The focus of the Interfaith Day is Islamic. The action request asks State personnel to support mosques: “Organize a food-drive for the end of Ramadan with religious leaders and citizens in Muslim communities to donate to a local mosque or community.” And it directs State personnel to a handy “list of Ramadan 2009 outreach materials for Muslim communities.”
In this country we have the separation of church and state but nothing of the sort separates the state and the mosque. The State Department is organizing donation drives for mosques.
Obama stated at his White House Ramadan dinner:
“Islam, as we know, is part of America. Together we have a responsibility to foster engagement grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect.” He said that this was one of his fundamental commitments as president both at home and abroad. That is central to the new beginning that I’ve sought between the United States and Muslims around the world and that is a commitment that we can renew once again during this holy season.”
Obama is pandering to groups sympathetic to destroying our country. Who needs al-Qaeda when we have Obama.
SUBJECT: INTERFAITH DAY OF SERVICE
REF: 09 STATE 77580
1. This is an action request (Para 4). The Department encourages posts to consider organizing an Interfaith Day of Service in their host countries as a way to commemorate the anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
2. President Obama called for interfaith service to foster collaboration between people across the world in his Cairo speech: "Indeed, faith should bring us together. And that's why we're forging service projects in America to bring together Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Around the world, we can turn dialogue into interfaith service, so bridges between peoples lead to action -- whether it is combating malaria in Africa, or promoting relief after a natural disaster."
3. Interfaith service has been an inextricable part of Americans' dedication to serving others, which as early as 1831 was identified as a distinctive American characteristic by Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville. In State 77580, Secretary Clinton specifically encouraged Department of State employees to support President Obama's domestic United We Serve campaign that embraces this tradition of community service. By participating in an Interfaith Day of Service, posts have the unique opportunity to expand the domestic commemoration of 9/11 as the National Day of Service and Remembrance -- as signed into law by President Obama on April 21, 2009 -- into a global initiative.
4. ACTION REQUEST: Posts are encouraged to plan an Interfaith Day of Service to commemorate 9/11 that would send a message of goodwill, cooperation, and shared interest to their host countries and their religious communities. To accommodate posts in countries where Muslims may be observing Ramadan until/about September 19, posts are requested to plan an Interfaith Day of Service between September 11 and October 18, 2009. We encourage you to bring together leaders of different religious backgrounds and identify jointly a priority project. Those leaders would encourage their members to join mission employees and resident Americans in working together on a community project. We request that posts keep their regional bureaus informed of their 9/11 commemoration plans so that the information can be made available to interested USG officials and agencies.
5. Sustainability is a key theme of President Obama's United We Serve campaign and Secretary Clinton's remarks at the Global Philanthropy Forum where she announced the appointment of the Special Representative for Global Partnerships (S/GPI) and described the Department's role as a convener, catalyst, and collaborator by fostering public-private partnerships with groups such as faith-based organizations. The Interfaith Day of Service is an opportunity for posts to expand their contact bases, initiate long-term partnerships with civil society, and spread goodwill in observing September 11, 2001. Some programming ideas and suggestions are listed in paragraph six, however posts are encouraged to be creative based on the needs, religions/sects, and opportunities in their country.
6. Programming Ideas
- Meet with interfaith leaders or an interfaith organization before the Interfaith Day of Service to identify a local development issue. For example, Interfaith Youth Core and Tony Blair's Faith Foundation collaboratively identified malaria as a problem in Africa and supported a service project for youth to raise funds and show the film "The Story of a Bed Net" in their faith communities.
- Form local partnerships:
- Organize a food-drive for the end of Ramadan with religious leaders and citizens in Muslim communities to donate to a local mosque or community, such as this activity in Dubai in 2008:
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?id=28354#/group.php?gid= 5998096393&ref=search.
- Partner with universities or secondary schools to organize a day of awareness-raising, school clean-up, park rehabilitation, or a donation drive that includes students from different faith traditions.
- Work with the Red Cross/Red Crescent or a local hospital to promote the giving of blood and partner with different religious leaders to involve their congregations.
- Organize a free music workshop for a neighborhood where
STATE 00089406 002 OF 002
musicians from different faiths can share their traditions. This event could be a good way to promote a longer term arts education project, for example. - Set up an interfaith sports competition for youth that includes interfaith teams and incorporates skill-building activities.
- Organize a writing competition at a local school on respect for people of all faiths.
7. Resources
- Communities@State's new Religion and Global Affairs Community can be a resource for posts to submit service ideas. Washington can help connect posts to an interfaith and/or youth organization active in their host countries. Posts can participate in the Community at: http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/ediplomacy/archiv es/new_community_r.html
- The Global Partnership Initiative (S/GPI) has developed new tools and talking points for the Department's efforts at the nexus of faith and foreign policy. These can be accessed on the intranet at http://gpi.state.gov, on the internet at http://www.state.gov/partnerships/, or by contacting Rob Lalka (lalkart@state.gov).
- The Office of the Special Representative for Muslim Communities (S/SRMC) can be a resource. Contact information: tel. 202-647-7710 or via email SSRMC
- INFOCENTRAL is a repository of information that all posts can use for outreach. A list of Ramadan 2009 outreach materials for Muslim communities can be found at:
https://infocentral.state.gov/info-topics/democracy--human- rights/democracy--human-rights/archive/ramadan - America.gov focuses on the theme of American Giving in several articles:
http://search.state.gov/search?oe=utf8&ie=utf8&q=American+G iving&filter=0&entqr=3&ud=1&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&output=x ml_no_dtd&lr=lang_en&client=americagov&proxystylesheet=amer icagov&getfields=*&site=americagov&Submit.x=40&Submit.y=14 - Serve.gov, the United We Serve website, lists service opportunities in the U.S. that could provide ideas for similar activities at posts.
8. Reporting
IIP would appreciate a brief description of any plans for an interfaith service activity sent to your IIP policy officer in advance of the event. Following the event, IIP could potentially use photos and text about the activity on the English or language versions of America.gov and/or a social networking platform. Photos should be e-mailed to state61per@photos.flickr.com. The subject line will become the title of the photo. The body of the e-mail should include:
A description of the photo which will become the caption A photo credit in parentheses at the end of the description A carriage return followed by: tags: #service
If you have any questions about uploading photos, please contact Jason Katz (katzjx@state.gov). Please report your activities on Mission Activity Tracker and to your regional bureaus.
9. This is an exciting opportunity to answer the President's call to interfaith service and the Secretary's commitment to partnerships. We hope posts will find the Interfaith Day of Service a beneficial way to commemorate September 11 abroad and to promote goodwill in their host countries. 10. Minimize considered. CLINTON BT #9406
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UNCLASSIFIED STATE 00089406
UPDATE: OT but not
Washington, D.C. - On September 25th there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama's inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill.
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