MUSLIM AMERICAN WEBSITES HUG-A-JEW" CAMPAIGN FEATURED IN CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

CSM article focuses on the campaigns unique call for Muslim-Americans to embrace Jews in a common quest for social justice at home and abroad.

New York: The Christian Science Monitor has published an article this week by MuslimWakeUp.com editor-in-chief Ahmed Nassef on his online magazines unique series, Hug-a-Jew." The full article can be accessed at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0709/p09s02-coop.html

Muslim WakeUp!, the nations largest Muslim online magazine, began the series earlier this year as a way to build bridges between the Muslim and Jewish communities in the US.

The Hug-a-Jew campaign is a challenge to all Muslim-Americans to stand up for the Muslim ideals of social justice," explained Nassef. We cant be true to our principles if we demand justice for Palestinians while at the same time encouraging jedeophobia among ourselves."

The campaign has become the sites most popular feature and has generated praise from Muslim and Jewish readers.

We are constantly hearing from Muslim-Americans suggesting new Jews to hug. And Jewish-American readers have written us saying they wish their organizations would begin a "Hug-a-Muslim" campaign," Nassef said.

Although reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, it has not been unanimous.

After our first interview, with Liat Weingart, an activist with A Jewish Voice for Peace, some Muslims, most of whom seemed to reside in Arab countries, condemned us. One angry reader wrote, 'This is shameful. How would you like it if your daughters hugged Jewish men for kicks. We even received some mail from Jews telling us that we weren't hugging the 'right Jews," Nassef writes in the CSM piece.

But the magazine remains committed to the campaign.

Confronting the contradictions within our own communities is never easy, but it is necessary," writes Nassef. Muslims must speak out forcefully against anti-Jewish hate speech in our institutions and mosques. Only when we are true to our stated beliefs will we be able to speak with moral authority on the issues that we hold dear."

Since its launch January 2003, Muslim WakeUp! (http://muslimwakeup.com) has become the largest Muslim American magazine on the Internet. Muslim WakeUp! provides news and commentary on politics and culture from a progressive Muslim perspective. In January, Muslim WakeUp! launched its highly popular Hug-a-Jew" feature, which spotlights the work of progressive Jewish leaders. Recipients have included Liat Weingart of Jewish Voice for Peace and Joel Beinin, Political Science Professor at Stanford University. That feature can be accessed at http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/cat_hug_a_jew.html

Ahmed Nassef, a writer, activist, and management consultant based in New York, is the editor-in-chief of Muslim WakeUp! Online Magazine. Nassef is a long-time activist in the Muslim American community. He was President of the UCLA Muslim Students Association and a leading organizer of the anti-war movement during the first Gulf War. He did his graduate work in Middle Eastern Studies at UCLA and travels frequently to many countries in the region. Nassef is available for media interviews.

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For further information, please contact:
Ahmed Nassef
e-mail: anassef@muslimwakeup.com