Interfaith Banquet Emphasizes Peace

Promoting mutual values of peace and acceptance, North America’s largest Muslim convention hosted a special interfaith banquet, last month, inviting people of difference faiths calling for joint action against racial and religious intolerance.  “The heart of all religions is to make peace, to protect peace,” said Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni journalist, politician and human rights activist, addressing attendees at the 18th annual ISNA/CIOGC (the Council of Islamic Organizations in Greater Chicago) Interfaith Unity Banquet. Karman, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work in the nonviolent struggle for women’s rights in Yemen, said religion isn’t just about prayers and rituals, rather it is about mutual values of justice, peace, love, coexistence, good governance and fighting for equality. Dozens of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious and community leaders came together at the Sept. 6 banquet during ISNA’s 52nd annual Convention in Chicago promoting mutual values of peace and acceptance.