Jews and Muslims converged on Washington D.C.’s busy Farragut Square during an October weekday lunch rush in a show of solidarity, food, and good vibrations.
The small interfaith event, organized by the Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum, embarked on a one day, six stop bus tour called “#SpreadHummusNotHate” that served pita and hummus to observers in a visible showing of unity between Islam and Judaism. Passerby were encouraged to sing “Salaam, Shalom” – the Arabic and Hebrew words for “peace”, respectively – or to write a comment on the tour bus.
According to the Muslim-Jewish Forum’s Facebook page, the Spread Hummus, Not Hate event was intended to counter an “incitement of hate” from Islamophobe Pamela Geller and her organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative.
Geller has been the figurehead behind a series of anti-Muslim ads placed on various public transportation vehicles, most recently on the side of New York subway trains.
Spread Hummus, Not Hate serves as a creative example of a using a relationship between the Washington D.C. area’s Jewish and Muslim communities to fight prejudice.
