Muslim Activist Invites People to Draw Portraits of Friends Named Muhammad
“Jihad Watch Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest” opened last week in Garland, Texas. It was organized by Pamela Geller who founded the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which has been named an extremist Muslim hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Geller claims the exhibition was aimed at defending America’s right to freedom of speech by burlesquing Islamic belief that their prophet Muhammad’s likeness should never be drawn.
In response to Geller, Muslim American activist, Amani al-Khatahtbeh, founder and chief editor of the blog MuslimGirl.net launched a campaign to fight with Islamaphobia, says TIME. MuslimGirl.net staff invited people on the streets to draw pictures of their friends named Muhammad.
On May 4th the day after the exhibition opened, two gunmen opened fire, outside the buildings, injured a securing officer and were shot to death by police.
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Drawings of the campaign’s participants can be found in Twitter with the hashtag #DM2015.