A Mosque Maligned
A very good, thoughtful essay by Robert Wright of the New America Foundation, someone I’d love to meet and recommend Pakistani-Americans seek out and cultivate:
“No doubt Osama bin Laden, if apprised of the situation, would hope that Rauf will cave in to these demands and ritually denounce Hamas. Because the Muslims who are most vulnerable to bin Laden’s recruiting pitch are, it’s safe to say, at least somewhat sympathetic to Hamas. And if moderate Muslims like Rauf can be pressured into adopting Israel’s position, and thus be depicted by truly radical Muslims as Zionist tools, that will make them less effective in their tug of war with bin Laden for the hearts and minds of the vulnerable.”
Have you read Overtaken By Events?
My new book, Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip, has been published for a couple of months now. It has been selling well at public speaking events – mostly in California, which is where I’ve been able to travel so far – and bringing in some nice comments from early readers. For example:
“Loved your book! Must read again because I am finally understanding some of the headlines I’ve read in recent years. Very interesting, and again the personal reads like a novel. It is great!!!!!!” - Kathy Sheetz, Richmond, California
“It was great meeting you. I am really enjoying the books! They will be a great asset to the multi-cultural reading assignments I give out!” - Seema Gul, Mission Viejo, California
Overtaken By Events is an independent project, and its sales support my livelihood and my continued travel and speaking on behalf of a better human relationship between Pakistanis and Americans. Word of mouth is the most effective way to market books – and you can help. If you’ve read Overtaken By Events, post a comment on this page – and of course tell your family and friends, or even better buy copies for them.
I’ll be returning to Southern California and the Bay Area in the fall, and between September and November I also have trips scheduled to Colorado and the Southwest, the Northwest, Detroit, and the East Coast. See my calendar online, and consider inviting me to your city. I’m also working to make Overtaken By Events available in stores and other venues in Pakistan, hopefully before the end of this year.
I’m going to be offline until just after the July 4 holiday, then home in Seattle for the rest of the summer writing my new book with the working title Bearing the Bruise: A Lifetime in Haiti. I’m planning to publish Bearing the Bruise in late spring 2011. You can support it the way many of you supported Overtaken By Events - by pre-purchasing copies. It will include stories of Pakistani-American friends of mine who visited Haiti after the earthquake there this January, as well as stories from my own many visits to Haiti since 1982. I visited Haiti for five days this March and am planning a longer follow-up trip there in September.
So – I’ll be back in touch in early July. In the meantime, please post a comment here about Overtaken By Events, and continue helping me spread the word. I still need to send out some copies to people who purchased multiple copies – thank you for your patience; it’s been a very busy spring for me!
And here are links to two articles. One is my own short article about the May visit to Seattle by Todd Shea of SHINE Humanity. Todd and I will be doing some speaking together this fall in Colorado and elsewhere around the US:
Pakistan-Based “Go-to Guy for Disaster Relief” Visits UW
And here’s Ras Siddiqui’s very nice article in Pakistan Link about the May 28 fundraiser in Fremont, California for The Citizens Foundation, at which I spoke:
As a traveler who likes to learn from the people he meets, Casey adds himself in their lives and does not appear to be the detached foreigner in his writings. “I am not an expert on Pakistan,” he said. “I am a friend of Pakistan.” He added that he was the guy that keeps coming back. His recent article “Some of My Best Friends are Pakistanis” was widely read and appreciated by Pakistani-Americans during a very troubled time when the Times Square, New York attempted bombing associated with someone from within the community. He said that this kind of message needed to be sent to the mainstream community here in America by a non-Pakistani-American.
TCF Fundraiser in the San Francisco Bay Area, by Ras H. Siddiqui
Don’t forget to leave a comment below!
Thanks,
Ethan
Gulzar Ahmed: Peace starts with me
Better late than never, I want to share this op-ed written by my friend Gulzar Ahmed, who lives in Oregon:
“Peace starts with me,” OregonLive.com, May 7, 2010
“For the many American citizens of Pakistani origin living in the Portland metropolitan area, it’s incumbent upon us to come forward and condemn acts of terror in the strongest possible way. Our communities have to be willing to criticize ourselves and quit putting the blame on others. Let us not remain silent. A silent majority cannot allow an ideological minority to hijack the religion of Islam, which promotes peaceful coexistence among people of all faiths.”
