The 4th Annual Dialogue and Friendship Dinner

Now becoming a tradition in Phoenix, our 4th Dialogue and Friendship Dinner took place in Hyatt Regency Hotel, on Thursday, September 20. We were so happy to see over 150 distinguished guests at our dinner, including journalists, artists, government officials, and representatives from several cultural and religious groups and many others who had an interest in intercultural dialogue.

The night started with the opening speech of the President of FID, Ismail Karatas who gave brief information about the educational and social activities of FID and emphasized the significance of intercultural and interfaith dialogue.

After the opening remarks, keynote speaker Prof Thomas Davis of Arizona State University ascended the pulpit to give his keynote speech, which he assigned to the importance of diversity and how it is achieved.

The greatest surprise of the night was a live calligraphy performance by the Turkish calligrapher Aydin Cayir, who came from Turkey. His ten-minute performance was watched with great interest by our guests, who were surprised to learn that their names were already written on small cards to be given them at the end of the night as a special gift of FID.

Having the aim of promoting ‘dialogue’ and ‘friendship’, we allocated the last section of the dinner for a round table discussion, when our guests had the opportunity to know each other better and discuss how promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue can be used to solve conflicts in our society.

The night ended with the closing remarks by Robert B. Kaiser (journalist-writer and the President of Jesuit Alumni in Arizona), and AZ State Representatives Mark Anderson and Steve Farley, who all expressed their appreciation of the efforts of FID in promoting dialogue.

Robert B. Kaiser made an emphasis on things that bring us together: “art and stories which cut through abstraction.” “The real test for all of us is to be proactive and to live dialogue and friendship by going beyond the words discussed by the speaker” said Kaiser.

Mark Anderson stated how grateful he is for being part of the Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue. He pointed the high spirit of love and peace among the members of FID and expressed his appreciation of the efforts of FID in promoting dialogue. He also reminded us the following day being International Day of Peace proclaimed by the UN. “In that regard, the dinner had a special significance providing a medium for peace and harmony for those of us seeking for the commonalities, which are the foundation for friendship and working together” said Anderson.

Steve Farley, who participated to a recent FID trip to Turkey, said that he was deeply affected by people in Turkey for that they honestly opened their hearts to their guests. He said that “opening our hearts is absolutely the key for what we need to do in the world today.” “The only way to proceed forward and maintain world peace and be able to bring it here on earth is to keep hearts open no matter how hard that is. I think we have shown an example how to do this. We must carry that forward.”

Since 2004, Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue (FID) has been organizing dialogue and friendship dinners to bring the members of different faiths and communities of Arizona together. We aim to increase intercultural awareness in our community.

FID will host its Annual Dialogue & Friendship Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix on 20 September 2007, Thursday, at 6:30 pm in Phoenix and at the Student Memorial Union Ct. on 29 September 2007, Saturday, at 6:30 pm in Tucson. The dinner will be co-sponsored by the Global Cultural Connections Foundation (GCC) of California.

The theme of the dinner will be "Diverse Traditions, Shared Values". This year,we are honored to host Dr. Thomas J. Davis as a keynote speaker. Dr. Davis teaches constitutional and legal history at Arizona State University. An attorney and historian, he serves as chair of the State of Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County's Judicial Merit Commission.