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MPV Newsletter

February 2024

President's Note

Who Cares About FGM, Right?

I’ll start with a reminder that I will be speaking at the International Conference: Dialogue of Civilizations & Tolerance
co-organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the U.A.E. Ministry of Civilizations & Tolerance and the
Emirates Scholar. Please check out the event website ( [link removed] ) to learn more about attending or
viewing online.

On February 6th, the U.N. commemorates the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM. As we approach this day, I have been
reflecting on an experimental research we funded two years ago with a small group of men in Kenya to ask the question, “Do
you prefer to be intimate with a cut or uncut woman?”

When a woman is cut, it means she has undergone female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C), a harmful practice the U.N. has
deemed torture. The men interviewed were made up of different tribal backgrounds, consisting of Christians, Muslim Somalis,
and Maasai. And just as I thought, the majority of men preferred uncut women.

The fight against FGM has been bolstered by the incorporation of religious figures, like our network of 3400 imams in the
#ImamsForShe program, and organizations that work to provide an alternative income stream to the cutter, and in some
countries, laws that ban FGM/C altogether. And yet as I’m finding out even when men prefer an uncut woman, it remains a
stubborn cultural habit to break. It is estimated that 12,000 girls will be cut each day this year, for a total of 4.4
million. To learn more about FGM and the painful statistics on this harmful practise, please visit this page. ( [link removed] )

2030 is the year member states are to meet their Sustainable Development Goals, which includes the eradication of FGM. It’s
not going to happen because we’re too busy funding wars and most importantly, because we're complicit in its genocide of
Palestinians, America's status as a beacon for human rights is dead.

With the American government funding billions for the creation of 19,000 Palestinian orphans in the span of four months, the
utter destruction of historical sites dating back to the Crusades in Gaza, and families writing their names on their legs
before going to sleep in the event a 2,000 pound American bomb gets dropped by Israel’s “moral military”, who incidentally
laugh and dance after each neighborhood they flatten, eradicating FGM and so many other human rights violations which the US
champions is all but a joke.

Onward and upward…

Ani Zonneveld,

President & Founder

 

International Events

Dialogue of Civilization and Tolerance

Learn More ( [link removed] )

MPV’s Founder and President Ani Zonneveld will be serving as a keynote speaker at the International Conference on the
Dialogue of Civilization “Building Cultures, Nurturing Diversity” in Abu Dhabi (Feb 19-22, 2024). Join her for enlightening
discussions on fostering global harmony and understanding. Ani’s presentation will be about inculcating a culture of human
rights through music and the arts as the precursor to the utility of that culture in promoting universal human rights.

This conference is organized in partnership with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the U.A.E. Ministry of
Civilizations & Tolerance and the Emirates Scholar.

 

National Updates

Amici Curiae US FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine

MPV joins 33 other faith based organizations to urge the Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision staying the
FDA’s 2016 and 2021 actions concerning mifepristone.

Read Here ( [link removed] )

 

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Event Highlight: Love Beyond Borders

The first concert of its kind written about LGBTQIA+ refugees, Love Beyond Borders will debut in Benaroya Hall in Seattle on
February 18, 2024 at 2 PM PST and will be streamed live for all to join.

Learn More Here ( [link removed] )

 

Resources

Islam and FGM

February 6 marks the 12th annual International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.

To highlight the important of Muslims involved in advocating against FGM, we encourage you to visit our Learning Portal Page
to learn more about the impermissibility of FGM in Islamic tradition.

We also encourage you to share the various resources that MPV has published over the years with your network to inform them
that FGM has no place in Muslim societies.

Get the PDF ( [link removed] )

 

MPV in the Media

Los Angeles Times' Inspirational Women: Ani Zonneveld | Los Angeles Times | December 18, 2023

Read Here ( [link removed] )

 

Progressive Islam in Practice

Islam & Female Genital Mutilation

February 6 marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, a day of action commemorated by organizations and
coalitions across the world. The UN is committed to ending FGM by 2030, a commitment shared by MPV as we work to combat FGM
through our #ImamsForShe network of Champion Imams and through our education initiatives.

We invite you to join us and the US End FGM/C Network by sharing our educational content on FGM ( [link removed] ) across your networks to educate individuals on the impermissibility of FGM and Islam.

Read the Series ( [link removed] )

 

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Support MPV

If you appreciate the work that we do, please consider making a donation ( [link removed] ) to ensure that Muslims
for Progressive Values can continue to promote progressive Islamic values today and everyday!

Donate Here! ( [link removed] )

 

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