Islamic Leaders Make Statement at University Discussion

From left: Malaka Elyazgi, Mona Eltahawy and
Mohammad Daadaoui

The University of Oklahoma hosted its third and final seminar with Mona Eltahawy Tuesday. The award-winning columnist and outspoken Muslim was joined by Oklahoma City University Assistant Professor of Political Science and Middle East Studies Mohammad Daadaoui and Malaka Elyazgi, Chair of the Ethnic American Advisory Council to Gov. Brad Henry and board member of OU's Women's and Gender Studies program.

The panel discussion, free and open to the public, dealt with several hot-button issues, including the current national controversy of the mosque near New York's ground zero. All three panelists shared the same opinion: the mosque should be built.

The controversial building, Elyazgi pointed out, is actually several blocks away from what is now being called "Park51," and has been used for Islamic prayer for over a year. Elyazgi also said the facility will actually be an entire Islamic cultural center, complete with its own swimming pool.

Eltahawy, who spent four days with Park51 advocates protesting the relocation of the center, said this is not just a Muslim ordeal, but a constitutional and minority issue. "I feel the pain, (the Sept. 11 attacks) affected us all," she said. "There was a mosque in the World Trade Center."

The panel fielded numerous questions regarding public
perception of Islam and the Park51 mosque Tuesday.

Elyazgi said she was Arab by race, American by culture, and Muslim by faith and felt she needed to publicly speak her mind because of the perception of Islam often given by some extremist factions. Elyazgi ended the evening by referencing Tuesday's being World Peace Day and asked those in attendance to contemplate three words before leaving -- "Inclusiveness overcomes intolerance."

Tuesday's discussion was hosted by OU's Center for Middle East Studies in the School of International and Area Studies. The school has also organized a public lecture, titled "Modern Iran: The People, Their Lives, and What Makes Them Tick," for Monday evening in Robert S. Kerr auditorium.

For more information regarding on international program events visit http://www.ou.edu/content/sias/home/left_navigation/sias_global_forum.html. For a more extensive look on Eltahawy's Park51 opinion visit http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=28427&lan=en&sid=1&sp=0&isNew=1 or http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2010/09/09/nr.muslim.panel.imam.feisal.cnn.html