Archives
Women’s Marchers Affirmed the Rights of American Muslims, Too
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director, and Ameena Jandali, Content Director. This opinion originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News. Last Saturday, we were privileged to address thousands of peaceful protesters at the Women’s Marches in San Jose and San Francisco. Together, we made a powerful statement… Read More
ING CEO Maha Elgenaidi’s Speech at the San Jose Women’s March
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This speech was delivered at the Women’s March in San Jose on January 21, 2017. Salam alaikum, Shalom, and peace be unto you. I am honored to be with all of you today representing the American Muslim community. Attending today are three South Bay mosques… Read More
Respond to Hate with Love
By Maha Elgenaidi, ING Executive Director, Dana Magat, Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, and Suzanne St. John-Crane, CEO of American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley. This opinion appeared in the San Jose Mercury News. As faith and non-profit leaders, we are deeply troubled by the increase in hate crimes… Read More
In the Battle Against Islamophobia, We Must Stand with Interfaith Partners
Jerusalem with Muslim, Christian, and Jewish sites. Photo by Eran Menashri on Flickr Creative Commons By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at Patheos. If anyone doubts the strength of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S., a poll taken last week… Read More
Muslims and Nostra Aetate: Fifty Years of Rapprochement
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion appeared at the ING blog. The Vatican II document Nostra Aetate marked a watershed in the relationship of Catholics toward Muslims. For the first time, a major church document broke with the old missionizing and Orientalist way of looking at Muslims and spoke of these… Read More
Addressing Islamophobia, One Person at a Time
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at iSLAMiCommentary. “We need more than the law to combat what are often deep-seated prejudices and attitudes that are the root causes of discrimination… Face-to-face interaction, education, and inter-religious engagement are key to breaking the grip of Islamophobia in this… Read More
Is Islamophobia Real?
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at the Huffington Post. Some people ask the question, is there really such a thing as “Islamophobia,” or are Muslims merely indulging in a culture of victimhood? While most Muslims may feel that even to ask the question… Read More
Invocation at Notre Dame de Namur University Commencement
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This invocation was delivered at Notre Dame de Namur University’s Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 9th, 2015. Maha was the first Muslim to present such an invocation. She was joined on stage by university President Judith Maxwell Greig, Ph.D. and Fedele Bauccio, Chief Executive Officer… Read More
Why Muslims Must Continue to Stand Up to Anti-Semitism
By Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This opinion originally appeared at Patheos. On April 7, congregants of Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, Maryland, found their synagogue defaced with swastikas and profanity. The incident devastated congregants like Michael Weisel, who said, “When my wife called me and told me what… Read More
American Muslim Groups as “Native Informants” of Neo-Orientalism: Essentialism, Reproduction, and Intellectual Manipulation
y Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director. This paper originally appeared in Avicenna: The Stanford Journal of Muslim Affairs. This paper seeks to show how U.S. Muslim organizations are inadvertently contributing to a new form of Orientalism by reproducing old tropes in their efforts to combat it. The paper… Read More
