THE ANNUAL RAMADAN
FRIENDSHIP DINNER 2006
Date / Time :
October 5, 2006 / 6 pm
Place :
Grand Ballroom,
Waldorf Astoria, NYC
I believe that
dialogue and respect for everyone within their position are the
strongest shelters against any difficulties that arise from
dissensions, differences, and a lack of agreement which are
likely to intrude at every corner on our path to the future as a
united humanity
I firmly
consider that all efforts directed toward dialogue deserve
appreciation. I appreciate the effort of the idea architects,
those who are with you today and those who are absent, who have
committed themselves to realizing this goal and I believe that
future generations will remember them with gratitude.
~Fethullah Gülen
Last October,
in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria, the Turkish
Cultural Center brought together almost 900 people to share
food, music, and ideas. The event, the Center's first Annual
Ramadan Friendship Dinner, is perhaps the most significant event
of the Turkish Cultural Center's young history: It was the
largest event dedicated to intercultural and interfaith dialogue
by Turkish-Americans in New York City's history. With absolute
faith in the potential for people to come together and
understand one another, the Center shared its vision of a
peaceful future, guided by principles of love, tolerance, and
mutual appreciation.
Ramadan, the Turkish
Cultural Center believed, was an appropriate time of year to
hold such a gathering. The fast and its
breaking are meant to be a reminder for those partaking therein
of those things taken for granted from day to day – meals shared
with friends and family, community, and the values that hold
together its fibers.
The fast-breaking –
called Iftar – is a special event, a chance for the reunion of
families and friends. Sharing meals with acquaintances or
strangers is considered a blessing.
While the guests ate
their dinners, introduced or once again enjoying Turkish
cuisine, they were treated to music, distinguished speakers, and
performances. After a brief welcome, Ercan Dereyayla's Turkish
Music Group, composed of kanun (a Turkish zither), violin,
saxophone, and keyboard, performed for the audience. The
melodies, though distinctly Turkish, easily invited the
sometimes mellow sometimes sharp reed tones of the saxophone.
***
Guests were treated to
talks by speakers coming from diverse backgrounds. Welcome
Speech by the President of Turkish Cultural Center Recep Ozkan, Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Omer Onhon, New York Consulate General
of Turkey, Mark Mershon, Assistant Director of the FBI New York
Office, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Father Thomas Mischel, Doctor of
Islamic Theology Gazi Erdem, New York State Senator Liz Krueger,
and New York State Senator Carl Kruger were all in attendance.
The Turkish Cultural
Center is dedicated to bringing together people from diverse
backgrounds, people who, no matter how different in upbringing,
in heritage, in culture and history share in common a hope and
faith that people can understand each other, accept each other,
and learn from each other.
The Turkish Cultural
Center chose the night's speaker's according to these
complementing values of diversity and unity. Rabbi Schneier, who
has seen and suffered the consequences of extreme intolerance as
a Holocaust survivor, has dedicated his life to promoting
tolerance and understanding. Father Thomas Mischel, a well known
Catholic Theologian, has a deep respect and love for Muslim
Culture and thought. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, as she
pointed out, hosted, along with her husband and former President
Bill Clinton, the first White House celebration of the Ramadan
Iftar.
***
No institution
nor movement, no change nor progress is born of a vacuum. There
is no telling how things come to be, whether the moment brings
idea or idea the moment, whether we go to a congregation or the
congregation is where we go. But change, real change, the kind
that alters society for the better, is not the consequence of
accident.
These last few
decades have seen the growth of communities and organizations
like Turkish Cultural Center, institutions dedicated to values
of dialogue, cultural exchange, and mutual growth.
Now, more than
ever, when we are threatened by calls of misunderstanding, fear,
and intolerance, we need to dedicate ourselves to dialogue. We
need events like the Ramadan Friendship Dinner, celebrating what
is true and common in all people and appreciating what can be
learned from our differences.
***
What better
place to nurture dialogue than New York City? Here are people
of all different ideas and heritages. Some have been raised in
the City's diversity; others have come attracted to the richness
of the City's identity.
It shouldn't
come as a surprise that a community of Turkish-Americans has set
up a cultural center in Manhattan dedicated to appreciating
diversity and cultural exchange. Ottoman Istanbul was in its
day what New York City is today. There, perhaps more than
anywhere else, one could find people from throughout the world,
coming together under the aegis of an embracing metropolis,
engaged in commerce, in art, in constructive debate, in life.
The Turkish Cultural Center wants to share that heritage of
diversity and unity with New York City.
***
The Turkish
Cultural Center's First Annual Ramadan Friendship Dinner is a
unique accomplishment. It is not just a surprisingly large
gathering for such a young institution. It is unique in aim, in
nature, and in execution.
The Turkish
Cultural Center's first Annual Ramadan Friendship Dinner brought
together people of diverse background, from all walks of life,
of all creeds, and hosted speakers from governmental and
religious institutions. The Annual Ramadan Friendship Dinner was
a chance to bring these rich traditions together in the heart of
a city renowned for cultural exchange and diversity of heritage.
In a way, the
event was the fruit of an experiment in community. The
organizers of the event proffered invitation to close friends
and associates, some Turkish, others of different background.
They in turn invited friends or neighbors, coworkers and
colleagues. So, one to another, there from flourished a
spontaneous community. Seated at any table could be a Turk, a
Korean, fifth generation American, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a
professor, a social activist, a public official, anybody. Each
table an opportunity to meet, to talk, to learn. It will stand
in the memory of those who attended -we hope- as a testament to
the peaceful, indelible, and universal nature of community.
Fethullah Gülen's
Letter,
Read on his behalf:
"Members of
the Turkish Cultural Center, Distinguished guests, Ladies and
Gentleman,
I received
your kind invitation to the Annual Ramadan Friendship Dinner. I
would very much have liked to have been a part of this important
gathering, yet unfortunately my physical discomfort did not
allow me to enjoy the pleasure of your companionship. Please
accept my thanks for your kind invitation and my excuse for not
being able to attend.
With the
endeavors of valued people like yourselves who have come
together to establish a happy world built on universal values
and set up “peace islands” of the future, I hope that this
movement will spread and carry us to [horizons] where cultures
and civilizations meet and reach a consensus. It is my
perception that these activities which have been put in action
so far under the names of “mutual understanding and dialogue”
would be better pursued if now within the framework of
emphasizing and gathering around universal human virtues and
respect for the position of those with different perceptions
beliefs and thoughts.
I believe
that dialogue and respect for everyone within their position are
the strongest shelters against any difficulties that arise from
dissensions, differences, and a lack of agreement which are
likely to intrude at every corner on our path to the future as
a united humanity
I firmly
consider that all efforts directed toward dialogue deserve
appreciation. I appreciate the effort of the idea architects,
those who are with you today and those who are absent, who have
committed themselves to realizing this goal and I believe that
future generations will remember them with gratitude.
Once again I
would like to thank you for your kind invitation beautiful
thoughts and sincere efforts. I wish that your efforts will be
noticed appreciated welcomed and acknowledged by everyone."
- Fethullah Gülen
| Speakers
Hon. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hon. Omer Onhon, Consulate General of Turkey
Assistant Director of FBI Mark Mershon
Rabbi Arthur Scheiner
Father Thomas Mischel
Dr. Gazi Erdem
Hon. State Senator Liz Krueger
Hon. State Senator Carl Kruger
Performers
Ercan Dereyayla's Turkish Music Group
Whirling Dervishes
More than 800 guests had the joy to observe Ramadan Dinner.
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click for more pictures of the dinner..
