fyi: Robert Spencer, Expert on Islam and Director of www.JihadWatch.org, is scheduled to be on a four-person ALA Panel on Islam, Sunday, July 12, 9-11:30 a.m. . Some are trying hard to discredit and squelch Spencer in the eyes of ALA members before he speaks.
Dear AJL Friends and other Ha'Safran Subscribers, This coming Sunday at the upcoming ALA Conference, Robert Spencer, expert on Islam, radio and talk show personality, and author of 8 best sellers and hundreds of articles about Islam and Director of www.Jihadwatch.org, is a scheduled speaker at a four member panel, entitled, "Perspectives on Islam: Beyond the Stereotypes." The program takes place on Sunday, July 12, from 9-11:30 at the McCormick Place Convention Center West, Room W-180. Starting last night some who want desperately to discredit and intimidate Robert Spencer in the eyes of ALA members before he speaks by circulating an online petition/letter to "ALA and EMIERT" objecting to ALA's having him as a speaker. Robert Spencer has today responded on his website: See: http://www..jihadwatch.org/archives/026853.php If you will be staying in Chicago for ALA , please try to attend the program, presented by the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table. If you know people who will be attending ALA or others in Chicago who might be interested in attending please let them know. Also on Sunday, July 12 3:30-5:30 p.m., the Jewish Information Committee planning meeting will take place at the Palmer House Hotel, Logan Room. We cordially invite your participation in the Commitee. Here are the Sunday morning speakers and their topics: Dr. Marcia Hermansen, Director of the Islamic World Studies Program and Professor in the Theology Department, Loyola University Chicago . Topic: "Statistical Overview/Outlook of Muslim Populations in America and Overview of Diverse Islamic Cultural/National Origins Dr. Esmail Koushanpour, Emeritus professor, Northwestern University Medical School inChicago , & Former Executive Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago. Topic: "Core Beliefs Commonalities with Judaism and Christianity" Robert Spencer, Columnist and author of 8 books on Islam and jihad, including the New York Times bestsellers The Truth About Muhammad and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). Director of the weblog, Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center . Topic: "Jihad: What Muslims Say It Means" Alia Ammar, Ph.D., Chief Neuropsychologist, Geriatric Care Association & member of the Islamic Foundation North. Topic: "Stereotypes and Realities of the African American Muslim Experience" 8:00 to 9:00 EMIERT Business Meeting 9:00-11:30 Islam Program 11:30-12:00 EMIERT Board Meeting From, Ellen Zyroff Chair, Jewish Information Committee of EMIERT (and AJL member) [email protected] Expanded Bios of the Speakers: Dr. Marcia Hermansen is Director of the Islamic World Studies Program and Professor in the Theology Department at Loyola University Chicago where she teaches courses in Islamic Studies and the academic study of religion. She received her Ph. D. from the University of Chicago in Arabic and Islamic Studies. In the course of her research and language training, she lived for extended periods in Egypt , Jordan , India , Iran , Turkey and Pakistan and she conducts research in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu as well as the major European languages. Her book, The Conclusive Argument from God, a study and translation (from Arabic) of Shah Wali Allah of Delhi's, Hujjat Allah al-Baligha was published in 1996. Dr. Hermansen has also contributed numerous academic articles in the fields of Islamic Thought, Sufism, Islam and Muslims in South Asia , Muslims in America , and Women in Islam. Dr. Esmail Koushanpour is an Emeritus Professor, retired in 1999, after serving 36 years as a faculty member at Northwestern University Medical School . Born in Teheran , Iran , he received his college degree from Columbia University ( New York City ) and his doctorate degree from the University of Michigan ( Ann Arbor , Michigan ). He was a Fulbright Scholar at Heidelberg University in 1983-84. He has published two physiology textbooks about kidney function and over 80 scientific papers in medical journals. He was appointed Executive Director of the Islamic Cultural Center, Northbrook , Illinois , in 1999 shortly after retirement. He has served on the Boards of the North Suburban YMCA, the Gilead Outreach and Referral Center of Chicago, and the International Center for Deafness and the Arts (ICODA), and on the administrative team of United Power for Action and Justice. He was elected Vice-Chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (2003) and co-chaired the Catholic-Muslim dialogue committee. He received the Bridge Builder Award from the Glenview Community Church and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation's Faith in Community Award. He was invited to the First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace held in Brussels in 2005 and was appointed by the Governor to the Illinois New Americans Immigrant Policy Council in 2005. In May of 2007, Dr. Koushanpour was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters for community bridge building and interfaith work from the Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend , Indiana , which is affiliated with Oxford University and the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center , and the author of eight books on Islam and jihad, including the New York Times bestsellers The Truth About Muhammad and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). Spencer is a weekly columnist for Human Events andFrontPage Magazine, and has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College , the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community. Spencer (MA, Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) has been studying Islamic theology, law, and history in depth since 1980. Spencer has also written eleven monographs and well over three hundred articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. He is the author of Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World's Fastest Growing Faith (Encounter); Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West (Regnery); and Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't (Regnery). He is coauthor, with Daniel Ali, of Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics ( Ascension), and editor of the essay collection The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims (Prometheus). His latest book is Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam is Subverting America without Guns or Bombs, an expose of how jihadist groups are advancing their agenda in the U.S. today by means other than terrorist attacks. Dr. Alia Ammar received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Chicago in 2003. She completed her internship in clinical neuropsychology at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and her postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the UIC Medical Center . Dr. Ammar specializes in the clinical and forensic neuropsychological assessment of adult/geriatric patients with traumatic brain injury, electrical injury, dementia, neurobehavioral complications related to medical illness, and psychiatric illness. Her clinical experience has also included providing emergency room crisis intervention and conducting individual, group, and family psychotherapy for individuals affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, borderline personality disorder, and other severe psychopathologies. She has also received advanced training in cognitive rehabilitation and biofeedback. She was the recipient of two teaching fellowships through the Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunities Program and Loyola University , where she served as a Lecturer of Psychology for courses in diversity, psychological assessment, and psychotherapy from 1998-2007. Dr. Ammar has been involved in research exploring the effects of traumatic experiences upon the cognition and psychological well-being of various populations, including adolescents, substance abusers, and survivors of electrical injury. She frequently conducts workshops on communication, motivation, and improving familial relationships. Her research findings have been presented at international conferences and in peer reviewed journals, as well as being adapted for continuing education programs. Dr. Ammar is a member of the Islamic Foundation North and has also participated as a volunteer service provider/discussant for the Compassionate Care Network. She lectures locally on topics related to health and relationship issues affecting Muslims. 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