On a pleasant fall afternoon in 2022, the Ismaili Council for Southeast and prominent community leaders of various affiliations co-hosted an annual International Day of Peace summit in collaboration with the oldest Rotary Club in the US at Georgia Gwinnett College of Atlanta.
Several luminaries shared the dais, deliberating on the instrumental role of recognizing and respecting differences in value systems, sociocultural traditions, and religious beliefs to avoid unwarranted conflict.
Rotary District Governor Gerry Taylor shared that 40 years ago, the UN officially designated September 21 as the inaugural Day of Peace to facilitate ceasefires in times of war. However, its present-day role involves fostering peaceful co-existence among individuals and communities, irrespective of their race and birth country.
Jill Savitt, CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, echoed similar sentiments, lauding the forum for its noble target of galvanizing communities toward harmony. She drew attention to the significance of contextualizing the past so we as a society can advance toward social equity.
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Wanda Weegar, President of the Gwinnett Rotary Club, highlighted the overarching objective of attaining peace through finding commonalities rather than accentuating differences.
In his remarks, the President of the Ismaili Council for the USA, Al-Karim Alidina, stressed rooting societal views in truth and mutual understanding and reaffirmed the positive contributions of faith-based community associations in peace-building activities. He also alluded to the initiative's relevance to the Global Center for Pluralism in Ottawa (Ontario), founded in 2006 by Mawlana Hazar Imam in partnership with the Canadian government, with the purpose of promoting peace.
Furthermore, Gwinnett Rotarians exchanged friendly interactions with Jamati leaders, elected officials, law enforcement officers, and representatives of various local organizations. The Ukrainian diaspora added to the multi-ethnic dimension of the event. The exhibition also included a display of AKDN initiatives, highlighting our Imam’s global endeavors towards promoting pluralism and embracing diversity in ethnic origins, languages, and individual perspectives.
The culminating panel was led by Antonio Molina, Chairman of the Board for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who posed questions to Ms. Savitt and President Al-Karim. The event concluded with remarks from Wanda Weegar and a peace prayer from members of the local Indian Hindu community.
