Ibrahim al-Marashi

Ibrahim Al-Marashi is a visiting faculty member at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey. He obtained his Dphil at University of Oxford, completing a thesis on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, part of which was plagiarized by the British government in February 2003 prior to the Iraq War.

Al-Marashi received a MA in Middle East politics at Georgetown in 1997. He has BAs in History and Near Eastern Studies from the University of California Los Angeles. Al-Marashi worked with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University on a project classifying captured Iraqi state documents. He is an Iraqi-American who lived at various times in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt and Morocco.

Articles:

• Gel uv 2m beauty 3 in 1,
  Volume 8,  No. 4, Article 1 - December 2004 
• "An Insider's Assessment of Media Punditry and ‘Operation Iraqi
  Freedom",
  Transnational Broadcasting Studies
• "A Long and Winding Road", Al-Ahram Weekly
• "Dismantling the 'Republic of Fear' Was a Just Cause",
  Nexus Journal

Ajmal Masroor

Background
• Born in Sylhet, Bangladesh and brought up in London, United Kingdom
• Speak English and Bengali and basic Urdu and Arabic

Education
• Politics and Arabic at School of Oriental and African Studies
• Post-graduate qualification in Relationship Counseling
• Berkbeck College – MA Islamic Studies

Self-Employed specialist in Regeneration & Community Relations
• Championed “Standing together against intolerance” campaign post September 11th
• Responsible for developing and launching “working with the Faith community pledge” campaign
• Advice and support public, voluntary and faith sector
• Produced materials and booklets promoting diversity, culture and faith
• Clients include - Local authorities, Ocean NDC, regional development agencies, NHS Trusts, Police training colleges, voluntary and charity organizations, the British Council, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Youth work and community development
• Youth worker in London borough of Tower Hamlets and Southwark
• Community development advisor to local authorities
• Community organizer for voluntary sector

Extensive media work
I am a broadcaster, guest contributor and specialist consultant to the media including BBC1, BBC News 24, Newsnight, ITV, Channel4, Radio 4 and 5 live, Bangla TV, ARY Digital, Islam Channel and others in the UK; overseas, on CNN and NBC in USA, ABC in Australia and French television.

Unpaid executive positions with voluntary organizations and pressure groups
• Member of the executive of Haringey and Hornsey and Wood Green LibDem
• Deputy chair of London Civic Forum
• Chair of Communities in Action and the Zakat Trust
• Board member of ISB London and Vision for Bangladesh
• Lead Friday prayers in five Mosques across London

Public Speaking
• Universities including Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics and SOAS
• Community events and conferences
• Charity fundraiser and auctions
• Interfaith conferences
• EU countries including Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland
• International events including Turkey, Nigeria and Sri Lanka

Proud to be British, Bangladeshi and a Muslim
I see my Bangladeshi root as an enriching feature, I bring to my work professionalism and fresh thinking; I am charismatic and well connected across all communities. I believe I cut across cultural divides, ethnic differences, different generations and religious identity. I believe my cross cultural roots, British upbringing, faith connections, community development experience and a wide range other skills and attributes enables me to contribute towards a better society. I believe that it is our work that will shape the future and not wishful thinking.

Fadel Soliman

Director of BRIDGES FOUNDATION, and an international respected Islamic presenter, Imam, youth consultant, and author, Fadel Soliman dedicates his life to educating non-Muslims about the true values of Islam, and to educating the Muslim youth what it means to be a Muslim.

The work of Fadel Soliman is mostly done through power point presentations. Fadel is the author of the famous power point presentations, Islam in Brief, Quran the discovery of freedom, Islam; a religion of peace or a religion of war?, which-By the grace of God- were presented to thousands of non-Muslims in the United States and Europe.
Fadel is also the author of several presentations that educates Muslims about Islam like, Lessons for the youth from surat Yusuf, Al-Kahf series, How to deal with the Quran, Fiqh of priorities and many others.

See also www.bridges-foundation.org and www.fadelsoliman.org

Eugene Sensenig - Dabbous

born in Harrisonburg Virginia, USA in 1956; immigrated as a teenager to Austria; moved permanently to Lebanon in 2000 to join his Lebanese wife, who teaches media studies at Lebanese American University.

MA in German Studies and PhD in Political Science from the Paris Lodron University, Salzburg, Austria.

Assistant Professor for political science (emphasis: European and American studies) and cultural studies (emphasis: Orientalism, postcolonial studies and design), Notre Dame University Louaize (NDU), Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon www.ndu.edu.lb.

Research Associate at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cultural and Social History (emphasis: immigration, refugee and minority issues, migrant workers rights and international labour solidarity) in Salzburg, Austria from 1985 to 2001.

Member of the research and training staff of the GenderLink Diversity Centre and LibanLink, its Middle Eastern bureau, 1996 to present www.libanlink.org

Research Associate at the Institute for Social, Religious and Civil Society Studies (ISORCS) and Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC), both NDU, 2002 to present.

Most recent publications related to Islam:

Sensenig-Dabbous, E. (2 & 3/2003).
Non-Arab Women in the Arab World, Al-Raida (The Pioneer), Quarterly Journal of the Institute of Women’s Studies in the Arab World, Lebanese American University (editor).

Sensenig-Dabbous, E. (2004).
Will the Real Almásy Please Stand Up! Transporting Central European Orientalism via The English Patient, in: Comparative Studies of South Asia, and the Middle East (CSSAAME): German Orientalism, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2004.

Sensenig-Dabbous, E. (2004).
Europe - A Space for Testimony? The Political Culture of Christianity and Islam in the 21st Century, in: Magdalena Dumitrana (ed.), Religion and Culture after Modernity, Roman Catholic St. Theresa Theological Institute of Romania: Bucharest, Romania.

Sensenig-Dabbous, E. (2005).
Gender Mainstreaming Terror: Geschlecht, Identität und Terrorismus im Nahen und Mittleren Osten, in: Ronald Tuschl (ed.) Der Krieg der Armen? Der internationale Terrorismus in der Neuen Weltordnung, State of Peace Report (STOP), Österreichisches Studienzentrum für Frieden und Konfliktlösung, Agenda-Verlag, Münster, Germany.

Hourani, G. & Sensenig-Dabbous, E. (forthcoming 2005).
Transnational Lebanese Communities Network: Using Traditional, Alternative and ICT-Based Methodologies to Study Middle Eastern Migration Networks, Sixth Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, Montecatini Terme, 16 – 20 Mar. 2005; European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Mediterranean Programme, Florence, Italy.

Sensenig-Dabbous, E. (forthcoming 2005).
What is the Added Value of 'Religion' in Multicultural Discourse?, in: George McLean (ed.), God in Multicultural Society: Religion, Politics and Globalisation, The Council in Values & Philosophy (RVP): Washington, DC.

Sensenig-Dabbous, E. (forthcoming 2005).
Religion and Faith: Categories in the Social Sciences?, 4th Millennium Lecture Series, "Science and Religion," Faculty of Humanities, NDU: 10 Dec. 2004, in: Salameh, D. Science and Religion, Zouk Mosbeh: NDU Press.