{"id":335,"date":"2009-05-15T08:53:48","date_gmt":"2009-05-15T08:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html"},"modified":"2009-05-15T08:53:48","modified_gmt":"2009-05-15T08:53:48","slug":"an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html","title":{"rendered":"an appeal on behalf of the people of Swat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is an urgent appeal for donations on behalf of the refugees of the Swat Valley, by Zeenat Ahmed, of the Center for Dialogue, Peace and Action<\/a> (CDPA). Mrs. Ahmed is a well-known Pakistani activist whose family has been active in resisting the Taliban, and paid a heavy price for it. Her husband, Akbar Ahmed, was the Pakistani ambassador to the UK and was recently on NPR’s Talk of the Nation<\/a> discussing Pakistan in detail.<\/p>\n

\n

THE CENTER FOR DIALOGUE, PEACE AND ACTION<\/p>\n

May 12, 2009<\/p>\n

Dear Friend<\/p>\n

Caught in the cross fire between the Taliban and the Pakistani Government thousands are stranded, homeless, and without hope in Swat. Over 70% of the population is now living as refugees in the most squalid conditions outside Swat. Those left behind in Swat are the old and frail and they have no water, electricity or food rations. Their homes have been bombed and targeted and reduced to rubble.<\/p>\n

Zeenat Ahmed and Zebu Jilani of The Center for Dialogue, Peace and Action (CDPA) are going to Pakistan of 25 May 2009 to help in Swat and in the refugee camps in Mardan, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Gujarat, and Lahore which now houses the unfortunate people of Swat. Your donation will go a long way in providing shelter, clothing and food for the refugees.<\/p>\n

We are attaching several documents:
\n
\n1. A brochure for the CDPA
\n
\n2. A fundraising Card
\n
\n3. Tax Exemption Letter<\/p>\n

Your donation will be tax deductable. We are registered in Washington DC, The Congressional District Programs, and our Tax ID is: 65-0970090.<\/p>\n

Warmest wishes,<\/p>\n

Zeenat Ahmed
\n
\nProgram Manager
\n
\nCenter for Dialogue Peace and Action,
\n
\n7216 Millwood Ct, Bethesda, MD 20817
\n
\nTel: (301) 263-1036<\/p>\n

News links<\/p>\n

The Swat exodus in pictures:
\n
\nhttp:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/in_pictures\/8038258.stm<\/a><\/p>\n

“Everything destroyed” in Swat valley:
\n
\nhttp:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/south_asia\/8044150.stm<\/a><\/p>\n

Swat
\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/akbar-ahmed\/will-my-books-in-swat-sur_b_201769.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here are the documents referred to above for download and printing: CDPA Brochure<\/a> (PDF)<\/span> | fundraiser card<\/a> (DOC)<\/span> | tax-exempt form<\/a> (PDF) <\/span><\/p>\n

UPDATE: There are numerous other ways you can donate to help the people of Swat – Zack Ajmal has a list of organizations<\/a>, as does Chapati Mystery<\/a>, Chowrangi<\/a>, and the Help Pakistan Now<\/a> site. Please do what you can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is an urgent appeal for donations on behalf of the refugees of the Swat Valley, by Zeenat Ahmed, of the Center for Dialogue, Peace and Action (CDPA). Mrs. Ahmed is a well-known Pakistani activist whose family has been active in resisting the Taliban, and paid a heavy price for it. Her husband, Akbar…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[121,271,218,26,260],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-read-this","tag-foreign-policy","tag-human-rights","tag-pakistan","tag-politics","tag-swat"],"yoast_head":"\nan appeal on behalf of the people of Swat - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"an appeal on behalf of the people of Swat - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The following is an urgent appeal for donations on behalf of the refugees of the Swat Valley, by Zeenat Ahmed, of the Center for Dialogue, Peace and Action (CDPA). Mrs. Ahmed is a well-known Pakistani activist whose family has been active in resisting the Taliban, and paid a heavy price for it. Her husband, Akbar…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-05-15T08:53:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aziz Poonawalla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"an appeal on behalf of the people of Swat - City of Brass","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"an appeal on behalf of the people of Swat - City of Brass","og_description":"The following is an urgent appeal for donations on behalf of the refugees of the Swat Valley, by Zeenat Ahmed, of the Center for Dialogue, Peace and Action (CDPA). Mrs. Ahmed is a well-known Pakistani activist whose family has been active in resisting the Taliban, and paid a heavy price for it. Her husband, Akbar…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html","og_site_name":"City of Brass","article_published_time":"2009-05-15T08:53:48+00:00","author":"Aziz Poonawalla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html","name":"an appeal on behalf of the people of Swat - City of Brass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-05-15T08:53:48+00:00","dateModified":"2009-05-15T08:53:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2009\/05\/an-appeal-on-behalf-of-the-peo.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"an appeal on behalf of the people of Swat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/","name":"City of Brass","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Aziz Poonawalla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb","name":"Aziz Poonawalla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","caption":"Aziz Poonawalla"},"description":"Aziz Poonawalla is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}