Contents
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Action required
1. Summary
Every Ramadan, the IHRC publishes an annual newsletter reporting on some of its work over the previous year and the progress of the organization as a whole. The distribution of this newsletter during the holy month of fasting is one of the main ways in which the IHRC and its work are introduced to new people.
This year’s newsletter is now available, for download from the IHRC website and in hard copy format for physical distribution. Most of our regular contacts and supporters will receive copies through the post. However, we need help to distribute it more widely, as it is essential for our work that we have the greatest possible impact at this time of the year. In this alert, we introduce the newsletter and suggest ways in which you could help us maximise its impact.
2. Background
The IHRC is now more than 13 years old, and has developed to work at several different levels simultaneously: helping individuals with their problems through our advocacy team; campaigning on major issues concerning Muslims generally, such as the targeting of Muslims in the ‘war on terror’; highlighting human rights abuses around the world, from the USA and China to Egypt and Saudi Arabia; conducting research into social and political trends of particular concern, such as Islamophobia in Europe; and ensuring that Muslim concerns are heard in such forums as the UN and OSCE.
Most of our contacts and supporters are involved in one or a couple of these areas of work, and know relatively little about other areas. The IHRC Newsletter, therefore, aims both to provide an overview of the work of the IHRC for people who are new to it, and to add to the understanding even of those who have been working with us from the outset. It also aims to guide people to where they can find further information, particularly the relevant parts of the IHRC website.
Once again this year, our lead story is based on the plight of Palestinians. We had thought to find a different lead topic for this year’s newsletter, but the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara on 31 May, killing 9 Turkish humanitarian workers, provided the obvious peg for our message this year. And that is perhaps inevitable – the status of the Palestinian struggle as the symbolic leading edge of the struggle for justice in the modern world for over half a century is indisputable.
But campaigning against Zionism and its apologists is only a part of our work, as the newsletter should make clear. Just as important is our work against Islamophobic policies in the UK and elsewhere; our highlighting of the plight of little-known Muslim communities in countries such as Bulgaria and China; our research and publications, and our international work, at organizations such as the UN, and with other Muslim civil society groups such as the Universal Justice Network.
Finally, of course, the newsletter aims also to say something about the IHRC itself, its ethos, its objectives and its priorities. This is reflected in the message from the Chair, Massoud Shadjareh, as well as the sections on the new building being opened in London later this year insha’Allah, and on how people can help the IHRC as volunteers, interns, or by supporting our work in other ways, such as
3. Action required
Our priority at this time is to distribute the newsletter as widely as possibly, both in print format, and electronically, via email and the internet. Copies for distribution can be obtained from the IHRC free of charge: call 0208 904 4222.
Some ways in which you can help with this include the following:
Physical Distribution
- Please ask your local mosque/Islamic centre for permission to distribute the newsletter during Ramadan
- Please give copies of the newsletter to all your family and friends. Encourage them to read it themselves and distribute it to their friends, and in their mosques and Islamic centres.
Electronically
- Please email all your friends telling them that the IHRC newsletter has been published, how interesting you found it, and encouraging them to download it from the IHRC website. The link is: www.tinyurl.com/ihrc-newsletter2010
- You can also say the same thing through social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, etc.
- You can also circulate links to the IHRC website and newsletter through any Islamic mailing lists you may use.
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For more information, please contact the office on the numbers or email below
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For more information, please contact the office on the numbers or email below.
“And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper.”
Holy Qur’an: Chapter 4, Verse 75
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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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HA9 7XH
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Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
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Email: info@ihrc.org
Web: www.ihrc.org
