ING

Winter 2010

Report from the Faith Based organizations task force can be found on ING's website.

ING Reaches 10,000 Students and Adults in Fall 2010

ING continued its mission of providing educational programs this fall to a diverse group of schools, colleges, and universities, healthcare facilities, faith based organizations, and other venues and institutions across the San Francisco Bay Area. Over thirty ING speakers volunteered this fall to educate 202 groups or 10,000 people on a range of topics relating to Islam and Muslims as well as shared values among the five major world religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. ING's growing appeal to adult audiences was evident this semester with 54% of the presentations delivered to adult audiences and 46% to middle and high school students. 

72% of the presentations were delivered by speakers belonging to the Islamic Speakers Bureau, and 28% by interfaith speakers In addition to delivering ING's primary presentation titled Getting to Know American Muslims and their Faith at middle and high schools, Islamic Speakers Bureau (ISB) speakers also held several specialized cultural competency trainings, including three for medical professionals at Kaiser Permanente, Stanford University, and UC San Francisco, as well as chaplaincy trainings at Summit Hospital and the Chaplaincy Institute. The ISB also presented at a meeting of the Santa Clara Cities Association—a gathering of South Bay mayors and city officials—to discuss ING's work to promote successful coexistence at the local level. An ING speaker also facilitated a discussion on the NYC Islamic Center controversy at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club. 

Meanwhile, the Interfaith Speakers Bureau (IFSB) continued to fulfill requests from high schools, colleges and universities for interfaith panel discussions on the topics of Living the Faith and Shared Values among the five major world religions. Universities or institutions where ING speakers presented included San Jose State University, St. Mary's College, Santa Clara University, San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco, UC Berkeley, the Graduate Theological Union, and Sonoma State University. The IFSB was also involved in other notable events, including an interfaith Sukkot event at Palo Alto's Jewish Community Center, a five faith panel at an interfaith conference at UC Berkeley, and cultural competency training for prospective elementary school teachers at the University of San Francisco. The IFSB also had a presence beyond the Bay Area with two speakers participating in an Indiana conference sponsored by the Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership at Saint Mary's College. 

ING was also actively present at various key gatherings that impact its work, including events surrounding the Dalai Lama's visit to the Bay Area, the U.S. Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy in Washington, DC, and gatherings of the Parliament of the World's Religions and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Bureau.

Thank You for Attending ING's 2010 Supporters' Dinner

Keynote speaker Sh. Hamza Yusuf at ING's 2010 Supporters' Dinner

ING extends its appreciation to all of you who attended ING's Annual Supporter's Dinner on Saturday October 9th. The event featured interfaith entertainment, a video clip about ING's work and a notable panel discussing the future of Islam in the U.S.

The event began with a fast-paced performance by San Jose Taiko, which is composed of youth who are dedicated to this Japanese art form. It was followed by welcoming remarks by ING's co-chairman, Javed Patel, who emphasized the importance of ING's work, and an interfaith invocation by three faith leaders.

Following the evening's theme of featuring entertainment that simultaneously represents America's diversity and unique culture, the Temple Emanu-El Youth Choir performed a medley of songs. After dinner the audience was shown a video clip of testimonials about the impact and need for ING's work in the community, a theme that was reiterated throughout the evening. After remarks by Imam Aladdin ElBakri, Muslim spoken word artist Baraka Blue presented the last piece of the evening's diverse entertainment.

The highlight of the evening was an on-stage conversation with Muslim thought leaders, Rashad Hussain, President Obama's Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC); Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah of the Nawawi Foundation; and Sh. Hamza Yusuf from Zaytuna College on the topic of the Future of Islam in America. The lively conversation was moderated by ING board member, Prof. Marianne Farina of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

U.S. Department of Education Hears ING Concerns, Releases Guidance Targeting Harassment in Schools

At the start of the school year, ING repeatedly urged the Department of Education to send a notice to schools nationwide that would reinforce policies against harassment and bullying. We were very concerned about the impact of the NYC Islamic Center controversy on the safety of Muslim, Arab and South Asian students. Our initiative included an ING letter to Secretary Arne Duncan.

We were later informed that our effort had initiated a series of conversations within the Department and White House on how to best communicate the urgent issue of bullying to schools and the national public. We were happy to see that the White House included several statements on tolerance of diversity and intolerance of harassment in President Obama's Back to School speech.

On October 26, we were very excited to report that the Department of Education had released a comprehensive statement and action plan that includes technical training for teachers nationwide, as well as a White House conference, on combating harassment and bullying in schools.

The statement clarifies when student bullying may violate federal education antidiscrimination laws. The guidance also makes clear that while current laws enforced by the department do not protect against harassment based on religion or sexual orientation, they do include protection against harassment of members of religious groups based on shared ethnic characteristics as well as gender and sexual harassment of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender individuals.

The guidance emphasizes that harassment related to a student's religion can invoke a school's responsibility to investigate and remedy the harassment under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While Title VI does not cover discrimination based solely on religion, groups that face discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection under Title VI on the ground that they also share a common faith. These principles apply to students from any discrete religious group that shares, or is perceived to share, ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g., Jews, Muslims, or Sikhs). A school also has responsibilities under Title VI when its students are harassed based on their actual or perceived citizenship or residency in a country whose residents share a dominant religion or a distinct religious identity. 

Read the full press release with links to the guidance.

ING Responds to Escalating Islamophobia in the Fall

In light of escalating Islamophobic events across the nation leading up to the November elections, particularly those associated with the building of new mosques around the country, the NYC Islamic Center (Park51) controversy, and the planned Qur'an burning, ING responded both locally and nationally as follows: 

Local response with the interfaith community:

Locally, ING released an interfaith statement which was endorsed by over 130 prominent faith leaders that included three bishops and the president of Santa Clara University. Titled an Interfaith Statement for One America: 

A Call to Action for Deeper Understanding and Mutual Respect, the statement in part read: As community and religious leaders representing people of many faiths in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are deeply troubled by the current wave of bigotry and hate directed at Islam and Muslims in the United States… We condemn these attempts to vilify an entire religious community and affirm that such bigotry has no place in a nation committed to religious liberty for people of all faiths and none. Fear mongering, scapegoating, and intimidating a religious group does not protect our nation against the real threats that it faces, but rather threatens our pluralistic democracy that is a beacon to those who seek freedom from oppression.

The statement also called for speaking out against bigotry at the pulpit and in houses of worship; this message became the theme of many Jewish and Christian sermons at the time: 

We ask all Americans of goodwill to join us in countering this current wave of bigotry and hate by coming together to create our own wave of deeper understanding, mutual respect and common action for the good of all. In this spirit, we commit ourselves to speak and act according to the vision of religious liberty set forth in our Constitution, and urge our fellow citizens to do the same.  

National response with the Department of Education:

Nationally, ING urged the Department of Education to address harassment and bullying in schools at the start of the new school year. The results are addressed in a separate article of this newsletter: U.S. Department of Education Hears ING Concerns, Releases Guidance Targeting Harassment in Schools.

National response with curriculum developers:

ING worked with Tanenbaum to develop curriculum for educators that provided guidelines, fact sheets and resources relating to Islamophobia and the Park51 controversy titled, Turning Park51 Into a Teachable Moment: Curriculum Guide and Fact Sheets. The resource kit, which was distributed nation-wide, included the following material:

• Curriculum Guide
• Muslims in America Fact Sheet
• Park51/Cordoba Initiative Fact Sheet
• Opposition to Places of Worship in America Fact Sheet
• September 11, 2001 Fact Sheet
• Curriculum Resources

You can access these resources at the following website.

National response with national Muslim groups:

ING coordinated a national response to the Park51 controversy by developing an online network of national Muslim organizations. The network includes multiple national organizations working together for the first time to address issues affecting the greater Muslim community. The network coordinated and executed nationwide campaigns, including the Muslim Serve Campaign which was held on 9/11 to encourage local communities to engage in a service project on that day. For more information on Muslims Serve, go to Facebook, and search 'Muslim Serve 2010.'

ING Expands Into Mobile App Space

Have you ever blanked on the Hebrew word for charity? Are you planning a luncheon and need to know when Ramadan ends so you can feed your Muslim guests? Did you ever want to wish your neighbor happy holiday, but weren't sure when it is or what to say?

There's an app that can help you answer all these questions. ING is pleased to present a groundbreaking new app for the iPhone. It's not simply a calendar of holy days, or a dictionary of important religious terms. The app, which is called "Multifaith News and Events," is much more. The app comes with over 200 interesting facts - some trivial, some wildly important - about the five major world faiths represented by ING's Interfaith Speakers Bureau: Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

The general concept for this app is to allow users to easily acquire daily news and information surrounding faith and interfaith issues. 

These include:

• Daily aggregation of news articles on religious pluralism from several different news publications. Topics could include religion in the workplace; religion and civil rights, 1st Amendment issues, etc.
• Multifaith calendar (highlighting religious days of observance)
• List of religious events and conferences around the country
• Simple facts about the world's five major religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam), with a few other religious facts sprinkled within. These facts will link to each other when topically necessary.
• Information about Islamic Networks Group with an outbound Donate button.

Designed and developed by Magnicode, the Multifaith and News and Events App will serve as the go-to app for interfaith happenings and learning. The App will be available by January at the App Store and in Android and Blackberry versions by February. 

Parents & Students, the Following ING Programs are Available for Schools and Universities

Islamic Speakers Bureau:


ING founding member Ameena Jandali presenting to an adult audience

The Islamic Speakers Bureau supplements the study of Islam in the context of World History and Social Studies. ING presentation topics include:

• "Exploring Muslim traditions and Practices" – for grade 7
• "Getting to Know American Muslims and their Faith" – for grades 9-12 and college
• "Islamic Contributions to Civilization" – for grades 9-12 and college
• "Roots of Muslims in America" – for grades 8 and 11 and college
• "Women in Islam" – for grades 9-12 and college

A description of these can be found on page 2 of the following link.

Interfaith Speakers Bureau:


ING speakers Nashwan Hamza and Ken Maki on a Muslim-Jewish interfaith panel.

The Interfaith Speakers Bureau brings together panels of 3-5 representatives of the world's major traditions including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. Panel types include a 3-5 member faith panel, or Muslim-Jewish Panel. 

Panel topics include: 3-5 member faith panel topics:

• "Shared Values"
• "Living the Faith in the San Francisco Bay Area"
• "Contemporary Issues." Choose from five topics.

Muslim-Jewish panel topic:

• "Muslim Jewish Relations in the US: in the Shadow of the M.E. Conflict"

A description of these can be found on page 3 of the following link.

For more information or to request a panel or presentation, ask your child's teacher (grades 7-12th only) or professor to contact ING Programs Coordinator, Everett DePangher at everett@ing.org. ING presentations and panels are free of charge and solely funded by local individuals and public foundations. ING speakers are volunteers who are trained and certified by ING. 

To join our pool of speakers, please also contact Everett for an upcoming speakers training.