Report: Hyperlink to Hinduphobia. Online hatred against Hindus

Hyperlink to Hinduphobia: Online Hatred, Extremism and Bigotry Against Hindus
Report by Hindu American Foundation (HAF) released on February 18, 2007

HAF holds the Copyright of this report. Please contact them if you want to purchase a copy. I guess they forgot to add the names of Anti-Hindu biased Indian media and their prejudice to the list. Please read "Editorial slandering of Hindu symbols by CNN-IBN" and "NDTV to honor Anti-Hindu bigot MF Hussain".

Extremist websites with hate against Hindus and Hinduism are the focus of this document in the conviction that if left unchallenged, these websites will perpetuate hatred at best, and breed violence at worst. This report provides an overview of the methods used to demean Hinduism and the individuals and organizations responsible for the content. Whether by maligning Hinduism as “devil-worship” to promote a fear of Hindus and their beliefs, demeaning Hindu scriptures and deities, or falsifying Hinduism’s teachings and principles in order to claim the religious superiority of other traditions, these individuals and organizations seek to undermine tolerance and pluralism. This is the first report to systematically document hate against Hindus on the Internet, an issue of serious concern to Hindu-Americans and Hindus globally.

3rd Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit on Capitol Hill

Please read the following reports,

1. 1st historic Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit


2. 2nd Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit

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Please also read "Anti-Hindu communal Government does it to Jews now" and "Congress makes its official Anti-Jew policy loud and clear".
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Hindus and Jews Unite on Capitol Hill in Rare Meeting of Spiritual Leaders

Several of Hinduism's most senior spiritual and religious leaders traveled from India to come together with Jewish leaders at Capitol Hill here yesterday in a rare summit jointly organized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and World Council of Religious Leaders (WCORL). Two days of intense dialogue hosted at AJC offices and visits to synagogues and temples spanning New York City and Washington, D.C. culminated yesterday with a briefing held in the Rayburn Building on the Hill. Attendees were addressed by Hindu and Jewish leaders, officials from the Obama Administration and Ambassador Bahij Mansour, Director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Religious Affairs Department.
Swami Avdeshananda Giri, Trustee of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, an apex unifying body of many of the most prominent Hindu religious sampradayas (traditions), led the Hindu Sabha delegation.

"Hindus believe that the whole world is one family so we are committed to non-violence, brotherhood and peace," said Swami Avdeshananda. "In order to bring forth communal harmony and peace throughout the world, we need to engage in interfaith dialogue to foster mutual understanding and respect. In that spirit, we began two summits ago and continued today with the Jews as a first step."

The AJC's Rabbi David Rosen, International Director of Interreligious Affairs, represented the Jewish perspective and spoke of the shared histories and mutual beliefs of the two faith communities.

"America is on the cutting edge of the new Hindu Jewish relationship," stated Rabbi Rosen. "I hope these two summits will serve to galvanize this relationship in the U.S. for the benefit of not only these two communities, but society at large."

These events, the first in the United States, followed a historic Hindu-Jewish Summit held in New Delhi in 2007 and Jerusalem in 2008--first initiated by Bawa Jain, Secretary General of the WCORL.

"In the coming together of the world's two oldest religions, I see great prospects for furthering strategic relations between India-Israel and India-Israel and the U.S." said Mr. Jain. "The World Council of Religions is committed to expand this dialogue by engaging the other major world traditions similarly in religious diplomacy."

The earlier summits abroad resulted in the first breakthrough "Declaration" that among other points, affirmed mutual belief in One Supreme Being, the sanctity of human life and the rejection of violence to achieve goals, the need to have religious scholars from each tradition review school textbooks and finding ways to weigh in together on some contemporary scientific and ethical dilemmas. The Declaration was hailed as an example of concrete results of mutual Hindu-Jewish explorations.

The HAF co-sponsored this latest effort as the delegations looked for ways of interacting with lawmakers as an example of strong unity between otherwise diverse religious traditions. The HAF and AJC, both with long-standing Capitol Hill ties, leveraged contacts at the House, Senate and Administration to facilitate introductions of their respective communities' faith leaders.

"Too often, as human rights advocates, we have had to join our Jewish colleagues in bearing witness to brutal religious hatred, repression and terrorism against Hindus and Jews to Capitol Hill," said Suhag Shukla, HAF's Managing Director. "It was a rare opportunity to this time bring our most revered spiritual leaders to this place to share their blessings, celebrate what binds us as people of faith and absorb the serenity and wisdom that their presence affords."

Here are other reports on the meet,
Hindu, Jewish religious leaders meet in US by Rediff

2nd Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit in Israel

Please read the following reports,

1. 1st historic Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit


2. 3rd Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit

=================================================================================
Please also read "Anti-Hindu communal Government does it to Jews now" and "Congress makes its official Anti-Jew policy loud and clear".
==================================================================================
Hindu American Foundation Joins in Historic Hindu-Jewish Summit Held in Israel [emphasis and colors added]

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) was represented in a delegation of Hindu spiritual and lay leaders that visited Israel last week to attend the Second International Hindu-Jewish Summit organized by the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCORL) in conjunction with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal of the Summit, according to Bawa Jain, Secretary General of WCORL, was to further develop and promote understanding and mutual respect between the leaders of The Chief Rabbinate of Israel and The Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, an apex unifying body of many of the most prominent Hindu religious leaders. This 2008 Summit was a continuation of the first Summit held in Dehli, India in February 2007.

"This historic coming together of the two oldest religions will further efforts towards religious diplomacy and alleviate many of the deep-rooted misunderstandings of the past 2000 years," said Bawa Jain, after the Summit. Jain invited Sheetal Shah, Director of Development for HAF, to travel to Israel as a Hindu representative to the Summit.

The Hindu delegation, which arrived in Jerusalem on February 17 2008, consisted of several prominent Hindu leaders including Swami Avdheshanand Giri, Swami Paramatmananda Saraswati, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, and Swami Madhavpriyadas. Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the convener of the Dharma Acharya Sabha, was unable to attend the Summit due to health concerns.

"The Summit was an extraordinary opportunity for leaders of both religions to come together and uncover a number of similarities between Hinduism and Judaism,” said Sheetal Shah, upon her return to the HAF office in New York. "This Summit personified the spirit of true pluralism as we discovered and celebrated the theological, ritual and spiritual similarities that our religious traditions share. HAF was honored and humbled to join our dharmacharyas on this mission."

In addition to the planned discussions between the leaders of the Rabbinate and the Hindu delegation, which led to the formation of a new Declaration of understanding, the groups also met with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Minister Isaac Herzog at the Knesset, and Deputy Minster of Foreign Affairs Majalli Whbee. During the delegation’s audience with President Peres, they discussed similarities between Jewish and Hindu beliefs, mutual hopes for lasting peace in the Middle East and the importance of a strong Israeli-Indian relationship.

"This Summit was remarkable first and foremost because of the level of the participation and not just the high level Hindu leaders," said Rabbi David Rosen, who heads the AJC's Department of Interreligious Affairs. "While the first Summit last year was obviously the breakthrough, the level and extent of Israeli Rabbinic leadership that participated in the meeting in Jerusalem was unparalleled."

At the Summit, Rabbi Rosen formally read the Declaration upon which the leaders of the Rabbinate and the Hindu delegation had agreed. The nine-point Declaration broadly (a) reaffirms the common Hindu and Jewish belief in One Supreme Being both in its formless and manifest aspects; (b) expresses their common world view of the sanctity of human life; (c) recognizes that all religions are sacred for their people and therefore, no one should denigrate or interfere in the religious practice of others; (d) recognizes that the Svastika is an ancient Hindu symbol and was misappropriated by the Third Reich; and (e) calls for serious reconsideration of the Aryan Migration Theory--a largely discredited, racist theory that posits that an invasion by nomadic, non-Indian tribes conceived the Vedic civilization.

“In particular, the agreement of the belief in One Supreme Being having various manifestations and the recognition of Svastika’s auspiciousness in the Hindu tradition were monumental steps in building an understanding between the two religions,” said Shah, adding that HAF will work hard to highlight the Declaration in various fora over the next year.

Despite snowy conditions in Jerusalem, the Hindu delegation visited and said their prayers at the Kotel, also known as the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites for Jews. The delegation also paid their respects to those who perished in the Holocaust during a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the Holocaust victims.

As the delegation traveled to Haifa on the last day, they met with leaders of the Druze community and paid their respects at the Ba’hai Center. In Haifa, the Mayor, Mr. Yonah Yahav, the city’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, along with the city’s Christian and Muslim religious leaders greeted the delegation.

"Above all, this meeting provided the opportunity not only for friendships to develop between the religious leaders, but to shatter distorted stereotypes and misconceptions that all too often have contributed to keeping the Hindu and Jewish worlds apart," added Rabbi Rosen. "Most of us who were privileged to be part of this momentous gathering had the feeling that we were part of the beginning of a new historic era of understanding and cooperation between our two faith communities."

Here is the joint deceleration of the 2nd Hindu-Jewish Summit organized by the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCORL) in conjunction with The Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha (an apex unifying body of many of the most prominent Hindu religious leaders), American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Read in PDF format: "Declaration of the Second Hindu- Jewish Leadership Summit"