Georgia to Hold 2nd Annual Anti-Extremism Seminar
For security reasons, the event is not open to the public.
Scheduled speakers at the 2017 seminar include Dr. Houda Abadi, associate director of the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center, Imam Arshad Anwar, leader of Roswell Community Masjid, and Edward Ahmed Mitchell, attorney and executive director of CAIR-Georgia.
Expert speakers plan to discuss the dangers posed by both anti-Muslim bigots and Muslim extremists, as well as the most effective ways to counter the propaganda of those two groups.
"Muslim extremists and anti-Muslim bigots represent two sides of the same coin," said Mitchell. "By debunking their ignorant and dangerous arguments, we hope to push back against both illegal discrimination and extremist propaganda."
"As an imam, I feel a special obligation to educate our community, including parents and children, about the best ways to protect themselves from anti-Muslim harassment, as well as the online propaganda of extremist groups," said Imam Arshad Anwar, who once survived a bombing attack while attending school in Pakistan.
"American Muslims do not hesitate to condemn hate crimes and terrorist attacks, no matter the race or religion of the perpetrators," said Dr. Houda Abadi, who has traveled across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa to conduct research studies about extremist propaganda, and leads workshops for religious leaders working to prevent violent extremism in their local communities. "We also take proactive steps to prevent and counter extremism by exposing and debunking their arguments, tactics, and goals."
The Washington-based civil rights organization has reported an unprecedented spike in hate incidents targeting American Muslims and other minority groups since the November 8 election and recently launched an app to share critical "know your rights” information and to simplify the process to report hate crimes and bias incidents.
Source: CAIR
