http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=13643&intcategoryid=2 AROUND THE JEWISH WORLD In Ottawa, program helps build ties between Jews and Somalis By Balint Molnar OTTAWA, Canada, Jan. 11 (JTA) � Ottawa�s Jewish Family Services is helping improve Muslim-Jewish relations in Canada�s capital by mentoring a Somali community organization. The partnership � which recently won an award from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation � also is helping shape Ottawa�s emerging ethnic mosaic.
�North America is changing rapidly,� says Mark Zarecki, director of JFS. �It�s becoming more multiethnic, and one of the most important and fastest growing groups is Muslims.� Zarecki says Jewish communities are uniquely positioned to assist immigrants in their integration and community building. �We were immigrants once, too. Our experiences and knowledge are very valuable to newcomers,� he says. �We can play the role of the bridge between new and established communities.� Ottawa�s 18,000 Somalis constitute the city�s largest Muslim group from a single country. There are about 60,000 Muslims in Ottawa, roughly one-tenth of the country�s total Muslim population, according to the Ottawa Muslim Network, a non-profit information center. The Somalis also are among the city�s newest and poorest immigrant communities, since most arrived between 1992 and 1994 from their war-ravaged national home. They faced daunting challenges upon arrival. Most didn�t speak either of Canada�s official languages, and they struggled to find even menial jobs in a city hit hard by recession. They also found themselves under the scrutiny of police and the media, with the community often depicted as a hotbed for idle youth drifting into gang-type violence, a relatively new phenomenon in Canada�s sleepy capital. (To read the article copy the link at top of this E-Mail.) Keith Reitman NearNorth REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
