The 225th Anniversary of the Morocco/American Amity Treaty :
George Washington University July 18, 2012
This celebration of the 225th anniversary of the ratification by the Continental Congress of the Treaty of Friendship and Amity (July 18, 1787) was held in the Grand Ballroom of George Washington University, the evening of July 18, 2012. This treaty is between the United States and Morocco and is the longest treaty in force between the United States of America and any other country.
This event publicly launched the George Washington Amity Series which seeks to bring together primarily Muslim and Christian communities to help them connect on a personal level, while seeking to comprehend each other and clarify what it means to be an authentic believer. The George Washington Amity Series seeks to go beyond Interfaith Dialogue to building Interpersonal Relationships.
This celebration was a gesture of thanks to an Arab Muslim king (Mohamed Ben Abdullah of Morocco) for the significant role he played in the establishment of the United States in its early years.
The evening started with the Historian of Mount Vernon, Mary Thompson, who presented a wonderful summary of the history of this treaty and its relation to George Washington.
The White House Special envoy, Rashad Hussain, congratulated the effort by the Amity Series to celebrate this historic event and then presented his efforts at the White House to build relationships with Muslim majority countries.
The Amity Series Director, Jack Rusenko, thanked the Moroccan Ambassador, H.E. Rachad Bouhlal, for the help Morocco has given to America over the years. Jack then gave a historical context of the treaty and how Morocco distinguished itself from other North African and European nations of the 18th century. He then invited everyone to an hour of interaction around their tables which were arranged to integrate the Muslim and Christian participants. Even though the program ended at 9:00p.m., many people stayed for continued interaction for over an hour afterward, and the university staff had to push a good number of people out the door by 10:30p.m.
This event publicly launched the George Washington Amity Series which seeks to bring together primarily Muslim and Christian communities to help them connect on a personal level, while seeking to comprehend each other and clarify what it means to be an authentic believer. The George Washington Amity Series seeks to go beyond Interfaith Dialogue to building Interpersonal Relationships.
This celebration was a gesture of thanks to an Arab Muslim king (Mohamed Ben Abdullah of Morocco) for the significant role he played in the establishment of the United States in its early years.
The evening started with the Historian of Mount Vernon, Mary Thompson, who presented a wonderful summary of the history of this treaty and its relation to George Washington.
The White House Special envoy, Rashad Hussain, congratulated the effort by the Amity Series to celebrate this historic event and then presented his efforts at the White House to build relationships with Muslim majority countries.
The Amity Series Director, Jack Rusenko, thanked the Moroccan Ambassador, H.E. Rachad Bouhlal, for the help Morocco has given to America over the years. Jack then gave a historical context of the treaty and how Morocco distinguished itself from other North African and European nations of the 18th century. He then invited everyone to an hour of interaction around their tables which were arranged to integrate the Muslim and Christian participants. Even though the program ended at 9:00p.m., many people stayed for continued interaction for over an hour afterward, and the university staff had to push a good number of people out the door by 10:30p.m.
| july_18_invite.pdf |
