The Koran says the killing of an innocent, the taking of an innocent life, is tantamount to killing all of mankind.

I have been a long-time advocate for a just Arab-Israeli peace and for Palestinian refugees.

I join all of you who are advocates telling others that they can improve their lives and the quality of their lives and others by taking a few moments, breathing, and allowing one's whole being to become a vessel for positivity.

The idea of public service was instilled in me by watching my father, who shared that he was far more fulfilled in his public service than by his former lucrative corporate jobs.

I spent the first years working in Jordan trying to learn as much as I could about what was taking place in the country, about where there were gaps in the development process that needed attention.

Even into the 20th century, women were still struggling in the Western world for rights that Islam had granted women in the 7th century: equal rights to education; the right to own and inherit property; to have a voice in the decisions affecting their lives; to be active, engaged, and valued members of society at all levels.

Of course, in our country, developing in a region with somewhat conservative traditions, women were desperately needed to be more engaged - socially, economically, politically.