Combating Islamophobia With Laughter and Human Connection

FEATURING HUSSAM AYLOUSH – America has a problem dealing with Muslims. After the September 11th attacks, hate crimes rose sharply. Then, over the past year, since the rise of Donald Trump’s candidacy we’ve seen the hate ratchet up once more. In the past few weeks however, several incidents have taken place, where people have countered racism and Islamophobia through laughter and human connection.

CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations, released a satirical video ad for a medicinal chewing gum called Islamophobin. Two hijab-clad Muslim women countered a man’s hateful remarks at an ice cream parlor with confidence and wit. And, Amnesty International released a video of Muslim refugees and white Europeans staring into each others’ eyes for several minutes as an experiment, only to find that they have suddenly seen each others’ humanity.

Find more at www.CAIR.com.

Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Greater-Los Angeles Area Chapter.