Minnesota to Host Challenging Islamophobia Conference

Muslims in America will be holding the fourth Challenging Islamophobia Conference in Minnesota next month, Tuesday, March 17, at Augsburg University.

This event, the largest regional conference on challenging Islamophobia in the nation, is bringing together leading national experts on Islamophobia and community leaders.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) will host the Challenging Islamophobia Conference in partnership with Augsburg University.

Topics to be addressed at the day-long event will include Islamic feminism, Islamophobia and the media, intersections of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and white nationalism/supremacy, impacts of Islamophobia and hate, and Greater Minnesota challenges.

Breakout sessions will address challenges of Islamophobia-based bullying, responding to hate in Minnesota, and Interfaith Response networks.

This conference aims to inform and equip participants to effectively challenge Islamophobia in their personal lives and work settings.

Linwood Mosque Imam Alabi Lateef Zirullah, left, and Al Noor Mosque Imam Gamal Fouda. Photo: NZH/Mark Mitchell
Linwood Mosque Imam Alabi Lateef Zirullah, left, and Al Noor Mosque Imam Gamal Fouda. Photo: NZH/Mark Mitchell

Christchurch Anniversary

The event will come one year and two days after the Christchurch mosque terrorist attack.

Al Noor Mosque Imam Gamal Fouda will be a keynote speaker at an international conference on Islamophobia, Star News reported.

He received widespread praise for his response and compassion in the aftermath of the March 15 terror attacks which killed 51 people and injured many more. 

A week after the shootings he led a call to prayer in Hagley Park, where thousands of people – including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – heard his message about how “evil ideology” will never triumph over “love and unity”.

The Christchurch City Council announced last week that a national remembrance service for the mosque shootings will be held on March 15 at North Hagley Park.