Indiana University students and Bloomington community groups are organizing demonstrations in support of a Muslim woman who was attacked by an IU student on Saturday.
Denisa Jashari,a graduate student in the history department at Indiana University, says when she heard about Saturday's attack on a Muslim woman at the Sofra Cafe, she decided to organize the community to show support for the victim.
"The demonstration on Saturday is, in part, a symbolic gesture of solidarity to the Muslim community in town," says Jashari.
The anti-discrimination demonstration is being called "Bloomington Against Islamophobia." Participants will meet at the Sample Gates on IU's campus Saturday at noon and march to the Bloomington Courthouse. Denisa says this demonstration will support Muslims all over the country.
"Although this incident occurred in Bloomington," she says, "I think it forms part of a larger wave of national anti-muslim sentiments that have escalated since 9/11."
The Indiana University Muslim Student Association will attend the demonstration on Saturday, and organized its own event Thursday. Representatives set up a table on campus and invited students to ask questions about Islam.
Co-President Fariha Hossain says they want to be a source of education.
"And so I think we just sort of hope to bring them in a little bit and say ‘Hello, how are you? We're good people. We're normal people.' And go from there," Hossain says.
Other groups are also organizing events, including a "Scarf-In" at Sofra Café where women of all faiths and backgrounds are being invited to wear a head scarf while dining at the café.
Organizers say they know these events will not remove Islamophobia from the community, but they hope it will be a step in the right direction.
"It's really, if you like, a symbolic gesture of solidarity," Joshari says, "It's not supposed to be sort of the only answer or the final answer to rhetoric and violence."
