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Group Looking to Improve Muslim-Jewish Relations with Hummus Stops in College Park
A rainbow “peace” flag waved in the background as more than 20 students held up signs that read “Arabs, Muslims and Jews refuse to be enemies!” outside of Stamp Student Union’s main entrance Tuesday morning.
“We are fully aware that there are many forces — both political and social that threatens to sever those ties,” said Parvez Khan, director of Sage Consulting Services, who spoke at the event.
“The ongoing violence in the Middle East and persistent rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Europe, and the ugly and hurtful rhetoric that too often surrounds American Jewish and Muslim communities — we’re not going to let that happen,” Khan said.
This event was a stop on the #SpreadHummusNotHate Bus Tour through parts of this state and Washington sponsored by the Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum, a new D.C.-based organization founded by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.
While handing out free hummus and pita bread to the crowd, event leaders spoke about improving Muslim-Jewish tensions in communities.
“We live in a religiously and ethnically diverse city,” said Brian Thompson, who recently moved to Washington and is an advocate for the cause. “It is true that we may not find common ground on all political and social issues, but those shouldn’t be the end of the discussion, but rather, the beginning of one.”
Thompson said the community must do everything in its power to counter fear and mistrust. He added that negative feelings shouldn’t ruin Muslim-Jewish relations.
“The way forward is not easy, but we are here today to declare that we are and must continue to be stronger than the forces of hate,” he said to loud applause.
For all the areas of disagreement, there will be areas where people find unity, Thompson said.
“We are never more empowered than when we, as global citizens, work together to create a world that is fair and just for all who live within it,” Thompson said. “Muslims and Jews have a common moral imperative to better the world.”
Walter Ruby, the Muslim-Jewish program director for the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, said they have been working on Muslim-Jewish relations since 2007. Every November, they organize a “Weekend of Twinning” with events in more than 30 countries worldwide.
Ruby said events that support Arab, Muslim and Jewish relationships are especially important after the recent conflict in Gaza that increased tensions among the three groups.
“A lot of Muslims and Jews feel like, ‘Oh, there’s no hope,’ and ‘We’ve been driven apart,’ and ‘We’re doomed to be enemies,’” Ruby said. “We’re here to say, ‘No, we refuse to be enemies,’ and that’s what this is all about.”
Senior Arabic studies major Christina Fahmi said she came to the event to promote interfaith dialogue and friendship.
“We have a lot to share, and at the end of the day, I think we need to focus on our commonalities more than our differences for a more positive world,” Fahmi said.
Taameem Almaliki, the coordinator of Project Nur, a student-led initiative that advocates for human rights and social justice, said she wants to empower students to cultivate a space of acceptance and mutual respect between Muslims and non-Muslims.
“It shows that here in the D.C. area, Muslims and Jews coexist and don’t relate to the violence outside the U.S.,” the senior engineering student said.
Before the event concluded, the crowd, many with smiles on their faces, joined in to sing and clap to the song “Salaam, Shalom,” which means “peace” in both Hebrew and Arabic.
People chanted “Let’s stand up to hate” and “Give peace a chance” throughout the entire song.
Rokia Hassanein
Diamondback Online