by Jennifer C. Kerr
Associated Press
09/11/2003
WASHINGTON – A deep rift remains between America and the Islamic world two years after the terror attacks, say organizers of more than a dozen meetings meant to promote trust and understanding.
The gatherings – dubbed “Hope not Hate” town halls – are scheduled for Friday in Washington, New York, Boston, Atlanta and other cities.
The idea, said one organizer, is to prompt a dialogue on finding common ground between Muslims and non-Muslims in and outside America.
“There has been a silence on both sides about the rising tensions,” said Seth Green, co-founder and coordinator of Americans for Informed Democracy.
Green said anti-Muslim sentiment is still a problem in the United States and anti-Americanism is increasing in the Islamic world.
Karl Inderfurth, a former assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration, is one of the featured speakers.
“Somehow we need to build bridges not only to Muslims abroad but Muslims at home,” Inderfurth said.
Current and former congressmen, ambassadors, journalists and Muslim scholars are among the other guest speakers. Former Attorney General Janet Reno will address a town hall meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday.
Green said the forums will begin with a moment of silence in remembrance of the Sept. 11 victims. Families who lost loved ones will open some of the town halls.
Sue Rosenblum said she decided to get involved to help turn her grief into something more positive. She lost her 28-year-old son, Joshua, who was a bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, a bond trading firm at New York’s World Trade Center.
“We can’t spend the rest of our lives hating each other because someone is Muslim and I’m a Jew or American,” Rosenblum said.
This is the first year for the meetings, which organizers say are expected to attract more than 3,000 participants, many of them college students.
The discussions are sponsored by Americans for Informed Democracy, the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution, and Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West.
There will also be town hall meetings in Princeton, N.J., Clemson, S.C., Carlisle, Penn., Middlebury, Vt., Ann Arbor, Mich., New Haven, Conn., Gainesville, Fla., and Minneapolis.
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