit, maybe the initial urgency declines. This is however precisely the moment when we should take any feelings we may have and translate them to positive actions. This past Thursday night, we held a two-hour prayer service for the victims in Gaza, and this coming Tuesday, January 27, we will be holding a fundraiser for the victims of the conflict.
This is intended primarily and solely as a humanitarian gesture, out of the desire to help those who are now most in need, to indicate to them that we, as Americans and as Muslims and as people of conscience, care enough to put aside the politics and give of our time and money -- lest other, harsher discourses prevail.
I've posted on this previously, so you can follow that link to the full information on the event. From what I've heard so far, such fundraisers have drawn many people together -- they have really brought together our community and well-meaning humanitarian allies -- but they have also raised a lot of money. That's important. Tens of thousands are homeless, refugees made refugees all over again. The siege on Gaza has not been fully lifted, and people continue to want for the most basic necessities, the things you and I probably take for granted almost all the time. I know such moments are hard, they point to us in an accusing way, as if we are too powerless to help improve the conditions of people with whom we share spiritual and cultural ties.
We can look all over the world and find a lot of misery, a lot of suffering, a lot of deprivation; some of that is done in our name; some of that is done and defended in a language we really use to argue for the exact opposite. The most important thing is to focus on what can be done, pray very hard, work very hard; we should not be discouraged by the scale of the challenge that always seems to confront us. With that spirit, I really, really hope that all of you who are in the New York City area can make is to Tuesday night's fund-raising dinner. We're going to have performances by spoken word artists, reflections, commentaries from people on the ground and a description of the kind of relief efforts that are under way and the kind of needs that continue to stand unmet.
Mark your calendars. And tell your friends. If you don't have any, make some, so you can tell them.
sorry to post something unrelated but i wanted to ask you if there is any chance of islamica magazine being revived back into production, i really miss it...
Posted by: ammar | 30 January 2009 at 08:40 PM