I write, first, to wish you all peace and blessings. These last months, even weeks and days, have been difficult ones for our global community. As our year comes to a close, we at KARAMAH are first and foremost prayerful for change.

So what is KARAMAH's role? When KARAMAH was founded in the early 90's, the feminist movement had just taken the global stage. Our sisters who had fought alongside our founders in the U.S. were crying out for the liberation of Muslim women instead of deferring to Muslim women to tell their own stories in their own voice. As we worked on global issues of gender equity, we also had to attend to our civil rights at home.  This became our primary concern. We had educational concerns as well.  For example, we were the first organization to invite various leaders of the Muslim community to the Supreme Court building, where they heard remarks in 1996 by legal scholars and experts on the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and the separation of Church and State.  During the Clinton administration, KARAMAH advocated against the use of secret evidence in criminal proceedings and the use of profiling against people of color, particularly Muslims, which had already begun. 

Events developed quickly as we ushered in a new millennium.  Soon after September 11, KARAMAH's president met with President Bush at the Islamic Center of Washington, DC, to calm the situation.  These were the days of national sorrow and confusion in which we all shared.   Our concerns post 9/11 turned to two major issues: the first concerned the expansive definition of "material support" under the law that deemed help even to widows and orphans in Muslim countries highly risky and problematic. KARAMAH, as well as a wide array of American organizations, made repeated efforts to have this definition reexamined. The results in this area were limited.  The second related to Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men who were being listed and their movements monitored in the infamous NSEERS program. We joined others to fight against the NSEERS program, which was eventually suspended. Unfortunately, the impact of profiling and NSEERS on our societies continues on till today.

 

These are a few examples from KARAMAH's history, to remind us all that we have had hard times before and we have survived them. Whether it is in the continued compromise of the civil rights and dignity of black lives, or the potential revival of one of the darkest times in our country-the internment of Japanese Americans-we are in a continued state of struggle.

 

KARAMAH's vision has always approached challenges with a great deal of thought that defined both our long-term strategy and our role within our global community. This is evident from our lecture series and summer programs.  Although this approach is time consuming,  it bears stable, substantive and peaceful results.  So, we are committed to continuing it and developing it even further by constantly broadening our educational reach, sharpening our educational tools, and using both to strengthen our civil rights advocacy, as well as advocacy on important social issues, such as domestic violence. With your help and the help of our allies, we intend to continue our advocacy through education in hopes that ignorance will not prevail.