Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council - Ampac

Just a reminder that the second Women and Islamophobia panel that was scheduled for today was cancelled and will be rescheduled for September!

"I think I have seen enough in my life to understand that health outcomes and social outcomes are so much more reflective of the world people are born into than the actual physical bodies that they have.
Fundamentally, that is just a truism that I have learned and fortunately have the tools to have talked about in my sociology classes. Now with empathy, it is just so much easier to be empathetic and empathic with people, because you’re just like, ‘This is a human who… this is... a culmination of many adversities that this person has faced.’
How could you not be more empathetic to that human? When you individualize and depoliticize (which are terms one of my old professors would always mention), when we individualize responsibility and depoliticize their outcomes, what we are saying is, ‘You’re a drug addict because you make bad decisions.’
We don’t say, ‘You had 8/10 adverse childhood experiences by the age of 18, you were both exposed to and received physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect. One of your parents was incarcerated and the other had a mental illness and you never developed adequate coping mechanisms to deal with your adversities, so you, along with your peers, resorted to drug abuse as an escape to your harrowing life. That became so damaging that you spiralled into an addictive cycle.’
What sounds more empathy inducing, the former or the latter? I think a lot of, you know, empathy is something you’re not necessarily born with, it’s hard to know what you’re born with, but empathy is something you work on, empathy is something that you’re taught." 2/2
Mergim Binakaj is an Edmonton-based human rights activist, proud mipster (Muslim/hipster, although he’d never admit it), and a medical student at the University of Alberta.
Full story: muslims-of-alberta.com/2018/07/18/mergim- binakaj/
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The AMPAC Muslim-Jewish Women's Collective is happy to invite you to an interfaith visit to the Aga Khan Islamic Garden at the University of Alberta Botanic Gardens (formerly Devonian).
The garden is meant for everyone to connect with nature and with one another. It is meant to be a living symbol of hope, peace and unity - a place where understanding takes root. What better place to visit together?
... This event is family-friendly (children remain with their parents).
Please bring a brown bag lunch and weather-appropriate clothing.
In the event of rain or poor weather conditions, consider this event cancelled.
The muster point will be provided to those who register.
Payment is required upon arrival.
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“My name is Mergim Binakaj. It’s an Albanian name. Binakaj means ‘of twins’ so basically some ancestor of mine must have been a twin!
My first name is Mergim.
‘Mergim’, translates as ‘to be outside your homeland’.
... It was because my parents had escaped to Germany as refugees in 1993. My mother was pregnant with me and she had to sneak across the Czech border to family-friends waiting on the other side in Germany.
What does that mean to me? Oh man, I’m just really thankful that I have this name, because to me it just seems so oddly fitting with who I am becoming, and have become, thus far.
Because it’s a reminder of your roots.
Ultimately, you know, what is home? Where is home? Home is not only just a geographical space, but it’s also the symbols and the values that you were raised with. It’s something I don’t consciously think about, but you know, when I think about it now… it’s just beautiful.
What I like about my name is that I’ve grown to appreciate it. I hated it as a kid. You know…being called in attendance and it getting botched. ‘Mergim Binakaj’ is not an easy name to read in class, but now, it’s the first reminder to the person I’m engaging with, that ‘this person is not like other people’.
To me that always becomes an opportunity to bring up who I am, bring up my culture, bring up my faith. It’s a position of privilege, and I think to me actually, I treat it like a responsibility.
It’s come to a point now where it’s important for me to be overt with my Islam. There are folks who have a narrow perception of what other Muslims are like.” 1/2
Mergim Binakaj is an Edmonton-based human rights activist, proud mipster (Muslim/hipster, although he’d never admit it), and a medical student at the University of Alberta.
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“Before I went into medicine, I kind of had this idea that yes, I wanted to ‘help’ people and be in this noble profession. I didn’t really have much of an idea beyond that.
In my undergrad I did a lot of neuroscience and psychology related courses and I just fell in love with those, so it was just lucky that I got into medicine and I found psychiatry as a discipline that combines those two fields.
My favourite aspect of psychiatry is the advocacy for people who are generally ...marginalized and generally stigmatized. Anybody with a mental illness automatically has stigma against them, but in addition to that, there are substance users who are completely misunderstood, and addictions are completely misunderstood.”
Mim Fatmi, Psychiatry Resident at the University of Calgary
Full story: muslims-of-alberta.com/2018/06/29/mim-fat mi/
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Proud of you all! Congratulations to the team, and to everyone else participating! https://globalnews.ca/…/edmonton-islami c-academys-girls-rug…

AMPAC is delighted to introduce our new Executive Board Secretary, Sarah Farooq!
Sarah is a passionate public servant and has worked with various levels of government with over six years of public policy experience. Originally from Toronto, she is growing into a seasoned Albertan and tentatively growing her love for the outdoors while getting used to the Alberta weather. She is interested in citizen-centric approaches to service delivery and developing solutions through collaborative and multi stakeholder processes. She has worked with community organizations to promote and support individual, collective, and systemic change to address racism and encourage intercultural understanding. She hopes to bring her experience and enthusiasm in taking on new challenges with AMPAC.

MLA Anam Kazim is one of the youngest provincially elected Muslim women in Canada’s history:
“...There been many events promoting interfaith harmony among different groups in Calgary and I have been working very closely with the Calgary Interfaith Council.
Every time I’m interacting with the Calgary Jewish community, by going to their events, visiting their facilities, or working with their community leaders and religious leaders… it has been tremendous. It has been producti...ve, very fruitful.
All of the decisions are all about making our communities stronger, making sure people are connected with each other. It’s all about connections, community building, community strengthening.
In the Alberta legislative assembly, I was able to present a motion to declare the first week of February as the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week and that motion was passed in the house unanimously.”
Full link in comments.
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VP External Affairs Nakita Valerio had an excellent and productive session on Islamophobia with ASSIST Community Services Centre staff, front line community workers and educators in settlement, youth, seniors and social services. What an incredibly engaged group - excited to learn how to create more Muslim-friendly spaces and listen to what kind of compounded issues that Muslim refugees and newcomers face.
We look forward to connecting again in the near future and thank you for the incredibly valuable work you do for our communities!
#coexist #knowledge #acceptance #equality

When you take your kids to the school, or outside to play, or to a place of worship, we believe that you and your children should feel safe. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the #Edson attack, that hasn't been true for all Alberta Muslims.
VP Civic Engagement Adil Hasan was on Alberta Primetime this Wednesday to discuss his visit to Edson, and AMPAC's perspective on the need for a thorough investigation, as well as our province's reponse to racism and Islamophobia.
#ableg #abpoli

When hate strikes our community, we respond with love.
Today, our representatives, including VP Civic Engagement Adil Hasan, went down to #Edson. Our meeting with Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara and a member from the Edson Mosque went extremely well.
We are so incredibly proud of the work that the Muslim community in Edson has done to show that love always wins. And we are so proud of the way that the Edson community has come together to show their love and support for the Muslim ...community of Edson.
We have so much to do in combatting Islamophobia and racism in this province. Some of that work in challenging organizations that preach hatred will be difficult.
But the response of folks in places like Edson when things go bad show how incredible Albertans can be. And it’s not just Edson- we have been so proud of the way Premier Rachel Notley has responded, as well as the leaders of all major political parties in this province.
Above all, we wanted to thank incredible Albertans - volunteers like Jocelyn Pettitt- who helped lead the province of Alberta, and our country, in responding to this incident through love and compassion, rather than division and discord.
We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more.
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“How can we help build bridges between communities?”
“Smile more! Love thy neighbour, it says it in the Bible and the Qu’ran. Treat your neighbours with respect, get to know them, visit them. You’re an ambassador for Islam, for your faith. I know that in saying this I can be a bit hypocritical, because I don’t know all of my neighbours, but I think the world would be a better place if we all made an effort. I chat with some of mine, but I’ve made it my goal to get to know all... of them. I realize that my passion is for volunteering, I want to make a difference in the community at least, if not the world. Y’know? Don’t worry, be happy!”
Fadel Huggi, volunteer with Islamic Relief Canada
#muslimsofalberta #hellomuslimneighbour
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Start a conversation with your friends and family about what we can do about racism and Islamophobia in Alberta. Like and share our recent interview with CityTv.
#edson #mosque #ableg #abpoli

We are delighted to announce AMPAC's new Vice President of Communications - Parvin Sedighi. Parvin is a student of political science at MacEwan University, as well as the President of the Students’ Association of MacEwan University. She brings to the AMPAC Executive her extensive experience in communications, board governance and is eager to grow her experience with the AMPAC team. As a politically active young Muslim, Parvin values intersectionality, civic engagement, and social justice in her work, and hopes to continue championing these values in her work on the AMPAC board.

AMPAC was invited to Ottawa to participate in the Gathering of Muslim and Indigenous Women at Parliament. It has been an eventful conference day for our VP Public Policy Muna A and volunteer Saleha Anwer! We look forward to keeping everyone posted with what we are learning and what we are bringing to the table!
#advocacy #womensadvocacy #statusofwomen #publicpolicy #ottawa #alberta #ab #ampac

Hate crimes like the arson attack at Edson mosque cannot burn down the bridges we build between one another. Yesterday, AMPAC joined enthusiastic members of the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and secular communities to celebrate Eid ul Fitr. We ate, prayed and laughed together in the gorgeous sunshine at Coronation Park. This is how beautiful coexistence can be. We will continue the work of spreading peace always.
#coexist #acceptance #respect #peace #love #salam #eidmubarak #abmuslims #ampac

Thank you Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara for your statement of support and condemnation of this appalling act. We will continue to work to ensure a prompt investigation follows. There is no room for hatred in our communities.

Thank you Premier Rachel Notley for your strong comments of support and in condemnation of hatred and racism. We want to work together to ensure a full investigation occurs promptly. Albertans deserve to feel safe, whoever they are.

UPDATE: AMPAC executives had a very productive conversation with Minister Irfan Sabir this evening in regards to the #edsonattack. We share a commitment to ensuring that a prompt and full investigation is carried out.
No one deserves to feel unsafe- and we thank the provincial and federal government for responding as fast as they have.
We would encourage all parties to work on bipartisan solutions to discourage Islamophobia and racism in our province.
... We will continue to update you as we know more.
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The Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council is appalled by the news that an individual started a fire on the night of June 16 at the Islamic Society of Edson.
“Given that people were praying evening prayers shortly before the fire was lit, we cannot help but remember the Quebec mosque shooting,” said Adil Hasan, Vice President of Civic Engagement, “While we are thankful that there were no injuries or loss of life, the Muslim community in Alberta is shaken and appalled by this arson attack. We expect a full investigation from the RCMP to bring the perpetrator of this heinous attack to justice. Finally, we call on the federal, provincial government to do more to counter Islamophobia and racism”.
AMPAC is available for comment.

I so appreciate your work to educate and combat Islamophobia!

AMPAC is doing amazing work..the outreach efforts are visible and I have seen firsthand the impact this organization is making from a talk given at my workplace.