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Greetings!
We are still collecting signatures for the OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, urging him to make support for human rights and democracy in the Middle East and the Muslim World one of the main priorities of his administration, as it continues to engage with the peoples and the governments of the Muslim world.
To read the entire letter, please click here.
If you wish to sign the letter, please click here.
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OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE FOR SUBLEASE
PRIME LOCATION & FURNISHED office space available for sublease at CSID main office in DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON DC (1625 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 601, Washington DC). Space available from 1 to 5 office rooms (fully furnished) and rent is between $2,000 and $6,000 per month. Rent includes use of board room, kitchenette, and conference rooms (up to 100 people). Ideal location and flexible terms.
EXCELLENT LOCATION - next to Johns Hopkins Univ., SAIS, Brookings, Carnegie Endowment, and USIP. Three blocks from DuPont Circle metro. For further information, please contact Dr. Radwan Masmoudi at (202) 265-1200 or at masmoudi@islam-democracy.org
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BECOME A SPONSOR of the most Important Conference in Washington DC for top scholars, experts, and policy makers from the U.S. and the Muslim World!
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY
 Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Sheraton Crystal City HotelEarly Registration Deadline: April 20, 2009Help us Celebrate 10 years of CSID's existence and activities:This year, CSID is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a conference/banquet titled, "How to Improve Relations with the Muslim World - Challenges and Promises Ahead."
The conference/banquet will be held on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 in Washington, D.C. and will feature experts such as Shibley Telhami, University of Maryland and Brookings Institute; John Esposito, Georgetown University; Geneive Abdo, the Century Foundation, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton (invited) and Congressman Keith Ellison (invited), and many others.
It is a special time for our organization as we reflect on the last decade's work and aspire to meet today's growing challenges; and I hope that you will be able to support CSID by:
1- Attending the dinner and/or the conference, or sending a representative.
2- Writing and publishing a CONGRATULATORY letter in the conference program, in your name or in the name of your organization. The cost is $500 for a full page, and $250 for half a page.
3- Sponsoring a TABLE for 10 at the banquet dinner, $1,500 for a front row table and $1,000 for a second row table. Your name or that of your organization/institution will be listed on the table and in the program booklet, and publicly recognized during the program, as a partner and sponsor of the conference.
4- Becoming a sponsor of the conference. CSID is offering a range of packages suitable for any needs. These packages will give your respective organization or institution special recognition at our event and allow you the opportunity to network with high-ranking government officials, international scholars and U.S. policy makers who will be in attendance.
5- Promoting the conference among your circles and by emailing the following flyer/announcement to your listserv or email list.
We are confident that with your help, we can continue to promote the voices of democracy, reform and understanding throughout the U.S. and Muslim world.
Thank you again for your time and consideration. We look forward to your participation and continued support!
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The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy cordially invites you to a
CSID Lecture & Discussion by:
Prof. Ahmad Moussalli, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies
American University of Beirut
The Empowerment of Islamist Democracy vs. the Intransigence of Arab Authoritarian rule
Thursday, April 16, 2009
12 Noon - 1:30 PM
at CSID, 1625 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 601
Washington DC, 20036
*** Light sandwiches will be served ****
 Dr. Ahmad S. Moussalli is Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut. He holds a Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in Islamic studies and English literature from Al-Azhar, University, Cairo, Egypt. He has written over 10 books on: Wahhabism, Salafism, and Islamism: Who is the Enemy?; U.S. Foreign Policy and Islamist Politics; Dialectics of Shura and Democracy: Democracy and Human Rights in Islamic Thought; A History of Islamic Legal Theories; Encyclopedia of Islamic Movements in the Arab World, Iran and Turkey; Islamic Movements: Impact on Political Stability in the Arab World; The West, the United States, and Political Islam; The Islamic Quest for Democracy, Pluralism, and Human Rights; Images of Islam in the Western World and Images of the West in the Islamic World; Roots of the Intellectual's Crisis in the Arab Homeland; Understanding Islam: Basic Principles; Moderate and Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: the Quest for Modernity, Legitimacy and the Islamic State; Islamic Fundamentalism: Myths and Realities; Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: The Ideological and Political Discourse of Sayyid Qutb; A Theoretical Reading in Islamic Fundamentalist Discourses; World Order and Islamic Fundamentalism.
RSVP required by Wed. 3 pm to: rsvp@islam-democracy.org
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A stark question for Iran: What would the Prophet do?
As Muslims, Tehran's leaders should follow the Qur'an's guidance by negotiating peace with the US.
By Asma Afsaruddin | Christian Science Monitor
 If Iranian leaders do not come to grips with reality soon, they will have missed an historic opportunity to make a deal for peace with the United States. It takes courage and considerable moral integrity to reach out to an entrenched adversary; both attributes were amply displayed by President Barack Obama in his recent overture to the Iranians, which incurred the censure of right-wing US hawks.
Regrettably, the Iranian response has been unreflective, pugnacious - and most important - unIslamic.
A verse in the Qur'an states: "If they [the unbelievers] incline to peace, you should also incline to peace." Because believing Muslims revere the Qur'an as sacred scripture containing the very words of God, it is not unreasonable to expect that professed Muslims should take these words to heart.
Inclining to peace should manifest itself in a willingness to negotiate through diplomacy, especially when the an adversary indicates a preference for it. When the pagan Meccans sought arbitration with the Prophet Muhammad and his followers in 628, he concluded the treaty of Hudaybiyya with them. The treaty included provisions not entirely favorable to the Muslims, but the Prophet did not waver in his resolve to sign this agreement. Some of his companions grumbled about the unequal treatment of Muslims in this accord and a few were even opposed to the whole idea of peacemaking.
Why then has Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a religious man by all accounts, spurned Obama's outreach and rejected negotiations. He certainly cannot claim a scriptural imperative for his behavior.
From a realpolitik perspective, risking political capital for peace may appear to be a foolhardy venture and Mr. Khamenei will certainly be criticized by Iran's hawks for talking to "the Great Satan." But morally speaking, he and other Iranian leaders owe it to their people and to the world to sit down at the negotiating table in view of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a principal actor in some of the major conflicts of our time.
It is not enough for Muslims to repeatedly affirm that Islam stands for peace; they need to demonstrate that Islam means peace. When valuable opportunities for peacemaking occur and it is Muslim leaders who fritter them away, they should expect scorn to be directed at them and at their hollow rhetoric.
In the popular American imagination, Muslims after Sept. 11 have become tarred by the brush of violence. Now we can add to this image an unholy lack of moral courage and intransigence in the face of a singular opportunity to put an end to a nuclear standoff that could engulf the whole world.
If Iranian leaders adhere to the faith for which they claim to have launched a revolution 30 years ago, they will put aside bellicose rhetoric and take up the work of peace.
Asma Afsaruddin is a professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies at the University of Notre Dame, the author of "The First Muslims: History and Memory", and Chair of the Board of Directors of CSID.
Full Article
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Most in Poll Back Outreach to Muslims
By Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta | Washington Post
 There is still a broad lack of familiarity with the world's second-largest religion -- 55 percent of those polled said they are without a basic understanding of the teachings and beliefs of Islam, and most said they do not know anyone who is Muslim. While awareness has increased in recent years, underlying views have not improved.
About half, 48 percent, said they have an unfavorable view of Islam, the highest in polls since late 2001. Nearly three in 10, or 29 percent, said they see mainstream Islam as advocating violence against non-Muslims; although more, 58 percent, said it is a peaceful religion.
Majorities of Americans with sympathetic and unsympathetic views about Islam said it is important for the president to try to improve U.S. relations with Muslim nations, with those holding more positive views much more likely to call those moves "very important." In his inaugural address, Obama extended an offer to leaders of unfriendly Muslim nations that the United States "will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Overall, nearly two-thirds said Obama, who arrived yesterday in Ankara, Turkey, will handle the diplomatic mission "about right." Nearly a quarter, though, said he will probably "go too far." Nine percent said it is more likely he will not go far enough.
Republicans are more apt than others to hold negative attitudes toward Islam, with six in 10 having unfavorable views, compared with about four in 10 for Democrats and independents. Among conservative Republicans, 65 percent view Islam unfavorably; liberal Democrats, in contrast, are 60 percent positive.
This partisan divide is also apparent on the question of whether mainstream Islam encourages hostility toward non-Muslims, with Republicans about twice as likely as Democrats to say it does. Nearly half of conservative Republicans see centrist Islam as a promoter of violence.
Perceptions of Islam as a peaceful faith are the highest among non-religious Americans, with about two-thirds holding that view. Among Catholics, 60 percent see mainstream Islam as a peaceful faith; it is 55 percent among all Protestants, but drops to 48 percent among white evangelical Protestants.
There are deep divisions in perceptions of Islam between younger and older Americans as well: More than six in 10 younger than 65 said Islam is a peaceful religion, but that drops to 39 percent among seniors.
Full Article
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Obama: Endorse the Arab Peace Initiative Now
By MJ Rosenberg | Israel Policy Forum
The entire state of Israel, and many Jews worldwide, are anguished by
the continued captivity of one soldier, Gilad Shalit. Jews from Long
Island to Paris were pained by the repression of Soviet Jews. Why
wouldn't Arabs (and Muslims) empathize with the suffering of millions
of their kinsmen or coreligionists who live either in the same region
or not far away? For Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians, Lebanese, Saudis,
and Iraqis, they are people who live virtually next door. Why wouldn't
they be horrified that 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza war
and that a third of them were children? It is not as if they are the
only ones to feel that way.
 The ability of the Palestinian issue
to unify Arabs and Muslims is precisely what has turned the issue into
the best recruiting tool terrorists have ever had. I don't think (or
care) if Osama bin Laden feels for the people of Palestine. But I do think that all these thugs
happily invoke the Palestinian issue because the Arab "street" does
care about it. And they understand that it is the locomotive that
drives anti-American feeling throughout the region.
Solve the
Palestinian problem, and you rob the radicals of the most powerful
weapon they have to use against America (especially now that Obama, and
not Bush, is in the White House). Allow it to fester and you further
jeopardize U.S. interests and Israel's security.
And that is why President Obama needs to act. But what should he do?
I
think it's clear. He should go for a comprehensive approach. A
step-by-step plan is death by a thousand cuts. A solution will only be
reached by a president who uses his prestige to solve not only the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also the larger conflict of which it
is the core.
There is only one vehicle that can carry that much weight and that is the Arab Peace Initiative (the former Saudi Plan). The
Arab Initiative, endorsed by every Arab state and the Palestinians,
offers Israel full peace, recognition, and normalization of relations
in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West
Bank and Gaza with its capital in East Jerusalem.
President
Obama should unequivocally endorse the Arab Initiative as the rubric
under which negotiations should begin. No, Likud Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu may not like it. But neither did his predecessor
Yitzhak Shamir like the idea of the Madrid Conference, which President
George H. W. Bush convened right after the first Gulf War. It was there
that Israelis and Palestinians began formal negotiations. Madrid
totally changed the terrain for the better.
Full Article
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Muslims take page from interest group playbook and submit CVs
US Muslims seek jobs with Obama administration
By Courtney C. Radsch | Al-Arabiya
Muslim Americans overwhelmingly supported Barak Obama during the campaign and community leaders, including the first Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison, want to ensure they are considered for positions in the new administration.
 During the election campaign last year, Obama vowed to improve US ties with the Muslim world. "The goal is to bring to the Obama administration the talent that is available out there in the Muslim community," Ellison's senior policy advisor, Rick Juaert, told AlArabiya.net.
"There's some 8,000 jobs yet to be filled, so his (Ellison's) point is there's a lot to be done but a lot has been done already, and that we should be doing something proactive which is what this is in terms of getting Muslim names and faces out there so that as the jobs get filled we make sure that there are Muslim faces among them," he added.
But Obama has yet to name any of America's estimated seven million Muslims to a key position. Community leaders hope this will change, so after culling through hundreds of résumés they chose 45 - Ivy League graduates, Fortune 500 executives and civil servants from both sides of the aisle - of the most experienced, most highly educated with a commitment to public service.
"They want to show their patriotism," said Williams. "It's also our fair right to try to promote our full civic and government participation at all levels."
Full Article
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World News
Islamist Govts Not the Enemy, Say Mideast Experts
By Ali Gharib
| Inter Press Service
 Scores of Middle East and democracy experts released an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday asking him to focus more of his foreign policy efforts at making reforms in the region, including boosting human rights.
Signed by over 700 academics, scholars, experts and others, the letter said that previous U.S. policy had been "misguided" and "produced a region increasingly tormented by rampant corruption, extremism, and instability."
The signatories, ranging from liberal Democrats to neoconservatives, called for the Obama administration to "encourage political reform not through wars, threats, or imposition, but through peaceful policies that reward governments that take active and measurable steps towards genuine democratic reforms."
In doing so, the letter said the U.S. should end its "fear of Islamist parties coming to power" because most of them are "nonviolent and respect the democratic process."
Citing Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the group said "the U.S. should not hesitate to speak out in condemnation when opposition activists are unjustly imprisoned."
The letter was coordinated by Radwan Masmoudi of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Democracy; Shadi Hamid of the Project on Middle East Democracy; Geneive Abdo of the Century Foundation; Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Stanford University professor Larry Diamond; and Freedom House's Jennifer Windsor.
What the signatories are asking for is not a "continuation" of Bush policies, but instead "a new initiative" for democracy in the Middle East, said Geneive Abdo, a former journalist and fellow at the Century Foundation, at a press briefing launching the letter.
Abdo, an expert on Islamic studies, told a packed room of reporters at the National Press Club Tuesday that the repressive political situation in the region should not be seen as a battle between Islamism and authoritarianism.
She pointed out that opening up the political process will force all parties - not just Islamists - to be "more accountable to their electorate and republics."
Citing specifically examples in Turkey, Indonesia, and Morocco, the letter said that, despite disagreement with some illiberal Islamist viewpoints, "the right to participate in reasonably credible and open elections has moderated Islamist parties and enhanced their commitment to democratic norms."
"There is no system I know where Islamists put in power by democracy have cancelled elections," said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian democracy activist, as he rose from a chair provided for him on the dais, apologising for his bad legs due to torture he received in prison.
Stanford University professor Larry Diamond said that in retrospect, those decisions aren't always as difficult as they seem. At the press briefing, he looked to the example of the Sahwa, or Awakening movement, in Iraq, which co-opted former Sunni insurgents.
The groups suggested making economic aid conditional upon democratic and human rights reform - a tack that is not unprecedented. But Michelle Dunne, an expert on Arab politics, said that such pressures would need to be undertaken delicately without being too "blunt."
Dunne also cautioned against "picking players" and said that the whole focus on democracy was that the people of nations needed to choose their representatives for themselves.
The strength of the letter, said Diamond, was that it was not only a bipartisan effort, but more importantly, the signatories cut across ideological lines.
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This event is co-sponsored by The Berkley Center and Georgetown's Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy.
International Religious Freedom - How Important is it to America?
Wednesday April 15, 200905:00PM - 06:45PM
Healy Hall
Riggs Library
Tom FarrSenior Fellow at
the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs Director, Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy Program Akbar AhmedIbn Khaldun
Chair of Islamic Studies at American University
Allen Hertzke
Presidential Professor of Political Science at the
University of Oklahoma
Andrew Natsiosdistinguished Professor of Diplomacy at
Georgetown's School of Foreign Service 
In a new book, Georgetown's Thomas Farr
argues that the advancement of religious freedom is necessary to
America's quest for justice in the world and to its own national
security. But in the decade since the adoption of the International
Religious Freedom Act, says Farr, U.S. diplomacy has so deemphasized
this issue that neither justice nor American interests have been well
served. What are the arguments for and against his position? Is the
U.S. State Department as tone deaf to religion as Thomas Farr asserts?
How should the U.S. deal with Islamism? Are there good reasons for the
current status of the international religious freedom issue in American
foreign policy, and for the way IRF diplomacy has been conducted? What
changes, if any, should the Obama administration make in its IRF policy?
Thomas Farr is the author of World of Faith and Freedom:
Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National
Security (Oxford, 2008). He was the first director of the State
Department's Office of International Religious Freedom. Please RSVP to berkleycenter@georgetown.edu
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Please SUPPORT our work either by renewing your membership (by credit card or by check), or by making a tax-deductible donation of $50, $100, $500 or whatever you can afford. (donate online or by check).
Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy
Membership/Donation Form - 2009
Name: __________________________________________________________
Institution:_______________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________
City_________________________State___________Zip _________________
Tel.:____________________________________________________________
Fax.:____________________________________________________________
E-mail:__________________________________________________________
I would like to join CSID as:
Student Member $20 Newsletter Subscription $20
Institutional Member $200 CSID 500 Club $500
Associate Member $50 Founding Member $1000
Member $100 Lifetime Member $2500
National Advisory Board $1,000
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I would like to make a tax-deductible donation for: $__________
Please mail, along with payment, to:
CSID, 10612-D Providence Road, Suite 704, Charlotte, NC, 28277
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To become a member of CSID, please click here. To make a donation, please click here. Please remember that CSID needs your membership and support to continue its mission of promoting a greater understanding of Islam in the US, and a better understanding and implementation of democracy in the Muslim world. With our best wishes and regards,
Sincerely,
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Radwan A. Masmoudi
President
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy |
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