Last chance to buy tickets & PRESS RELEASE: 3rd Annual Grassroots Iftar Unites U.S. Muslims Across East Coast to Reflect and Organize

[Ali Naquvi]

Salaams,

Our 3 events are tomorrow! Our panel of speakers is listed on our Facebook page below. Get tickets here or at the door: http://www.grassrootsiftar.com/

Please also see and share our press release.

Regards,

Grassroots Iftar Organizing Committee 2017

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 3rd Annual Grassroots Iftar Unites U.S. Muslims Across East Coast to Reflect and Organize

Sunni and Shia Muslims in New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida will gather to discuss grassroots strategies and tactics

 

June 2^nd, 2017 –– Concerned American Muslims will be gathering at the 3rd Annual Grassroots Iftar this Saturday, June ^3rd in response to the continued marginalization of the American Muslim community. Of particular concern are the travel ban on refugees and several Muslim-majority countries, embroiled in protests and a legal battle which is now headed to the Supreme Court, and the alarming 67% rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes across the country last year—most recently in Portland where two good samaritans were murdered when they intervened against a white supremacist berating two teenagers on a train with anti-Muslim slurs.

June 3rd also marks the death anniversaries of two important Muslim personalities whose legacies of standing up against injustices in their time will be shared—Muhammad Ali, the beloved athlete and American Muslim who spoke out forcefully against the war in Vietnam and marginalization of black communities, and Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic legal scholar and revolutionary who led the successful uprising against a brutal dictatorship in Iran in 1979. Their histories represent an intersectional Muslim narrative of individuals boldly standing up for Muslim communities that are oppressed by state power.

This year's Grassroots Iftar will expand to 3 cities and be held in New Brunswick NJ, Miami FL, and Manassas VA. Some other potential topics to be discussed that have troubled community members include: the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program directed only at Muslims, when the vast majority of domestic extremist violence has come from white supremacists and right-wing groups; discriminatory law enforcement tactics and police brutality disproportionately affecting Muslims and people of color; foreign military intervention; and the administration’s staunch support for the State of Israel, which stands in violation of international law with its military occupation of Palestine, a cause American Muslims, the United Nations and all people of conscience stand united against.

The Grassroots Iftar will also include a panel of experienced activists who will elaborate on successful grassroots campaigns they have organized in the past and how others can do so, as well.

The first Grassroots Iftar was organized in response to the White House Iftar in 2015 that had the Israeli Ambassador to the US as a guest during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza that summer. In his speech, President Obama made it a point to emphasize that “Israel has a right to defend itself”. Over the past few months, it has become clear that President Trump will have an even closer relationship with the apartheid state of Israel. In fact, there is no indication that the White House will host an Iftar this year at all, while the State Department has declared that they will definitely not be hosting one. This reality and other troubling policies of the administration have prompted much of the American Muslim community to question the effectiveness of engagement.

This 3rd annual event is closed to the media but press members are encouraged to speak with participants about their experiences, as they leave. For specific venue addresses for all 3 events, please see our website below.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

NJ - Mohammad Ali Naquvi, (609) 575-5787

VA - Khadija Zaidi, (571) 288-4783

FL - Muhammad Malik, (305) 761-6843

Grassroots Iftar Organizing Committee

grassro...@gmail.com

www.grassrootsiftar.com

Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1013004462050824/

Tweet @GrassrootsIftar, #GrassrootsIftar

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