IL: Muslims Hope for New Era of Understanding

It was an early morning for Driss El Akrich. But armed with Moroccan green tea and joined by his wife, Amina, in front of a television set, it was a moment he had been eagerly anticipating.

President Barack Obama was in Cairo last month, giving a major speech to the Muslim world. The speech reverberated across the world to Springfield, home to about 300 Muslim families from 28 countries.

For El Akrich, a doctoral candidate in the public administration program at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Obama hit all the right notes: Speaking in a tone of respect; quoting the Quran, the Torah and the Bible; and even mentioning El Akrich’s native Morocco as the first country, in 1777, to publicly acknowledge the newly sovereign United States.

El Akrich, who came to the United States in 2002 as part of the Fulbright exchange program, says it’s an emerging moment for Springfield Muslims whose efforts are boosted by Obama.

“It was a change in paradigm,” El Akrich says one evening in the fellowship hall of the Islamic Center of Greater Springfield’s masjid, or mosque, on Stanton Avenue. “Rather than focusing on tension, (Obama) has shifted the focus on common interests and mutual respect.”

Local Muslims say stereotypes against them still persist: disdainful looks, sneering comments and water-cooler jokes. But they also note progress is being made as people of different faiths learn more about what Muslims believe, and as Muslims themselves get more involved in the community. (More)

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Source: CAIR

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U.S. launches Muslim technology fund

CAIRO — In a new move to improve America’s relations with the Muslim world, the administration of President Barack Obama has launched a multi-million-dollar fund to achieve technological development in Muslim countries.

"This fund will help catalyze and facilitate private sector investments that promote access to and growth of technology," the White House said in a statement on Friday, October 23.

The Global Technology and Innovation Fund will provide financing between $25 and $150 million for selected projects and funds.

The fund, launched by the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), will focus on areas related to technology, education, telecom, media, business services and financial technology and clean-tech.

"The sectors of interest for prospective funds may address issues that can have a transformational impact in these regions."

Proposed projects for the fund should be submitted by the end of November.

Final selections will be announced next June.

The White House said that the efforts is part of efforts to bolster relations with the Muslim world.

"The Global Technology and Innovation Fund is part of an on-going U.S. government effort to expand partnerships that advance economic opportunity and job creation - including in Muslim-majority countries."

* Obama pledge

The technology fund fulfills Obama's promise to help achieve technological development in Muslim countries.

"(The launch comes) as the latest step in delivering on this commitment," the White House said.

In a landmark speech from Cairo in June, Obama said "education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century" and that under-investment was rife in many Muslim nations.

He also promised to host a summit on entrepreneurship this year to deepen ties between business leaders in the US and Muslim communities around the world.

In his speech, Obama, who has recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, vowed to forge a "new beginning" with the Muslim world to remove a decade of discord between the two sides.

America's relations with the Muslim world have been tense during the eight-year presidency of Obama's predecessor George W. Bush.

Many Muslims were particularly angered by Bush's so-called war on terror, which saw the invasion of two Muslim countries, Afghanistan and Iraq.

A series of Muslim detainees abuse scandals in Afghanistan, Iraq and the notorious Guantanamo detention center also fanned anti-Americanism across the globe, but specially in Muslim countries.
Source: IslamOnline

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