The annually organized Mobile International Festival(MIF) is one of the most appealing events held in Mobile. Volunteers of Peace Valley Foundation proudly helped Turkish-American community to organize Turkish cultural and food booths at MIF. Visitors got the chance to experience Turkish culture, learn about the history, and enjoy with the traditional food.

This year again,  Peace Valley Foundation organized intercultural dialogue trips to Turkey and invited Alabamians from many different backgrounds, traditions and professions. Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy, professors, journalists, artists, politicians and business leaders spend ten days together while visiting historic Turkish cities and sites.

During the trip our guests enjoy not only the rich history and natural beauty of Turkey but also each other’s companionship where they build life long friendships. For many, time spent with Turkish families become a source of unforgettable memories.

It is with a heavy heart that we regret to inform you of the massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred this weekend in Turkey. As the death toll presently surpasses 300 victims, Peace Valley Foundation and Istanbul Center has decided to initiate a fund in Alabama and in the Southeast U.S. to help the most affected cities. For as you may know, this large earthquake struck Turkey, Sunday October 23rd 2011 around 10:40 a.m. The Eastern cities of Van and Ercis were hit the hardest and most directly by the powerful quake, causing thousands of buildings to come crashing down, injuring more than 1,500 people, killing hundreds and trapping hundreds more. Multiple aftershocks, most topping 5.0 and one even reaching 6.0 on the Richter scale, led to further infrastructural damage and loss of life in the wake of the initial earthquake.

Accordingly, the Peace Valley Foundation and the Istanbul Center has organized a relief fund, the Istanbul Center Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund so that interested parties and friends of Turkey and The Center may be able to donate to both the relief and re-construction efforts taking place in the areas hit most hard by the earthquake.
This is a most critical time, as thousands of relief workers are digging survivors from the rubble and assessing the extensive damage caused, and it is important that we not only keep the affected people and those lives lost in our thoughts and prayers but that we proactively assist them in any way that we can.
We thus ask that you please join us in providing some relief, support, and empathy to the victims of the earthquake and their families in Turkey. You may do this by making checks out to “Istanbul Center Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund.” Please send your donation checks to our Midtown Office address: Two Midtown Plaza 1349 West Peachtree Street Suite 1010 Atlanta, GA 30309. Should you want to wire your donation directly to Istanbul Center’s Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund account, Wells Fargo Bank and the account number is as follows: 6020584402.

or you can donate online at this link:

http://istanbulcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=427:earthquake-relief-fund&catid=72:humanitarian-works&Itemid=64

Many Thanks
Peace Valley Foundation & Istanbul Center

For more information and news about the earthquake in Turkey, please peruse the following links:

5 survivors saved from rubble as Turkeys 7.2 earthquake kills 272; many people still trapped

Hundreds die as strong quake rocks eastern Turkey

More than 230 dead in Turkey quake; 1,300 more hurt

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Official Report on Turkey Earthquake

Turkey earthquake: Desperate search for survivors

Turkey earthquake death toll rises to 264; Rescue workers continue to hunt for survivors

Ten years ago this Sunday the United States and the world were changed forever when terrorists crashed four planes into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania on a crisp, clear September morning, killing thousands of Americans. The tragedy of September 11, 2001 not only exemplifies the most severe attacks ever perpetrated on American soil but loss on a grand scale: loss of life, loss of security, loss of hope, and even a feeling of loss in common humanity. Ten years later, it is not only paramount that we honor those whose lives were lost in the brutal attacks but that we remember why they were lost. For probing into the reasoning behind the attacks allows us to learn lessons, to move forward, and to realize why organizations such as Peace Valley Foundation exist.
Why did the attacks of September 11, 2001 happen? They were perpetrated because of hate, hate founded in ignorance and a lack of respect for human dignity. The terrorists who intentionally took so many innocent lives that day did not take into account the fact that many of those murdered were Muslim in addition to others killed who were Jewish, Christian, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic or Atheist. They did not care about who they were killing, whether they were Arab, Turkish, American, or otherwise. The terrorists’ only goal was utter destruction, corporeal and ideological.
The attacks of September 11, 2001 embody not only a physical hijacking of planes with the intention to kill thousands of innocents, a concept forbidden in the Qur’an, but also represent a hijacking of Islam itself. As President Obama said when the late leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, was found and killed in May of 2011, these terrorists “[are] not Muslims,” in fact they are “mass [murderers] of Muslims.” Now is not the time to draw lines in the sand and to qualify and quantify people by how they look or what religion they practice. To quote Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, famous poet and 13th-century Islamic Sufi philosopher, “Don’t hate me because I am you.” Xenophobia, Islamophobia and hate based on an ignorant “us versus them” mentality are of the past, of death and destruction. Now is the time to unify and to celebrate our common humanity in the face of those extremists who would destroy it and us.
So, ten years later, where do we stand? And where do we go from here? In the ten years since the 9/11 attacks the U.S. has made significant strides in the War on Terror, such as capturing and killing Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda and mastermind of the attacks. On the other hand, survivors of the 9/11 attacks were recently denied the right to have their medical bills covered, medical bills relating to cancers and other adverse health issues caused by inhaling the debris from the attacks. There is obviously still much work to be done but one clear fact remains: there is strength in unity.
As former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said during her interview at the Carter Center on September 7, 2011, now-a decade after 9/11-all people should stand together and “look forward.” “It is not about looking at the person next to you to figure out if they are Muslim,” stated Secretary Albright, because “we are all in this together.” Rather, now is the time for citizens of America and every nation of the world to be proud of our resilience and to realize that education and empathy based on respect and a recognition of basic human dignity are founding elements for the world of the future, a better world which each of has both a stake in and the power to influence.
Peace Valley Foundation was founded after 9/11 with a vision and desire to live in a peaceful world, a better world were non-violence, respect, understanding, friendship, cooperation and love prevail. Thus, Peace Valley Foundation seeks to promote dialogue through educational and cultural programs and humanitarian works in Alabama. We at Peace Valley Foundation pledge to continue to achieve this vision through our mission: proactively contributing to solving educational, cultural, environmental, social and humanitarian issues, by contributing to world peace by showcasing the Turkish experience of the “Art of Living Together” via respect, acceptance, dialogue, love, richness of faith and culture, and by creating opportunities for dialogue between communities to build bridges between cultures and peoples.
As we commemorate the past and glimpse into the future it is important to realize that the lives lost as a result of the attacks of September 11, 2001 were not lost in meaningless futility. On the contrary, we must always remember this loss of human life and the fact that these lives were lost because of hate, ignorance, and pure, undiluted evil. The people of the world must recognize evil and stand together, unified, against it. For only when we stand together, regardless of differences in belief, nationality, even sex and age, can we repel the forces of evil and prevent the crimes against humanity which follow them. We must also remember that heroes do exist and that we should continue to honor not only those civil servants and citizens who lost their lives but those that survived and helped to save the lives of others on that infamous day and those who continue to serve and protect us. Let us look back with honor and look forward with hope as we create a new world, a world based upon dialogue, understanding and love. It should not only be in times of terror and disaster, such as the aftermath of 9/11, or even in times of victory, that we stand united. As President Obama stated, “the unity fostered by the 9/11 tragedy must remain strong, bolstered in times of victory such as the demise of bin Laden, but also as we continue to seek peace and security for all the free peoples of this great country and those who seek freedom throughout the world.”

Dear Friends,

More than 11 million people in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Djibouti are affected by the drought. People have been displaced because of the drought and children are dying from starvation. There are more than 400,000 Somalian refugees staying in the Dadaab Camp near Kenya and the number is increasing. Recently, Adrian Edwards, the Official Representative of the UN stated that the Dadaab Camp is the world’s largest refugee camp.

Peace Valley Foundation invites you to support them and to show our friendship and brotherhood.

Peace Valley Foundation urges you to make donations through Helping Hands Relief Foundation. You can make donations by visiting their website;
www.hhrelief.org

Huntsville,  AL. Ladino Exhibition in Huntsville started on January 10 at 7:00 pm at the UAH Salmon Library Art Gallery. UAH Salmon Library opened their facilities for this cultural event. The program started with a local rabbi’s lecture, Rabbi Dr. Bernard Honan, whose ancestors were among Jews seeking refuge in Turkey during the 15th century Spanish Inquisition. Rabbi Dr. Bernard Honan gave a lecture on that culture Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011, 7 p.m., at the M. Louis Salmon Library at UAH. Rabbi Dr. Bernard Honan, a former chaplain in the U.S. Air Force and a Torah scribe, talked on the Ladino community – Jews with roots in Spain who continue to live in Turkey – as the official opening of exhibit that continue through January in the university library.