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My understanding of the teachings of the Hizmet Movement and what your ideals are, is that
you see all human beings as important, and not just Muslims, but that you have a mission
to the entire world.
With that being said, when there's suffering, when there's pain, when there's a crisis,
it's just a natural instinct to reach out to help.
I'm Joyce Davis, and I'm president of the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg.
It's the local branch of the National World Affairs Councils of America.
My overall experience of the Hizmet Movement is positive.
I have come to meet some wonderful people.
They've been very much engaged in our local community, and have been a support to my organization.
My first encounter with them was through my organization, and we were looking, we were
going to do some programming related to Turkey.
And so I looked around to see who might be, you know, Turkish in our community, and I
found out there was an organization called Red Rose.
And I reached out to them, and it turned out that they were members, or parts of, the Hizmet
Movement in Turkey.
We've done many activities.
We've done forums on Turkey, we've done teacher workshops for teachers that were going to
Turkey.
We were participating in the national program to take teachers so that they would better
understand Turkish issues, and issues in Europe and the Middle East.
And so we reached out to them, to help with that training, to give a little sample of
Turkish culture, and this group came to our meetings and to the workshops, and brought
all kinds of desserts and examples of Turkish carpets and porcelain and crafts, it was just amazing.
And the outgoing nature of the people, and the friendliness, was truly impressive.
I think the thing that stands out, of course, is the friendliness, and the willingness to
do whatever they can to help.
I mean, for me, they were willing to do whatever they could to make sure our events were successful,
to offer their guidance, to offer their expertise, so it was the friendliness, the cooperative
spirit, it's really wanting to help engage the community around them.
Of course, I've never met Mr. Fethullah Gülen, but I do believe that he is dedicated to trying
to improve the world, from what I can see.
He has followers and people who are very much dedicated to peacemaking, and for me that
is very important.
It's why I was associated with the World Affairs Council.
Before that I was an international journalist, and I've written several books, and the object
of peacemaking, the subject of peacemaking is extraordinarily important, and I see him
as one of the world leaders in that regard.
I think the most important contribution of the Hizmet Movement is basically helping people,
first of all to have a better impression, especially in the United States, of Islam
and the Muslims.
And then educate.
People cannot learn to be tolerant unless they first know something about the rest of the world.
So to engage people, to help them become more educated about other countries, to help them
become more educated about the Islamic world, this is extraordinarily important right now
in our world, and it's probably one of the most crucial facets of peacemaking.
People who are in the West, who do not understand Islam, do not understand the Middle East,
or countries like Turkey, this is very dangerous.
Because they fear, and when you fear what you don't know, it leads to tensions, it leads to war.
I think many of the people who come into contact, especially with the Turks and the members
of the Hizmet Movement, see what they think is a different view of Islam.
They see people who are friendly, who are easygoing, who are not militant and not ready
to attack, you know, they see people who are laughing, having a good time, who are enjoying
life, who enjoy their communities, who are ready to reach out and pitch in, even if it's
hard work.
I mean, that's a very good image, and unfortunately it's not an image that many people in the
West have of the Muslim world.
I mean, it's no surprise, it's not news that there's tension between the Western world
and the Muslim world.
And that tension is the cause, I think, of much conflict.
I think it's important that whatever, whoever, can do something to help ease these tensions
and to help these different worlds come together and better understand each other.
Whoever can make any inroads in that is doing the world a tremendous service.
The crux of a lot of our problems today is the misunderstanding that exists between the
Western world and the Muslim world.
So when we have people who are representative of Islam come to the West, become a part of
this world, show a different view, or show the correct view, I don't want to say, but
show the correct view of what Islam is about, this goes a long way toward helping Americans
not fear Islam, but see Muslims as partners in peace.
Well, I've been, I was a foreign correspondent and a journalist for more than three decades,
and I worked for some of this country's leading organizations.
In addition, I worked overseas, based in Prague, for Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and
I directed services to the Muslim world.
And yes, you have to understand the nature of journalism.
Reporters are looking for stories.
They're looking for stories that people want to read.
They're looking for things that are controversial, that are, you know, provocative.
So yes, that means that most of the time you're running around looking for what's wrong, instead
of what's right.
So that is true.
But I think one of the big things that many people miss, and that many of the peacemakers
miss, is how important journalists are, and how they have to be trained, they have to
be nurtured, they have to be educated as well.
Many times as a foreign correspondent, I would just plop down into a place and not know anything about it.
I'd have to brush up and learn about it.
How much better if people, if these organizations, would have turned and focused their attention
on educating journalists and making sure that the messages they give are accurate.
First of all, in the United States, maybe above other countries, people really do consider
themselves religiously connected.
There are very many people, especially in our area, who definitely affiliate with a
religious group.
It means that they also seek guidance from their religious leaders.
If you have religious leaders who are biased, who are closed-minded, who have never met
or engaged with people from different faiths, you've got problems.
You've got people in the pulpit who are preaching, you know, bigotry, and they may not realize it.
But if you're engaged with them, if you slowly let them see that you're not a threat, you
have different ideas, but you're not a threat, you want to live peacefully, I think that
will go a long way toward them helping to explain this, and bring along their congregations.
The interfaith dialog in our area is crucial.
I think without it, you run the risk of losing and not having a voice, even at the political table.
Because the politicians realize how important the religious leaders are as well.
You want to be able to have authoritative voices, people who really understand the teachings
of Islam, you want them to be speaking for the organization.
And you have to have that authority, you have to have people who really are engaged in the
religion, and are well-educated in the teachings of Islam, representing it to those who are
not as familiar with the religion.
So the fact that you come from an organization that has spent time thinking about these things,
thinking about how to communicate with the outside world, how to engage the outside world,
I think that's important.
I think it helps dispel the myths and the stereotypes that are so rampant in the United States.
First of all, I think people getting together in dialog is very important.
Don't underestimate that.
When you have people coming together, the distrust is dispelled.
That's the first basis.
Then they can come together and work on common issues.
One of the things that's important in our community is youth.
How to keep the youth on the right path, how to keep them from going into drugs, and I
think that's where this could lead.
What has worked in your community? What success stories can you bring to the Western world
that might help us in this regard? You know, and even male/female relations.
I think that's an important thing to share and to talk through.
It could be that our experiences could help the Muslim world, or vice versa.
They may be able to help.
I'll tell you one thing, for me, it was very interesting when I went and would do reporting,
I learned a lot, even as a Christian woman, I was able to learn a lot from my Muslim sisters.
And I hope to write a book about it one day, when I have time.
My understanding of the teachings of the Hizmet Movement and what your ideals are, is that
you see all human beings as important, and not just Muslims, but that you have a mission
to the entire world.
With that being said, when there's suffering, when there's pain, when there's a crisis,
it's just a natural instinct to reach out to help.
I mean, that's what the movement is about.
So, but beyond that, how wonderful it is when you're suffering, to see people coming to
your help, and of course you want to know, well, who's come to help? Who is it that's
there? When they see it's a Muslim group that's rushed to help, the whole opinion of Islam
and the Muslims change.
Oh, the work of the Hizmet Movement is tremendously beneficial to Turkey.
Why do I say that? First of all, everything that they've done really puts Turkey in a
very positive light in the United States.
There's a lot of promotion of Turkish culture, of Turkish art, of business developments with Turkey.
All of this, I think, directly translates to better relations between Turkey and the United States.
If the Hizmet Movement weren't here, if they were not spreading their goodwill, and their
friendliness, I think first of all you would not have this growing warmth and appreciation
of Turkey amongst American people.
And you definitely would not have so many, basically, American leaders, at local levels
and at national level, really disposed and friendly toward Turkey and the Turkish people.
This is important for world peace.
I can't tell you how important it is, that you not only focus, as the Hizmet Movement
is, on those bilateral relations amongst the countries at the top, diplomatic, but that
it's deep, it sinks, and it combines the people.
When the American people look at the people from the Hizmet Movement, and they see them
as representatives of Turkey, their hearts are warmed, they think well about American
foreign policy being favorable toward Turkey, and it has a tremendous benefit, I think,
on American businesses being willing to go and invest and spend money, Americans spend
money on tourism and visits to Turkey.
So it's a tremendous help, I think, for world peace, and for the image of Turkey around the world.
Obviously, for those who encounter it, the Hizmet Movement portrays a sense of dialog
and coming together.
I think that that is important, that we do experience a common life, a common understanding,
and that starts with understanding what the faith commitments are of the other.
I think Hizmet is really unique.
It is rooted in religion, but secular in much of its expression.
It became, in a sense, a symbol of all of the good things that were happening in Turkey.