Showing posts with label Holocaust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holocaust. Show all posts

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Holocaust and Genocides

15th Annual Holocaust and Genocides

PRESS RELEASE

Dr. Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com 
Office: (202) 290-3560
Cell: (214) 325-1916


15th Annual Reflections on the Holocaust and Genocides  

The purpose of this event is education, information, and activism. We hope to learn and acknowledge our failings and make a personal commitment to our share of saying, "Never Again."

15th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Sunday, January 26, 2020
Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22201

Tickets are complimentary, but donations are accepted 




We hope you will walk out of the event with a genuine feeling of being a contributor towards building a cohesive world where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. 

The Jewish community has been commemorating the Holocaust event since 1953, known as Yom HaShoah in Synagogues around the world. The general public learns it by visiting the Holocaust Museums and educational institutions.


At the Center for Pluralism, we are committed to spreading knowledge of the Holocaust and Genocide through interfaith and public events, including the Annual reflections. 



Speakers: 


Robert F. Teitel - Holocaust Story

Dr. Gregory Stanton - Signs of Genocides

Rushan Abbas & Omer Kanat - Uyghur Updates

Dr. Wakar Uddin - Rohingya Update

Muneer Baig - Kashmir Update

Dr. TO Shanavas - India Update

Dr. Rani Khan - Peace Pledge

Dr. Mike Ghouse - Genesis of this event

Rabia Baig - Mistress of Ceremony


Volunteers:


Nausheen Baig

Rabbi Alana Suskin

Jafer Imam

Dr. Zafar Iqbal

Charles Stevenson


Sponsors:


Would you like to be a sponsor?

Our budget is $2000, full or any part 


Co-Chairs:


Dr. Rani Khan

Dr. Mike Ghouse


Organized by:


Center for Pluralism


Our format consists of four parts; Interfaith prayers, Holocaust, Genocides, Massacred and the Pledge of Peace. Silently, we will acknowledge all suffering, but physically we are limited to a few Genocides each year. 


 This year, a Holocaust survivor will share his story, followed by updated Uyghur, Rohingya, and the signs of making of Genocide in India. I urge everyone to watch the Schindler's list and Civil War movies to grasp the signs.


I believe, when we acknowledge each other's grief and participate in each other's commemoration, we connect with the humanness within ourselves and seed the relationship of understanding and caring for each other. 


There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own, or amounts to infidelity to our pain, and every community and nation has suffered through this. To all those who have endured the Holocaust, Genocides, Massacres, Ethnic Cleansing, Land Mines, Hunger, Rape, Torture, Occupation, Expulsion, and inhuman brutality, we must say, you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. 

 

I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.


This is a Muslim initiative to assure fellow humans who have endured the Holocaust, Genocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres, rapes, injustice and other atrocities that we are all in this together to create a better world. Tikkun Olam is our sacred duty. 

 


# # #


List of Supporting Organizations (links embedded)

Published at 148 News Outlets
A few are listed below 

Monday, December 8, 2008

Genocide Prevention task force

I am pleased to see this initiative, this would be a good first step for the Obama Administration.
However, Ms. Albright is the wrong person to speak on this topic, some one who had justified killing of Children for the safety.

Mike Ghouse

For Immediate Release
December 8, 2008
Contact: Andrew Hollinger,
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Lauren Sucher, United States Institute of Peace.
Genocide Prevention Task Force Delivers Blueprint for U.S. Government to Prevent Genocide and Mass Atrocities

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen and other leading figures call on new administration and Congress to make preventing genocide and mass atrocities a national priority

(Washington, DC) – The Genocide Prevention Task Force today released its final report on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The report makes the case for why genocide and mass atrocities threaten core American values and national interests, and how the U.S. government can prevent these crimes in the future.

Jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace, the Task Force began its work last November with the goal of generating concrete recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s capacity to recognize and respond to emerging threats of genocide and mass atrocities.

“The world agrees that genocide is unacceptable and yet genocide and mass killings continue,” said Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. “We believe that preventing genocide is possible, and that striving to do so is imperative both for our national interests and our leadership position in the world.”

“This report provides a blueprint that can enable the United States to take preventive action, along with international partners, to forestall the specter of future cases of genocide and mass atrocities,” said William S. Cohen, former Secretary of Defense and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. “There is a choice for U.S. policymakers between doing nothing and large-scale military intervention. We hope this report will help us utilize those options.” Other Members of the Genocide Prevention Task Force include: John Danforth, Thomas Daschle, Stuart Eizenstat, Michael Gerson, Dan Glickman, Jack Kemp, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, Thomas R. Pickering, Vin Weber, Anthony Zinni, and Julia Taft who passed away earlier this year.

The report, which is entitled “Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers”, asserts that genocide is preventable, and that making progress toward doing so begins with leadership and political will. The report provides 34 recommendations, starting with the need for high-level attention, standing institutional mechanisms, and strong international partnerships to respond to potential genocidal situations when they arise; it lays out a comprehensive approach, recommending improved early warning mechanisms, early action to prevent crises, timely diplomatic responses to emerging crises, greater preparedness to employ military options, and action to strengthen global norms and institutions.

“We are keenly aware that the incoming president’s agenda will be massive and daunting from day one,” Secretaries Albright and Cohen noted. “But preventing genocide and mass atrocities is not an idealistic add-on to our core foreign policy agenda. It is a moral and strategic imperative.” The Task Force calls for the development of a new government-wide policy on genocide prevention, which would include the following specific actions designed to better equip the U.S. government to prevent genocide and mass atrocities:

Having the president himself demonstrate that preventing genocide is a national priority, for example by an early executive order, and continuing public statements on genocide prevention. Creating an interagency Atrocities Prevention Committee at the National Security Council to analyze threats of genocide and mass atrocities and consider appropriate preventive action. Making warning of genocide or mass atrocities an “automatic trigger” of policy review. Developing military guidance on genocide prevention and response and incorporating it into doctrine and training.

Preparing interagency genocide prevention and response plans for high-risk situations. Investing $250 million in new funds for crisis prevention and response, with a portion of this available for urgent activities to prevent or halt emerging genocidal crises.
Launching a major diplomatic initiative to create an international network for information-sharing and coordinated action to prevent genocide and mass atrocities. Providing assistance to build capacity of international partners—including the UN and regional organizations—to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.

The report concludes that “a core challenge for American leaders is to persuade others—in the U.S. government, across the United States, and around the world, that preventing genocide is more than just a humanitarian aspiration, but a national and global imperative.” The Task Force was funded by Humanity United and other private organizations.

About the Convening Organizations:

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial to the Holocaust, inspires citizens and leaders to confront hatred, promote human dignity and prevent genocide. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanence, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by donors nationwide.

The American Academy of Diplomacy is dedicated to strengthening the resources and tools America brings to managing its diplomatic challenges, and accomplishes this through outreach programs, lectures, awards, and writing competitions. In doing so, the Academy promotes an understanding of the importance of diplomacy to serving our nation and enhancing America’s standing in the world.

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.

The report and a brochure about the report may be downloaded for free at: www.ushmm.org, www.academyofdiplomacy.org, www.usip.org.

# # #Genocide Prevention Task Force United States Holocaust Memorial Museum100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Washington, DC 20024-2126 202.488.0449 gptf@ushmm.org

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Scream Bloody Murder, reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

Scream Bloody Murder, reflections on Holocaust and Genocides

You feel angry knowing that the world stood by silently when the Jews were put on the train to the gas chambers; you feel anger when the Bosnian Muslims children were given chocolates and told not to worry and go right behind and open gunfire and massacre them; you feel anger when the Canadian general sends faxes upon faxes to the United Nations to send help, while the UN and USA did not want to get involved and 800,000 Rwandans were massacred, they were even announcing on their radio how to torture pregnant women to pull out the babies… It was a difficult documentary to watch, but you must watch and face the world; you have to do your share to clean your own slate of conscience.

Continued: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/Scream-bloody-Murder-reflection-on-holocaust-genocides.asp