Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 247

PROGRAM DESCR
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Hafiz Aziz ur Rehman is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Shariah & Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan. He belongs to the part of Kashmir that was hit badly by the 2005 earthquake, and he followed closely the relief and rehabilitation efforts by religious and faithbased NGOs. Aziz is a student of comparative Shariah and Common law and is currently completing his PhD at the Australian National University College of Law.
The Challenge of Islamophobia and the Media: How Innovative Dialogue is Changing the Landscape
Dr Nasya Bahfen, Moderator
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor Ahmed Rehab
Fiyaz Mughal
Karen L Hernandez-Andrews Mohammed El-leissy
Room 219
Panel Discussion
Negative media portrayals of Islam and Muslims hamper much-needed efforts to improve relations with the Islamic World and Muslims generally, regardless of where they live. Steps are being taken through the innovative use of various media to combat this issue. The questions must be asked, 'Are these efforts facilitating a change in the socio-religious landscape? If not, why does this perception about Muslims prevail, and what role should Muslims play in helping to define how they are portrayed?" In this session, leading scholars, activists, media professionals and grassroots leaders will discuss these pressing issues of the day.
Dr Nasya Bahfen lectures in the School of Applied Communication at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and works regularly in the newsrooms of ABC Radio Australia and SBS Radio. Her teaching and research interests include radio journalism, Islam and the media, and the use of the internet by young Muslims. Nasya is a committee member of the Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria.
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor's films have won awards at festivals around the world and two Emmys. Her credits include the documentaries Special Circumstances, Ramadan Primetime, Paulina", "Home Front, Immigration Calculations, several television series, and many short films. She has held fellowships at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, and the Sundance Institute Documentary Lab
Ahmed Rehab is an American Muslim activist and writer with a focus on civil rights, media relations, and Islam-West relations. He is the Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy office. Rehab serves on the boards of directors of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Immigration and Refugee Interfaith Ministries, the Chicago Human Relations Advisory Committee and the Egyptian American Society. He is a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Muslim task force. He has appeared on Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, HDTV News, PBS, CNN, CLTV, WGN, C-Span, BBC, MSNBC, WBBM. Chicago Public Radio, Fox News Radio, and Conservative Radio. Fiyaz Mughal is the Director of Faith Matters, which works on developing platforms for interaction between Muslim, Sikh and Jewish communities across the UK. He is the founder and director of two micro-finance projects in Palestine and Israel and has been appointed as the advisor to Nick Clegg MP on interfaith issues and prevention of extremism. Mughal was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
11:30am-1:00pm
Karen holds an MA Theological Research in Christian-Muslim Understanding from Andover Newton Theological School and a BA in Peace and Justice Studies with a concentration in Islam from Wellesley College. She is currently pursuing a Master of Sacred Theology in Religion and Conflict from Boston University School of Theology. Karen teaches and lectures with various organisations in the US about Islam, global Christian-Muslim relations, Al Qaeda, theological responses to terrorism and Islamophobia.
INTERRELIGIOUS SESSION
Mohammed El-leissy is a community worker with the Islamic Council of Victoria. He hosts the 'World Peace program on Melbourne's SYN FM, which deals with issues of cultural and religious identity in Australia. He has served on numerous interfaith panels and recently returned from a tour of Southeast Asia, where he represented Australian Muslims to faith groups in the region.
Steve Killelea
William F Vendley
Room 220
The Vision of Humanity:
The Components of Peace
Vision of Humanity is an umbrella enterprise for several interrelated initiatives focused on bringing about global peace. These include the Global Peace Index, which ranks countries by their peacefulness and is the basis for identification of drivers of peace. The institute for Economics and Peace is a think tank dedicated to research on the interrelationship between business, peace and economic development. In this session, the founder of Vision of Humanity will present some of his peace initiatives, and the Secretary-General of Religions for Peace will present some of that organisation's peace initiatives, including efforts in the Middle East.
Steve Killelea is Chairman and Founder of, Integrated Research Ltd; The Charitable Foundation; Global Peace Index; Institute for Economics and Peace. Steve is an accomplished entrepreneur in high technology business development and at the forefront of philanthropic activities focused on sustainable development and peace.
Dr William F Vendley has served as Secretary General of Religions for Peace since 1994. He has mobilised and equipped religious communities in war-torn regions worldwide. He was a participant in His Majesty King Abdullah's historic interreligious meeting in Madrid, Spain in 2008 and has been requested by the Muslim World League to serve on its Followup Committee. Dr Vendley is also an advisor to US President Barack Obama.
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