Heard the great stories coming out of Washington DC? Want to counter Islamophobia and Antisemistism? Learn how to plan a #SpreadHummusNotHate tour in YOUR city! AN APPEAL TO MUSLIMS AND JEWS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA: SPREAD HUMMUS, NOT HATE! Dear Friend, On Tuesday, October 14, 2014, the Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum (GWMJF) and the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding co-sponsored an inspirational event entitled Spread Hummus, Not Hate; a bus tour around the DC metro area led by 14 Muslim and Jewish leaders and activists. Our message was: ‘Despite differences elsewhere in the world, we Washington area Muslims and Jews refuse to be enemies. Together, we must build ties of communication and cooperation for the good of both faith communities and for the larger community in which we live side by side.’ To learn more about our day, you can watch our video about the event:https://youtube/watch?v=_FUKC5A1ZmI&feature=youtu.be . You can also read about it in an article published in The Washington Post: tinyurl/o2kluh8. For more press coverage of the event, please visit our Facebook page https://facebook/gwmjf. Today, we are asking you to consider organizing a Spread Hummus, Not Hate (SHHN) event in your own community or on your own campus. Such an event will be particularly appropriate during the upcoming 7th Annual Muslim-Jewish Weekend of Twinning, which will bring together thousands of Muslims and Jews to hold scores of Muslim-Jewish events in more than 30 countries around the world. ffeu.org/twinning.html. Those who are already planning twinning events, by all means please continue with them as scheduled, but consider adding a SHNH event as well if that is possible. Spread Hummus, Not Hate is our response to those who, in recent months, have financed bus and subway ads and/or spread other types of inflammatory propaganda about Muslims and Jews aimed at pitting our two faith communities against each other. SHNH is also our response to the widespread sense of futility in the wake of last summer’s war in Gaza that Jews and Muslims are doomed to be adversaries forever. In the face of hatred and bigotry, we reply with calls for friendship and mutual support. By publicly protesting together we are expressing our caring for and deep commitment to each other. The SHNH Bus Tour included stops at two university campuses; two mosques, an interfaith center and at a downtown metro stop. At each stop, we conducted short video interviews with the people we met; invited them to sign our peace banner, and urged them to post messages of unity on Facebook and Twitter. We highlighted our own account of the journey on diverse social media sites under #SpreadHummusNotHate. And of course, shared hummus! Your own Spread Hummus Not Hate event can take on many forms from a multi-stop city-wide bus tour to a two-stop tour via public transit to a localized university or community center event. The most important thing is for Jews and Muslims to go public with their feelings of a shared commitment to building communication and cooperation between our communities. Whatever you end up doing in your city will be incredibly uplifting and energizing. One person who does not like Spread Hummus, Not Hate is the prominent Islamophobe Pamela Geller who savaged us on her Atlas Shrugs blog as “clowns” and “a tiny ragtag motley crew of fraudsters, dissemblers and jewdicals” donotlink/framed?562742 . Ironically, Geller’s cry of outrage at Spread Hummus Not Hate vividly reinforces our point that the best way to respond to naked bigotry is with love, kindness and good humor. Pamela Geller and her ilk don’t want you to go out into the streets together. Their narrative of hate is predicated on maintaining the myth that Jews and Muslims are at each other’s throats. So shatter the myth! Change the conversation! Spread Hummus, Not Hate! If you would like to talk with us about bringing Spread Hummus Not Hate to your city or campus, please contact any one of the people below. Walter Ruby Foundation for Ethnic Understanding 917 294-1772 walterruby@gmail Symi Rom-Rymer 202 321-1783 symirr@gmail Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum Parvez Khan 703 725 4831 pak@faith-based-consulting Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 18:30:01 +0000
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