UPF Trainings and Premieres Take Off - May 2014 News (1)

8/18/2019 UPF Trainings and Premieres Take Off - May 2014 News (1)

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MAY 2014

UPF Executive ReportAn update for Underwriters, Pioneers and other Supporters of Unity Productions Foundation

In 2012-13, in an effort lead by corporate training firm

Connecting Cultures, UPF helped develop a new Islam-related sensitivity training program for the Department ofJustice, replacing a previous program dumped by the DOJ forits Islamophobic overtones. The new training incorporatesseveral UPF film clips to counter stereotypes.

Last month, we learned that“Improving Cultural Competence:Engaging and Building Relations with American Muslims,” the official nameof the training program, is the mostneeded and demanded training by lawenforcement in the United States.

“The Department of Justice doesn’t just conduct trainings to educate lawenforcement officials about Islam andMuslims,” said Alex Kronemer, UPFExecutive Producer. “They conductsimilar trainings related to Hispanicgroups, and other minorities. But theDOJ said the American Muslim trainingis the best model they have. In fact, they want to exploremaking a short film with us about American Muslims, tocomplement the training program.” In addition to programdevelopment, UPF has been organizing and leading some ofthe DOJ trainings around the country. This year, major UPF-led DOJ trainings have taken place in Tampa and Orlando, as

“Enemy of the Reich reveals Noor’s courage and compassion. Her Muslim faith inspired her to riskeverything to battle Nazi oppression. She is a source of inspiration for anyone working for freedomand justice today.” – Dalia Mogahed, former White House Advisor on Faith-Based Issues

well as with law enforcement and the Department of Defense in

Greater Washington D.C.

Training Structure and Participant ReactionsIn addition to explaining the origins, core beliefs of Islam,and similarities to other faiths, the new training program alsoexamines the history and contributions of American Muslims.

“We tailor the program’s presentation to theaudience,” said Daniel Tutt, UPF OutreachDirector. “With law enforcement officials,we talk about the nuts and bolts issuesthey deal with on the job, like visitingmosques, engaging the Muslim community,understanding holidays. Policy makers,on the other hand, are more interested inbroader issues of understanding howMuslims think.”

In both cases, reactions have been verypositive. Training evaluations have shownthat when asked What were you mostsurprised by in the training program and

film clips?, participants gave answers suchas “I didn’t realize Muslims believed in Jesus, I didn’t realize thatevery Muslim country spoke out against 9/11, Now I know thatmost Muslims aren’t Arab, Muslims and Christians have many ofthe same values” as well as deeper, penetrating thoughts, like“I realized I held many of the same stereotypes as well” or “I likeidea daily prayer as a way of resetting your internal compass.”

u MEET WWII H EROES S AL IM A KBAR AN D J ON N AA R ........................................2

u P REMIERES S UPPLEMENT ........................................3

UPF TRAININGS TAKE OFFDOJ: UPF’S Islam Training“Most Needed and Demanded”

At a training of 50 police commanders, ChiefEdwin C. Roessler recognizes Luby Ismail fromConnecting Cultures and Daniel Tutt from UPF.

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Salim Akbar– ChicagoPremiere Honoree When World War IIbroke out, the AfricanAmerican communityfaced a dilemma: Shouldthey fight Nazism whilethey themselves facedprejudice at home?They came to champion

what became known as the Double Victory Campaign,supporting the War effort abroad with the hope that the U.S.Government would treat them equally at home in honor oftheir service, after the war. Though discrimination persistedupon their return,“Double Victory”was an importantstep in the longmarch towardequal rights.

On the 25th day of June 1941, President Frankli n D. Rooseveltissued Executive Order No. 8802 establishing the fairemployment practice in the Armed Forces. Hajji Salim Akbarwas among the first American Muslims and first 200 BlackMarines accepted in the United States Marine Corp. Hewent to Montford Point – a facility at Camp Lejeune, North

Carolina. Approximately20,000 African AmericanMarines received basictraining at MontfordPoint between 1942 and1949. In 2012 PresidentObama gave the entireunit the CongressionalGold Medal for Service.

Jon Naar – New JerseyPremiere HonoreeBorn in London andeducated at theuniversities of Paris,Vienna, and ColumbiaUniversity, Jon Naar has

performed with graceand courage over tendecades, serving withdistinction in the greatest

in human history – World War II. A British citizen fluentench and German, he joined the Special Operations

utive (SOE), the resistance group founded by ChurchillNoor Inayat Khan was a part of too. Jon Narr eventuallyo the rank of Major at

d Forces Headquarters inia.

rating to the U.S. inhe worked in New

as a managing editorWorld Wide Medical

Service and director ofational marketing for

macraft Laboratories. Inhe became a fulltime

ssional photographer,ng freelance for the New York Times Magazine and otherorganizations. He is also an expert on renewable energy

uthor of, a best-selling book entitled Design for a Limitedt (the first popular book on solar energy). He has advised

umerous governments and corporations on the subject.

premieres throughout the country, brave men and women like Noor haveen honored for their sacrifice during World War II. Here are two examples

PF HONORS WORLD WAR II VETS WITH THE NOORNAYAT KHAN COURAGE AWARD AT FILM PREMIERES

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1. WWII Veteran Salim Akbar congratulates Alex 2. NJ Supporter Abdul Wadud Mughal has helped withnumerous UPF premieres and banquets 3. Ft. Wayne Mayor Tom Henry recognizes WWII Vet 4. Sitar playerentertains the crowd 5. Dallas Supporter Tasnim Benhalim (purple outfit) and Nikhat Qureshi discuss strategywith Michael 6. The Rhinehard Music Center hosted the Ft. Wayne Premiere to an audience of over 600 7.NJ Supporter Sajid Syed has helped with almost all of UPF’s films

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PREMIERES SUPPLEMEOver 30 Premieres of Enemy of the Re

are scheduled nationwide and thus far ha

averaged 600 people.THANK YOU for your amazing sup


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TER - Britain’s Royal Mail recently issued a stamp commemorating Noor Inayat Khan. It would be her 100th birthday. 1. 800 people attended the Chicago Premiere at AMC Theater 2,3. Bob Brutell of the Interfaith Leadershiperence of Metro Detroit addresses a crowd of 750 4 . Chicago Supporter Raza Khan with his daughter 5. Chicago Supporters Numair Rashid and Zaki Anwar (facing camera) congratulate Alex 6. Noor actress Grace Srinivasan

New Jersey Premiere 7. Detroit Supporter Annette Hai congratulates Michael 8. The Shaaban and Shekib Foundation for Children have been serving for decades 9. Michael explains why UPF made this film 10. 500e came to a successful fundaising banquet and premiere combo in Dallas 11. Imam Zia Sheikh of the Islamic Center of Irving, TX spoke at the Dallas Banquet and authored Islam:Silencing the Critics 12. Detroit Supporterha Mahmood eloquently articulates why the film is important 13. 3 Premieres took place at Asia Society in Houston 14. NJ Supporter Sumeera Baig shares her a moving story of her trip to Dachau Concentration Campher daughter Noor 15. 650 people came to the the historic, Greek Inspired Peristyle Theate r at the Toledo Museum of Art 16. The Islamic Art Revival Series played a lead role in organizing the Dallas fundraising banquetlm premiere with publicity support from Radio Azad. Pictured left to right - Nikhat Qureshi, Samra Ali, Samia Khan, Mona Kafeel, UPF Supporter Abdul Aziz Eddebarh, Alex, Jawaad Abdul Rahman from UPF, Shafaq Ahmad,s Muscatwalla, Tasnim Benhalim, Radio Azad’s Ayesha Shafi and Azad Khan. ALL DALLAS PHOTOS compliments of Rehan and Ruby Jaffrey. Thank you!

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HOW TO ORGANIZE A CIVIC IFTAR – 5 ST

When I workedat the StateDepa r tmen tmany yearsago, I wastasked with thechallenge ofbuilding trustwith Muslim

embassies as a first step towardmore collaboration on policy. Isuggested several ideas. One of the

soft diplomacy projects I began hascontinued to thrive long after I left– the State Department and WhiteHouse Iftars. These celebratoryevents allow government officialsto meet and honor the Muslimcommunity and open lines for futurecommunication.

Over the past several years, theidea of civic iftars has taken off,with local Muslim communitiesconducting iftars with their stategovernors and city mayors aroundthe country. We’ve been invited tospeak at several of these eventsand UPF films have been distributedat several others. With Ramadan

around the corner, here are a fewsteps to consider if you want toorganize a civic iftar.

IDENTIFY THE CIVIC OFFICIALOrganizing an iftar with the governor at the statehouse, as the MuAlliance of Indiana does each year, is a significant accomplishmeso is the smaller iftar they hold in the Indianpolis suburb of CRemember that all politics is local and 100 people meeting mayor at someone’s house is still important. Often the mayobring a few other civic leaders as well. It could be held at Csomeone’s home, an Islamic Center or a nicer public library.

IDENTIFY THE CHAMPION & MAKYou don’t have to have an official organization take thInstead, you can simply build a coalition. In every case, is to find a champion within your community who alreagood relations with political leaders. It may help to

that both Democratic and Republican Presidents alonGovernors and Mayors have organized these events, so not a political event, it`s a civic event.

INVITE A BROAD SECTION OF THMen and women of different ethnicities should be a the civic iftar event. American Muslims are the mosreligious community in the United States. Let your civisee how proud we are of that.

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KEEP THE PROGRAM BRIEF & BEA typical program might begin 30 minutes before iftabrief remarks by a local Muslim leader, an explanaRamadan and what an iftar is, followed by remarks aboMuslim community in that city, and remarks from thleader too. Depending on your city, the order of acmight be reversed, with everything happening afteand prayer time. Recognize Muslims serving the public, such as firefighters, police officers, people whwon awards, teachers, etc. Consider announcing a

Ramadan service initiative from the community.

poter Farrukh Adhami (far right) recognizes WWII Veterans at the Ft. Wayne Premiere along with Michael Wolfee Mayor 2. Two sold out shows in Chicago 3. Chicago Supporters Mohsin and Faiza Ansari 4. Supporter Saminan of the United Muslim Association of Toledo chaired the premiere as part of Karen Armstrong’s CompassionateInitiative. She is pictured here with Judy Trautman of the Multi-Faith Council at previous event. 5. The Toledom of Art hosted a 650 person premiere as part of its Compassionate City Initiative 6. Dawood Zwink, DirectorMichigan Muslim Community Council embraces Bob Brutell of the Interfaith Leadership Conference of Metrot 7. Volunteers 8. New Jersey’s Historic State Theater had an audience of almost 900

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PLEASE EXPLAIN & BE CREARamadan is a spiritual time, so have a dua English, and explain what is going to happenexplaining Sura Fatiha in English as well. Consa gift to the mayor. S everal cities have given DVDfilms, as the Ft. Wayne, IN Muslim Communitheir Mayor’s Iftar. If you are a Pioneers Club mecan provide these to you with our compliments.


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The Huffington Post

UPF SUPPORTERS, EMAIL:[email protected] , TO RECEIVE A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR YOUR SUPPORTER PROFILE. GIVE SEONLINE: donate.upf.tv MAIL CHECKS TO: UPF, P.O. Box 650458, Potomac Falls, VA 20165-0458

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend the world premiere of thetunning film, Enemy of the Reich , about young Muslim woman

Noor Inayat Khan and her contribution to the Second World War.

t’s a fantastic story and one which left quite a few of the audiencen tears; I’ll admit my own eyes welled too. What really hit home

with me, however, were the words of the director before themovie. He pointed out that in almost all World War II movies, youhardly ever see a brown face, let alone a Muslim one.

That’s despite Winston Churchill himself admitting the Britain couldnot have won the war without the Indian army.

Somehow, however, the fact that millions of Muslims chose to fighthe Nazis has been overlooked. Likewise, very little is heard abouthose Muslims who offered shelter to Jews around the world either.

The story of Noor Inayat Khan goes some way to correcting thisdisparity.

Helping the French resistance, Khan evaded capture for fourmonths, changing locations even while the Germans tracked her

whereabouts.

t’s no surprise that she received the highest honours for civilian servicen war from both Great Britain and France. David Cameron recentlypraised her “inspirational self-sacrifice” and “indomitable courage.”

As amazing as Noor Inayat Khan’s story is, however, hers is just onetory. There are many others yet to tell, and many that have beengnored. Hollywood still struggles with its portrayal of Muslims,

all too often reverting to stereotype, even when real-life rolesnclude sacrifice, courage and loyalty. The contribution of Muslimso our war successes is also glossed over in classrooms and in many

history books.

As the film’s Executive Producer Michael Wolfe told The HuffingtonPost, “There seems to be a tendency to forget that hundreds ofhousands of volunteers from India joined the British forces. Many ofhem were Muslim, and were decorated and died in great numbers.”

“There also seems to be a tendency to leave out of the narrative,he Algerians and the North Africans, all of who were Muslims andought on the French side in the tens of thousands. In both cases,hese were citizens of countries who were under colonial pressure

Azzem IbrahimExecutive Chairman, The Scotland Institute

Excerpted andedited for spacefrom the HuffingtPost. 4/24/14

How Muslims Won the Second World War from the very countries that they decided to serve. It was a moraland ethical choice [for them] to look past their agony to serve ahigher purpose.”

Muslim Lifestyle magazine, Emel.com, points out that more than161,000 Indian army soldiers were killed in both world wars,according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Forgotten Heroes -- The Muslim Contribution, Issue 62 of Emel.com,recalls:

“As Britain battled from the First World War to the Second, shebecame increasingly dependent on the Indian Army: the largestvolunteer army in both World Wars, as men signed up to fight ratherthan being conscripted.”

Up to 40 percent of the Indian army were Muslim, even though theyonly made up about 25 percent of the Indian population.

Winston Churchill summed up the Muslim contribution in his letterto U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. He wrote, “We must not on aaccount break with the Moslems, who represent a hundred million

people, and the main army elements on which we must rely for theimmediate fighting”.

How sad that our close heritage has been neglected in recent times.

Everyone fighting for freedom in those dark days deserves to beremembered, no matter what their religion. Doing so, might justhelp tackle prejudice today.

Dr Azeem Ibrahim is Research Professor at the Strategic StudiesInstitute US Army War College and International Security Lecturer atthe University of Chicago.

HOST UPF THIS RAMAWe would love to come to your iftar party and talk aboutour work. A format for such a program that has succeededseveral times would be a substantial iftar table that wouldtide people over, followed by a 30 minute UPF presentationafter prayer, to be followed by dinner. Weekends are open.Email [email protected] or call (703) 347-1945 to discuss.

UPF Trainings and Premieres Take Off - May 2014 News (1)

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