Some say freedom, some say acceptance

I’ve been watching this poll on our site closely and I find it interesting to see that there is a major split between two answers:

My guess (and this is just a guess) is that many Muslims chose “religious freedom” and many non-Muslims chose “acceptance into Greek society”. 

But this could be problematic.

I mean, how can we solve this problem if we don’t even see eye-to-eye on what the problem is exactly?

Muslims know that the constitution of the European Union guarantees the right of religious freedom, which includes a right to pray in a mosque and be buried in a local cemetery.   And the world knows that Muslims are being withheld their basic human rights.

Why are non-Muslim Greeks not able to understand this?

Muslims want what everyone else wants:

• safety
• a place to pray
• a place to be buried
• a job to sustain their families
• peacefulness with their neighbours
• proper education for their children
• to contribute to society

If ‘acceptance into Greek society’ was our end goal, then we would leave our Islam (that we embraced as an intellectual choice) and just assimilate or revert back to the Greek Christian Orthodox identity. 

But that’s not what we want.

So, the answer here is not ‘acceptance into Greek society’. 

Rather, it’s mutual respect. 

I am a Greek Muslim and I respect you for the freedom of your choice.  You are a Greek Christian, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, Pantheist and you respect me for the freedom of my choice.  We are both humans, both equal, both free to choose our religion and live peacefully together.

The day that people in Greek society realise that the issue is religious freedom and mutual respect is the day that Greeks of all religions can coexist in harmony and enrich its civilisation together.

My Big Fat Greek Project

I was intereviewed by the Queen of Sheba program so I thought I would share my dreams with you too.

I had this insane dream to revolutionize Islam in Greece. I sat down one day and just wrote out a 10 year vision plan. I kept writing and writing and I couldn’t stop. Then I just stared at it and I remember thinking, this is insane! But it was just an exhilarating feeling to even allow myself to take my imagination that far. At that point, I was determined more than ever to go through with it.

I was scared because I was only one person and I barely knew any other Greek Muslims let alone in Greece but I did know that Greece was the only European Union country where there is still no mosque allowed in its capital city. This is the place where every Muslim is called a Turk who “enslaved them for 400 years”. So, you can imagine the mountain of a task in front of me.

On the other hand, practically speaking, it is proven that in order for women to feel stress-free while they are succeeding, they need to feel that they have support (which is not [necessarily] the case for men). I have been blessed to find a team that works with me on the same vision and this is my backbone.

Iman: I want to see religious freedom for Muslims in Greek society as well as mutual respect between people of different faiths. I hope that through our efforts, we will establish a thriving communal system that will become an integral part of Greek society.

 

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Παιδική Ειρηνική Διαδηλωση στις 11 Ιανουαρίου Children’s Protest for Gaza

Δελτίο Τύπου:

 Η Μουσουλμανική Ένωση Ελλάδας

μαζί με την Ελληνική Επιτροπή Βοήθειας και Στήριξης Παιδιού οργανώνουν

 την Κυριακή 11 Ιανουαρίου και ώρα 16.00

 Παιδική Ειρηνική Πορεία Διαμαρτυρίας

Παιδική Ειρηνική Πορεία Διαμαρτυρίας εκφράζοντας τον αποτροπιασμό και την οδύνη τους για την επίθεση στη Γάζα που για ακόμη μία φορά είχε ως θύματα τα παιδιά μαζί με τις μητέρες τους καθώς το 50% των νεκρών είναι γυναικόπαιδα.

Τα παιδιά είναι οι εύκολοι στόχοι, και οι ισχυροί δεν ενδιαφέρονται για τη ζωή των παιδιών-θυμάτων ειδικά όταν έχουν διαφορετική εθνικότητα. Το θέμα όμως είναι πολύ σοβαρό για την ανθρωπότητα όλη, αφού αν σήμερα πέφτουν νεκρά τα βρέφη και τα παιδιά της Παλαιστίνης, αύριο με την ίδια ωμότητα θα σκοτώσουν τα παιδιά μιας άλλης γης χωρίς έλεος, και ανεμπόδιστα αφού η διεθνής πολιτισμένη κοινότητα δεν ενδιαφέρεται και δεν σχολιάζει καθόλου αυτή την τραγωδία.

Είναι χρέος όλων ημών να παραστούμε και να διαδηλώσουμε ειρηνικά μαζί με τα παιδιά μας αφού κι αυτά έχουν φωνή και δικαιώματα, στη ζωή, στο αύριο, στην ειρήνη.

Η Παιδική Ειρηνική Πορεία Διαμαρτυρίας θα ξεκινήσει από την πλατεία Συντάγματος, θα περάσει εμπρός από τα γραφεία του ΟΗΕ και στη συνέχεια θα περάσει από τα γραφεία της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης.

Επικοινωνία

Ναΐμ Ελγαντούρ 6972008214

Ιμπραήμ Αλαμπάντλα 6973309233

ΜΟΥΣΟΥΛΜΑΝΙΚΗ ΕΝΩΣΗ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ

Press Release:

The Muslim Association of Greece

together with the Greek Assistance and Child Support organize the

Peaceful Children Protest

on Sunday, January 11 at 16.00

 
Peaceful Children protest expressing the horror and suffering for the attack in Gaza that once again has affected children with their mothers and 50% of the dead are women and children.

Children are easy targets and the strong do not care about the lives of children - especially when the victims have a different nationality. The issue is very serious for all humanity. If today babies and children in Palestine are dropped dead, tomorrow will be the same brutality and they would kill the children of another land without mercy, and unhindered since the civilized international community is not interested to comment on this tragedy.

It is the responsibility of all of us to attend and demonstrate peacefully with our children because they have a voice and rights to life and peace for tomorrow.

The Children’s Peaceful protests will start from the square, pass in front of UN offices and then pass through the offices of the European Union.

Contact
Naim Elghandour 6972008214
Ibrahim Alabandla 6973309233