MPAC & ICSC to Commemorate 9/11 with Three Community Events
Posted Sep 4, 2012

MPAC & ICSC to Commemorate 9/11 with Three Community Events


The Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC) announced today they will be commemorating the 11th anniversary of 9/11 with three community events.

On Saturday, Sept. 8, MPAC and ICSC will take part in the 2nd Annual National “Muslims for Life” blood drive. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA started the blood drive nationally last year in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with the goal of collecting more than 10,000 pints of blood. One pint of blood has the ability to save up to three lives, which means 10,000 pints could save about 30,000 lives.

In addition to mosques, churches, synagogues and Hindu temples also will be holding blood drives.

The blood drive will be from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

On Sunday, Sept. 9, ICSC will hosting a special Sunday program at noon on “Patriotism and Pluralism After 9/11—Honoring the Japanese American Community.”

This year marks the 70th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066 into law. This fateful order led to the forced removal of thousands of people of Japanese ancestry from their homes and businesses on the West Coast and parts of Hawaii, and it led to the unlawful mass incarceration in domestic concentration camps of 120,000 people, two-thirds who were American-born citizens.

“It’s our sacred duty to protect one another; this is what it means to be a true American and a true human being,” said MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati. “The Japanese American community came out politically, and figuratively, after 9/11 in support of the Muslim American community to make sure what happened to them didn’t happen to us. The Sunday program is a reminder of what we all have gone through and what we cannot let happen again.”

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 9 a.m., there will be an Interfaith Prayer Service for Victims of that tragic day.

Everyone is welcome to join the American Muslim community in commemorating this day through these three events, which all will be held at ICSC (434 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90020).