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Managing editor of Progressive magazine to give March 9 speech at NIU on non-violence, Islam

February 21, 2011
Amitabh Pal

Amitabh Pal

Amitabh Pal, managing editor of The Progressive, will speak  in the Heritage Room of Holmes Student Center at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 9.

His talk on “Non-Violence and Islam” will elaborate on the recent people’s movements resulting in regime change in Egypt and Tunisia and how those nonviolent protests fit into the historical context of this Islamic tradition.

“During this time when false statements about the Muslim and Islam faiths are circulating, we feel it is important to talk about the rich history of nonviolence in these faiths as well,” said Dan Kenney, co-coordinator of the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice.

Pal is also co-editor of the Progressive Media Project, an op-ed service which distributes columns to hundreds of newspapers in the United States and abroad. He has interviewed the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter and John Kenneth Galbraith.

He also is the author of the soon-to-be-published book, “Islam Means Peace: Understanding the Muslim Principle of Nonviolence Today” (Praeger).

This has been described as a decisive account of the role of nonviolence in Islam and Muslim societies, both historically and in current times, which chronicles their long-standing but often-obscured pacifist tradition. In spotlighting recent peaceful protest movements in Muslim societies, the book underscores the truly global and multicultural nature of the Islamic tradition of nonviolence.

The program is sponsored by the DeKalb Interfaith Network, along with the NIU departments of Communication, History and Sociology and the Muslim Student Association.

Free parking is available on campus after 7 p.m. Visit www.dekalbinterfaithnetwork.org for more information.

Related:
Mazen Nagi: Will Iran follow in the footsteps of Egypt?