Home Programs and Presentations 2024

THE SALAAM NETWORK

ANNUAL REPORT, 2024

  • PROGRAMS AND PRESENTATIONS sponsored by TSN in 2024 included the following:
     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation, on January 17, 2024. This was an open session in which all attendees had been invited to share their thoughts on Muhammad Asad’s “The Road to Mecca”

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation. on February 21, 2024. There was an introductory presentation on Dr. Rashid Khalidi’s classic “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017.” A Palestinian-American, he has been the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and is regarded as a foremost historian of the modern Middle East. He is the great-great-nephew of Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, former mayor of Jerusalem who had written a letter in 1899 aimed at Theodore Herzl, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist regarded as the father of modern political Zionism, ending by saying, “In the name of God, let Palestine be left alone.” Dr. Khalidi’s book is regarded as one of the most original, compelling, and best-researched historical surveys of 20th and early 21st century Palestinian life, as well as a deeply personal account of his family history.

      There was a second presentation consisting of a first-person testimony of a recent visit to Palestine by a Bosnian-American activist, and a narrative on “Key Hurdles to Understanding the Propaganda Paradigm in the USA”.

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation. on March 20, 2024. Given the fact that the seeds of what would happen in Palestine over the next century were sown during the First Declaration of War (1917-1939), Dr. Riffat Hassan presented detailed Notes on the Introduction and Chapter 1 of Dr. Rashid Khalidi’s classic “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017.” This was followed up by comments by Dr. Joe Brennan.

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation. on April 17, 2024. Rev. Kathleen Owens shared her detailed Notes and analysis of the Second Declaration of War (1947-1948) described in Chapter 2 of Dr. Rashid Khalidi’s “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017.” This was followed by Dr. Joe Brennan’s summary of the life and work of the Founders of Zionism, Theodor Herzl and Chaim Weizmann. A brief but thought-provoking presentation was made by Azam Saeed on “Place of Leadership in a Freedom Struggle” in which he made introductory remarks on two very popular Palestinian freedom-fighters Marwan Barghouti and Basel al-Araj. The final speaker was Stretch (Deanna Rushing) an activist belonging to the local Ceasefire Coalition.

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation. On May 15, 2024. Dr. Qaisar Sultana and Ron Smith made a presentation on Chapter 3 on the Third Declaration of War (1967) in Dr. Rashid Khalidi’s “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017.”

      This was followed by Dr. Riffat Hassan’s presentation on three significant Zionists: Ze’ev Jabotinsky, David Ben-Gurion, and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. She also read an account of U. S. President Woodrow Wilson’s religion – Christian Zionism – and its influence on his attitude toward the setting up of a Jewish state. An additional presentation on the history of the Founders of Zionism was made by Dr. Joseph Brennan. The next segment of the program was a discussion of six questions on pro-Palestinian student protests across U. S. campuses. Rev. Justin Osterman gave a brief overview of the student protests of the Vietnam era and led an animated discussion in which several Group members participated.

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation. On June 19, 2024. Rev. Summer Al-Bayati and her son Devin Dadah made a joint presentation on Chapter 4 on the Fourth Declaration of War (1882) in Rashid Khalidi’s “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017.”

      Following the above presentation, Dr. Joe Brennan gave an overview of statements made by U. S. Presidents in support of the founding of the Jewish State or Israel. A comprehensive handout on the Statements of U. S. Presidents from of Woodrow Wilson to Joe Biden, compiled by Dr. Riffat Hassan had been shared with the Group members.

      Dr. Hassan recommended using a format entitled “Questions, Concerns, and Reflections” as a method of stimulating interaction and dialogue among ISG participants.

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation. On July 24, 2024. Dr. Joe Brennan made a presentation on Chapter 5 on the Fifth Declaration of War (1987-1995) in Dr. Rashid Khalidi’s “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017.”

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP held a zoom meeting attended by participants from TSN and All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation on August 14, 2024. Azam Saeed made a presentation on Chapter 6 on the Sixth Declaration of War, 2000-2014 in Dr. Rashid Khalidi’s “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017,” and the Conclusion entitled, “A Century of War on the Palestinians.” This comprehensive presentation was the summation of the book.

     

    1. INTERFAITH STUDY GROUP took a late-Summer – early-Fall Break and resumed its comprehensive study of Palestine-Israel on December 11, 2024. The masterpiece which had been selected as the follow-up to Dr. Khalidi’s classic “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism Resistance, 1917- 2017” was “Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic” by Dr. Ilan Pappe regarded by many as Israel’s finest and most honest and courageous historian. A blurb on the cover of this encyclopedic work, published on July 30, 2024, reads: “Over 150 years, Zionist lobbying groups transformed Israel into an untouchable state. This is a magisterial history of the most successful advertising claim the world has ever seen.” On December 11, 2024, there was preliminary conversation on significant aspects of Professor Pappe’s book. The systematic review of this book was scheduled to begin in January 2025.

     

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