Friday, July 29, 2016

This is a true story of a good, decent American

"A Muslim woman is getting attention for the heartwarming story she shared on social media about a Jewish man who approached her out of the blue to empathize with how difficult it must be to face prejudice as a Muslim.  Leena Al-Arian, an American from Greater Boston, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday about the moment a stranger, Lenny, approached her at a Barnes & Noble, told her how beautiful her daughters were and apologized for the anti-Muslim sentiment in society today. “He had tears in his eyes and told me that it must be so hard to turn on the news, that he feels awful about the bigotry my kids might one day experience, and that as a Jewish man whose parents didn’t speak any English growing up, he personally understands what it feels like to be rejected and discriminated against,” the post read in part.  Al-Arian told Yahoo News that she had taken her 4-year-old, Hiba, and 20-month-old, Huda, to the bookstore on Wednesday to meet characters from the cartoon “Paw Patrol.” After meeting Lenny, Al-Arian asked if she could hug him because it looked like he needed one (and she needed one as well). He reassured her that most Americans are not prejudiced against Muslims and don’t believe everything they hear in the news, she said."