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The next FIRE Dinner Dialogue was going to be on April 5, but, like so many other events, it has been postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We are working on plans for when we will have the next one. In the meantime, stay healthy and wash your hands!

Well, this is unexpected. Shortly after sending the previous cancellation announcement, Northlake was contacted by Abrahamic Reunion and told that Sheikh Ghassan Manasra has been cleared for travel after all! So the event on February 21 is now UNCANCELLED and will proceed as originally scheduled. Please ignore the cancellation message sent previously, and we apologize for filling your inbox!

You’re invited to this special event:

Connection Beyond Conflict
Interfaith Solidarity & Peacemaking in the Holy Land & Beyond

Thursday, February 21st, 7:00pm
Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church
308 4th Avenue S, Kirkland WA 98033

Guest Speaker: Sheikh Ghassan Manasra, International Director, Abrahamic Reunion

For the past 15 years, The Abrahamic Reunion has been working steadily to create harmony among the four faiths of the Holy Land in Israel and Palestine, even — and often especially — in the midst of conflict and tension. Their successes are only just now becoming known and recognized.

Hear stories from Sheikh Ghassan’s many years of front-line engagement with inter-religious dialogue, interfaith spiritual activism, and multi-faith peacebuilding in Israel, Palestine, and around the world.

Contact: seattle@abrahamicreunion.org
www.abrahamicreunion.org

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Sheikh Ghassan Manasra is a globally recognized interreligious dialogue expert and facilitator. He is also a Fulbright Scholar and lecturer. He currently serves, and has served in the past, on the boards of numerous Israeli, American, and international peacemaking organizations, including The Middle East Civic Forum, the Sulha Peace Project, Anwar Il-Salaam (Lights of Peace Center), and the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace. He is from Nazareth, Israel.

Sheikh Ghassan was awarded the 2014 “Outstanding Leader in Interreligious Dialogue” award from the Dialogue Institute of Temple University in conjunction with the Fulbright Foundation and the U.S. State Department. He is a trusted advisor to heads of state—secular, Jewish, and Muslim—in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, and he has many friends across all religious and political divisions.

He is a trained scholar in both Arabic and Hebrew. He is a writer, poet and author, and has taught at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is sought after around the world for lectures and workshops on peacemaking, Islam, interfaith and multifaith dialogue, and interreligious relations. He has lectured at governmental and religious institutions, as well as at Cornell, Cambridge, Yale, American, Temple, and Ryerson Universities. In addition, he has been a presenter at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, the Congress of Rabbis and Imams for Peace, and many other interreligious organizations around the world.

Sheikh Ghassan is Co-Coordinator of the Abrahamic Reunion, which is a network of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Druze, and secular peacemakers dedicated to rebuilding trust and creating a lasting harmonious peace in the Holy Land through interreligious dialogue, prayer, events, and religious influence. In addition, he is Interreligious Dialogue Lecturer, Coordinator, and Advisor at Rising Tide International in Sarasota, Florida.

Fostering Interfaith Relationships on the Eastside (FIRE), a non-profit group that works to build trust and understanding among faith communities, invites members of all faith traditions and communities to walk with them in the 2018 Kirkland 4^th of July Parade. The theme of the parade is “United We Stand”, which aligns well with FIRE’s mission.

Participants are encouraged to wear clothing typical for their faith to help show the diversity of faiths participating in the group, T-shirts promoting peace and understanding, or other clothing of their choice. Those walking should wear sensible shoes; hats and sunscreen are advised. Participants are welcome to carry signs and banners promoting peace, love, unity, and understanding.

The parade starts at Noon. It follows a route through Marina Park and around the downtown core, a total walking distance of about one mile. Participants are asked to line up at the designated point in the Market neighborhood north of Heritage Park by 11AM. The position in the parade and the exact location at which the FIRE group will assemble will be assigned around July 1.

Those interested in participating should email RSVP@fire-wa.org. Information on the group’s position in the parade, assembly point, and recommended parking locations will be sent before the parade date.

For more information on the parade including the route, visit http://celebratekirkland.org/parade.htm. For further information, email info@fire-wa.org or contact Toby at 206-790-6377.

Fostering Interfaith Relationships on the Eastside (FIRE) is a new group that grew out of the 2010 and 2011 interfaith 9/11 commemoration programs in Kirkland, Washington. After the 2011 event, the organizers continued to meet monthly to talk about additional ways to promote interfaith understanding and cooperation on the Eastside, such as music, art, and social events (game nights, dances, etc.), a “What We Believe” lecture and discussion series, a place for faith communities to post information on public events, etc. We selected the FIRE name and acronym, and moved ahead with creating this web site. We’ve had the first FIRE event – the interfaith entry in the Kirkland 4th of July parade – and are planning the second, which will be an interfaith commemoration of the International Day of Peace on September 21-23, including an interfaith program of music and talks, a Saturday interfaith picnic, encouragement of all faith communities to consider Peace as the topic for their services that weekend, and encouraging governments to issue proclamations recognizing the International Day of Peace.

We hope you’ll join with us in promoting interfaith dialogue and peace!