{"id":57777,"date":"2015-11-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/more-than-1000-gather-for-uris-vigil-for-remembrance-peace\/"},"modified":"2015-11-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T00:00:00","slug":"more-than-1000-gather-for-uris-vigil-for-remembrance-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/more-than-1000-gather-for-uris-vigil-for-remembrance-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 1,000 gather for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Vigil for Remembrance, Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 November 19, 2015 \u2013 Amid poems recited in native tongues, a soaring rendition of the French national anthem, and a French hymn for peace, words denouncing terrorism echoed across the 溏心vlog免费B站 early Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe want to convey the strongest condemnations of these acts,\u201d said Nasser Zawia, dean of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s graduate school, a biomedical scientist and founder of the Muslim Community Center in Kingston, co-founder of the Islamic School of Rhode Island and founding member of the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement.<\/p>\n


\n\tHe joined other speakers and performers and more than 1,000 faculty, staff and students for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Vigil for Peace and Remembrance on the Quadrangle of the Kingston Campus. The French Section of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures organized the program.<\/p>\n

An American citizen and renowned Alzheimer\u2019s disease researcher who was born in Yemen, Zawia said Muslims are completely against such abhorrent crimes.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cISIS has killed about 100,000 Muslims,\u201d he said as the soft glow of candlelight illuminated the faces of the crowd. \u201cThese are enemies of humanity. We Muslims living among you have nothing in common with these people. We have the same values as you. Everyone (in Rhode Island\u2019s Muslim community) is shocked by these events.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tHe said he has many colleagues and friends in Paris, and that he was deeply troubled and hurt by what is going on in that great city.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cAn attack on them, an attack on Paris is an attack on family,\u201d Zawia said.<\/p>\n

A subdued and somber 溏心vlog免费B站 President David M. Dooley offered opening greetings.<\/p>\n


\n“I want to thank all of you for gathering together as a community,” Dooley said. “This gathering has more power than you may know. This is the best way to overcome the hatred and horrors occurring in the world. We can collectively create a world where we no longer have to confront events like this by affirming our community and that all lives matter. We want to be a place where everyone is respected and cared for. Our community will not be defined by anger and fear, but by hope, trust, friendship and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n Gitahi Gititi, professor of English, film and media studies, and African and African American studies, discussed terrorism and violence in Africa, including last April\u2019s attack on a Kenyan university that resulted in the death of 147 students and scores of wounded, and many other incidents of terrorism and genocide across the continent.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cMy country of birth (Kenya) is very well acquainted with violence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 engineering student Asma Sammoura, recited a poem in Arabic in memory of the victims of the attack in Beirut, Lebanon, and 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student Leah Crescenzo, sang France\u2019s national anthem, \u201cLa Marseillaise\u201d in memory of the victims of the attacks in Paris. Several in the crowd joined Crescenzo in singing the anthem.<\/p>\n


\nNicolai Petro, professor of comparative and international politics, recited and translated a Russian poem in memory of the victims of the Russian plane explosion in Egypt.<\/p>\n


\nMusic student Andrew Gribbin sang \u201cPriez pour la paix\u201d (\u201cPray for Peace\u201d), and was accompanied on keyboard by computer science major Tyler Sowers.<\/p>\n


\nWinifred Brownell, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, closed the program by mentioning that this is International Education Week at 溏心vlog免费B站. She told the crowd that through 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s international classes, study-abroad programs and its student and faculty exchanges, \u201cWe learn about other nations\u2019 cultures, people, values, customs, histories, religions and so much more. We have hope that thanks to international education, our students will help create a better and more peaceful world. And our understanding deepens.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSo I ask you now to observe a moment of silence, and then extinguish your candles, and then let\u2019s get on with creating that better world.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n
\nPictured above
\nNasser Zawia, dean of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s graduate school, a biomedical scientist and founder of the Muslim Community Center in Kingston, co-founder of the Islamic School of Rhode Island and founding member of the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement, speaks at the vigil.
\nPhotos by Nora Lewis\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 November 19, 2015 \u2013 Amid poems recited in native tongues, a soaring rendition of the French national anthem, and a French hymn for peace, words denouncing terrorism echoed across the 溏心vlog免费B站 early Wednesday evening. \u201cWe want to convey the strongest condemnations of these acts,\u201d said Nasser Zawia, dean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}