ATLANTA, GA - 7/28/17) Over twenty local organizations representing members of Georgia's Jewish, Christian, Muslim and activist communities united on Friday, July 28th, for an interfaith prayer and rally outside Atlanta's Israeli consulate. 

"As people of faith and civil rights activists, we feel a special obligation to call for religious freedom in Jerusalem, a city holy to every Abrahamic faith," said event organizer Jewish Voice for Peace (Atlanta) and twenty other co-sponsoring organizations, including CAIR Georgia, Black Lives Matter Atlanta, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Christians United for Palestine, and the Georgia Alliance for Social Justice.

Speakers at both the 2016 and 2017 seminars were Dr. Houda Abadi, Associate Director of the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center, Imam Arshad Anwar, leader of Roswell Community Masjid, and Edward Ahmed Mitchell, attorney and executive director of CAIR Georgia.

"Muslim extremists and anti-Muslim bigots represent two sides of the same coin," Mitchell said. "By debunking their ignorant and dangerous arguments, we hope to push back against both illegal discrimination and terrorist propaganda."

"As an imam, I feel a special obligation to educate our community, including parents and children, about the best ways to protect themselves from anti-Muslim harassment, as well as the online propaganda of extremist groups," said Imam Arshad Anwar, who once survived a bombing attack while attending school in Pakistan.

"American Muslims do not hesitate to condemn hate crimes and terrorist attacks, no matter the race or religion of the perpetrators," said Dr. Houda Abadi, who has traveled across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa to conduct research studies about extremist propaganda, and leads workshops for religious leaders working to prevent violent extremism in their local communities.