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<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br>
Islam: Socio/Political <br>
February 2007<br>
Ford Hall Forum Media Contact: Mary Curtin, 617-241-9664, 617-470-5867 (cell), <a
href="mailto:marycurtin@comcast.net"><font color=black><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>marycurtin@comcast.net</span></font></a><br>
Ford Hall Forum Director: Alex Minier, 617-373-5800, <a
href="mailto:alex@fordhallforum.neu.edu"><font color=black><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>alex@fordhallforum.neu.edu</span></font></a><br>
[Ali S. Asani and Mona Eltahawy are available for phone interviews]<br>
<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Ford Hall Forum</span></font></b><font
size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
presents<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>You Don’t Know Us: <br>
Voices from the Moderate Muslim Majority<br>
<br>
</span></b><img border=0 width=306 height=353 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image003.jpg@01C755AA.C9ECF760"><img border=0 width=300 height=353
id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image004.jpg@01C755AA.C9ECF760"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>with<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Ali S. Asani </span></b>and <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>Mona Eltahawy<br>
</span></b>moderated by <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Jeff Jacoby</span></b><br>
</span></font><br>
<font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Thursday, March 15, at 6:30-8:00 pm<br>
at the<br>
Old South Meeting House</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><br>
(<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">MA</st1:State></st1:place>)
<strong><b><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>Ford Hall Forum</span></font></b></strong>
presents “<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>You Don’t Know Us:
Voices from the Moderate Muslim Majority</span></b>” with <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>Ali S. Asani </span></b>and <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>Mona Eltahawy</span></b>; moderated by <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Jeff
Jacoby</span></b>. Thursday, March 15, at 6:30-8:00 pm. Followed by an open
discussion. Admission is free and open to all. Old South Meeting House, <st1:Street
w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">310 Washington Street</st1:address></st1:Street>
(corner of <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Milk St.</st1:address></st1:Street>),
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">MA</st1:State></st1:place>.
Wheelchair accessible and conveniently located near the <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address
w:st="on">State St.</st1:address></st1:Street> and Downtown Crossing stops on
the MBTA. For more information call Ford Hall Forum 617-373-5800 or visit www.fordhallforum.org.<br>
<br>
The world’s 1.4 billion Muslims encompass an enormous range of beliefs
and practices, a world of cultures — from Arab to post-Soviet to Indian
to American, and a wide spectrum of movements — from liberal progressive
to Islamist. However, today’s headlines all too often highlight the familiar
stories of violence and extremism within the Islamic world. Is religion truly
the driving force behind these actions? Where is the space for voices of
the moderate majority to be heard? In our country, where many became acquainted
with Islam only in the context of September 11th, how can we better understand
this major world religion? <br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Ali S. Asani</span></b>, professor of the
Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Culture at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Harvard</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Islamic Congress, and <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>Mona Eltahawy</span></b>, award-winning New York-based
journalist and commentator and international lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues,
explore the tensions within modern Islam and how we can better understand them.
The talk will be moderated by <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Boston Globe</span></i>
columnist <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Jeff Jacoby</span></b>.<br>
<br>
In its 99th spring series of events, the <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Ford
Hall Forum</span></b> presents seven open public discussions on the issues
concerning our community, nation, and world today. From global warming to
immigration to disaster preparedness, the Forum hands over the microphone to
thought-provoking speakers on the front lines. To facilitate frank and open discussion,
equal time is provided for speakers’ remarks and audience members’
questions. At the Ford Hall Forum, no speaker goes unquestioned and no view
goes unchallenged. <br>
<br>
The Ford Hall Forum promotes freedom of speech and fosters an informed and
effective citizenry through the public presentation of lectures, debates, and
discussions. Its events illuminate the key issues facing our society by
bringing to its podium knowledgeable and thought-provoking speakers, including
some of the most controversial opinion leaders of our times. These speakers are
presented in person, for free, and in settings, which facilitate frank and open
debate. As the nation’s oldest free public lecture series, it has a
storied past as a venue for some of the most intriguing figures in our
nation’s modern history, including Maya Angelou, Isaac Asimov, Alan
Dershowitz, W.E.B. DuBois, Stephen Jay Gould, Al Gore, Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., Henry Kissinger, Norman Mailer, Ayn Rand, Cokie Roberts, Eleanor
Roosevelt, and Malcolm X, to name just a few. Programs of the Ford Hall Forum
are made possible through contributions from individual members as well as
corporations and foundations, including The Boston Foundation, The Colonnade
Hotel, Fidelity Investments, The Fred and Marty Corneel Fund, Houghton Chemical
Corporation, Levine Katz Nannis + Solomon P.C., The Lowell Institute,
Massachusetts Cultural Council, The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Northeastern
University, The Old South Meeting House, Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye LLP,
and WBUR 90.9 FM. For more information log onto www.fordhallforum.org.<br>
<br>
The Ford Hall Forum presents this program in collaboration with the <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>Old South Meeting House</span></b>, as part of their
Partners in Public Dialogue Series. Old South Meeting House is a non-profit
museum and historic site, located on the Freedom Trail, dedicated to sustaining
the buildingšs tradition as a community-gathering place for the free exchange
of ideas and to provide a place where people can connect the issues of the past
with the issues of today. It receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural
Council, a state agency, the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Institute</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> and Library
Services, a federal agency, and other public and private sources. Visit
www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org for more information.<br>
<br>
###<br>
<br>
<br>
--submitted by marycurtinproductions<br>
c/o Mary Curtin<br>
<st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on">PO Box 290703</st1:Street>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Charlestown</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">MA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode
w:st="on">02129</st1:PostalCode></st1:address><br>
617-241-9664, 617-470-5867 (cell), <a href="mailto:marycurtin@comcast.net"><font
color=black><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>marycurtin@comcast.net</span></font></a><br>
"dedicated to staging insightful entertainment, particularly in
non-traditional venues"<br>
www.marycurtinproductions.com <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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