Staff Insights
Interfaith effort in Menlo Park seeks to unite what political rhetoric divides
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Our country is living through a time of intense polarization and suspicion — especially in regard to Muslims. Efforts to restrict Muslims’ travel and immigration, and proposals to register Muslims… Read More
Gratitude in Islam
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered at an interfaith youth event on “Gratitude in Islam” at the South Bay Islamic Association on November 18th, 2017. You can watch an excerpt from the speech here. Salam alaikum everyone. I want to start… Read More
Muslims and Jews Working Together Against Bigotry Targeting Our Communities — And From Within Our Communities
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at the Huffington Post. After denouncing with a rabbi an Islamophobe who was speaking at Stanford University on November 14 through a published letter to the editor of the San Jose Mercury News in which… Read More
Toward Muslim-Jewish Understanding
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered at the public symposium “A Golden Age in the Golden State? Muslims and Jews Creating a Culture of Understanding” at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center on November 5th, 2017. Now I want to bring the topic of Muslim-Jewish… Read More
A Muslim Response to Anti-Semitism
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered at a special Tent of Abraham event at Temple Beth El in Aptos, California on October 29th, 2017. There’s no question we’ve seen a sharp uptick in anti-Semitism over the past year. The Anti-Defamation League has … Read More
Religious literacy can fix the faulty foundation beneath Trump’s Muslim ban
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at Religion News Service. The judicial system has dealt a third legal defeat to President Trump’s travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries, instituting a temporary restraining order and injunction to block its implementation. The courts brought… Read More
National Day of Prayer for Behavioral Health Speech
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered at the San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Service’s interfaith event for the National Day of Prayer for Behavioral Health on October 3rd, 2017. I want to thank the San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Service for inviting… Read More
Presidential Proclamation on “Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes” Motivated by Ignorance of the “Other”
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director and Tim Brauhn, Communications Manager. This opinion appeared at the ING blog. Islamic Networks Group and its affiliates across the country don’t often engage with overtly political themes like the Trump administration’s repeated attempts to curtail entry into the United States. Read More
Religious Freedom and American Muslims Today
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered at the California Vision 2020 conference in Sacramento on Saturday, September 23, 2017. You can watch a video of Maha’s remarks here. Introduction Religious freedom is the first right guaranteed in the Bill of… Read More
Education and Peer-to-Peer Engagement Curb Religion-based Bullying
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at the Huffington Post. Bullying is a fact of life for too many students. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that over one quarter of middle and high school students are bullied… Read More
