Voices Against Radicalism attend Spread Hummus Not Hate event
by Taameem Almaliki, Project Nur Coordinator at American Islamic Congress
Today at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), I attended a fun and meaningful event called Spread Hummus Not Hate. I thought the mission of the event aligned well with our current campaign, Voices Against Radicalism.
The event was simple but meaningful. First, I met with Professor Sahar the Project Nur advisor at UMD and one of the organizers for the Spread Hummus Not Hate event. Then, I met prospective Project Nur chapter leaders and a group of students who are interested in Project Nur. A few of the students that attended the event signed up for Project Nur when I presented in Dr. Sahar Khamis’s Arab Media class. UMD students attended the event because of their passion for diversity, solidarity, and peace, which is how Project Nur, the Spread Hummus Not Hate event, and the Voices Against Radicalism campaign come together.
During the event Muslims, Jews, and other groups of people joined. We all ate hummus together, laughed, and took photos together. Tour members delivered a short speech and the group sang songs. We sang “Peace, Shalom, Salam.” The rhythm was very nice and natural. Professor Sahar and I drew signs and posters, which came out very nice. We drew a welcome sign with a heart next to a Crescent, a Cross, and the Star of David. Media outlets, such as Alhurra, covered the event and recorded a video message with four Muslim students from Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq and a diverse Jewish community. It just shows how diverse and accepting the UMD community is. In my video message, I indicated that this event is a good fit with the Project Nur mission of mutual understanding and coexistence between Muslims and non Muslims. I was also touched when the organizers of the event began handing out little booklets about Islam. I was surprised to see this and was happy that others were trying to educated people about how ordinary Muslims practice Islam.
The Spread Hummus Not Hate event is a bus tour organized by the Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum (GWMJF). The tour will travel around the DC metro area on a bus on Tuesday, October 14 in a show of solidarity and unity against bigotry and to spread the message of friendship and mutual support between Washington area Muslims and Jews.
Event day and details:
The tour agenda is as follows (times subject to change – follow us on Twitter at @GWMJF for live updates!):
9:45 am – Muslim Community Center (MCC) – 15200 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD
10:30 am – University of Maryland – Stamp Student Union, College Park, MD
12:00 pm – Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington – 100 Allison St NW, Washington, DC
1:00 pm – Farragut North Metro station – Connecticut Ave and K St NW, Washington, DC
2:00 pm – Masjid Muhammad – 4th and P Sts NW, Washington, DC
3:30 pm – Georgetown University
Disclaimer: The views, opinions and positions expressed by the authors and those providing comments on these blogs are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of American Islamic Congress or any employee thereof.
