#ChainofPeace Is Spreading As The New Way of Protest Against Muslim Travel Ban
Forming “human chains” around mosques, Islamic centers and other facilities frequented by Muslims, the participants, who are overwhelmingly non-Muslim, are saying “We have your back”.
Here’s one #ChainofPeaceformed over the weekend around ISBCC (The Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center) in Boston, Massachusetts.
The ISBCC is the biggest mosque in New England and serves to a diverse community with over 64 different nationalities, according to its website.
Shayk Yasir Fahmy, the senior imam at the cultural center, was seen talking in another, related video, said he was moved by the “showing of kindness” by the gatherers who stand outside the center in a human chain for hours, often braving freezing temperatures.
The imam thanked them, and the crowd laughed when he joked, “Someone said we should throw a big barbecue for you in the summer.”
Muslims see these kinds of solidarity events as immensely positive signs in an otherwise polarized society and it helps them to feel safe. “#ChainofPeace is also a Chain of Protection. That’s a beautiful sense that we should preserve and cultivate on one another,” Shayk Yasir said.
Diana Eck, a professor of religion and the director of The Pluralism Project at Harvard University has also been following the #ChainofPeace events.
After the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a suspension of President Trump’s executive order on travel ban, she tweeted “The #MuslimBan is outrageous and this legal stay must be the first legal victory among many.”
Dr Eck also urged people to sign the petition Stand for American Values, recently started by congressman Seth Molton (D, Mass.)
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