Since June 2003, Ms. Zainab Al-Suwaij has been working in Iraq with USAID to rebuild the Iraqi school system and to implement women’s empowerment programs.  She will speak about the challenges and possibilities facing Iraqi civil society since the fall of Saddam Hussein.  She will report that Hamas and Hezbollah have opened up offices across Iraq, and will talk about what American can do to help support Iraqis who want to build a free and tolerant society.

The Ethics and Public Policy Center has invited Ms. Al-Suwaij to present her observations and reflections on these and other questions.  Ms. Al-Suwaij is the executive director of the American Islamic Congress, an organization founded after September 11 in the belief that American Muslims should play a leading role in rejecting Islamist radicalism and promoting a democratic future in the Muslim world.  A Shiite Muslim and native of Basrah, Iraq, Ms. Al-Suwaij’s memoir of the failed 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein appeared in The New Republic (“The Fire Last Time,” February 10, 2003), and her other articles on Islam and democracy have been published in USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

Ms. Al-Suwaij last spoke at the Center in April 2003. (Click here to read more about that event.)

AGENDA

We will begin at 12:00 pm on Thursday, January 15 with a catered lunch at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1015 15th Street, NW Suite 900.  The conversation will begin at approximately 12:30 pm and a discussion will follow.

REGISRATION

Registration is free. You can register by clicking the link below, or by corresponding with the contact person listed at the bottom of this page.