Pacifica Institute\u2019s San Diego chapter held its 9th Annual Dialogue and Friendship Dinner at Marriott Hotel, La Jolla.The gathering saw the attendance of some 170 guests including academics, bureaucrats and religious figures.
\nAtilla Kahveci, Pacifica Institute\u2019s vice-president, in his inaugural address, reflected on the crucial role of occasions that bring people of diverse faiths and cultures in fostering intercultural understanding, cooperation and peace.
\nThe night featured journalist-author Mustafa Akyol\u2019s keynote speech centered on his latest book \u201cIslam without Extremes\u201d, followed by remarks by First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Cindy Cipriani; FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Mark Hudson; and Fr. Ron Cochran of Saint Luke Catholic Church.
\nAkyol illustrated the role of dominant cultural factors and authoritarian rules in various countries, alongside the media lacking sound judgment, in misinterpretation of Islam with specific examples. Attorney Cipriani highlighted the importance of exercising cultural awareness and recognition of diversity in legal system to be able to achieve peace and security in society. Cipriani reaffirmed the president Obama\u2019s call for senior state officials to reach out to and engage with every segment of society.
\nNext, Fr. Cochran took the floor to deliver his remarks, in which he expressed his thanks to Pacifica Institute associates who invited him over for iftar dinners throughout the month of Ramadan. He further conveyed his pleasure to have seen prejudices removed after first encounters among communities and growing hope for tomorrows..
\nAs the night passed on with live Turkish classical music on the background, the institute\u2019s advisory board members were presented plaques for their contributions in dialogue. Finally, the promo video of \u201cLove is a Verb\u201d, a documentary on Hizmet Movement -filmed in six different countries including the US and anticipated to be aired on PBS- was displayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pacifica Institute\u2019s San Diego chapter held its 9th Annual Dialogue and Friendship Dinner at Marriott Hotel, La Jolla.The gathering saw the attendance of some 170 guests including academics, bureaucrats and religious figures. Atilla Kahveci, Pacifica Institute\u2019s vice-president, in his inaugural address, reflected on the crucial role of occasions that bring people of diverse faiths and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/orange-county\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}