Source: Newsday

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lifait293779736apr30,0,1354489.story

On April 30, 2004 Newsday reported, "A wife and mother working on her MBA, Homaira Mamoor is like many Americans: Her life revolves around her family and trying to get ahead. But the native of Kabul, Afghanistan, who came to the United States almost 30 years ago at age 10, said life on Long Island has been stressful for her and her family since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 'It's tough being a Muslim on Long Island today,' Mamoor of West Islip, told a packed auditorium of Brentwood East Middle School students Wednesday. She said her three young daughters, sixth-, fourth-, and third-graders, have been harassed in school. 'We are all neighbors,' she said. 'We have to stop the hate and celebrate our diversity.' Mamoor and a group of other Long Islanders of varying faiths have embarked on a recent mission to do just that. Sponsored by the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum - organized in 1994 to acquaint Long Islanders with different faiths through rituals, music, dance, fellowship and education - the program, Building Bridges - targets school- age youth in hopes of enlightening them before negative stereotypes become ingrained. This week's five-member panel consisted of representatives from the Bahai faith, Islam, Buddhism, and Sikhism."