Join Us In Peacebuilding

We are grateful for your support of our work in
education and engagement

The ongoing crisis in Gaza and Israel has once again lifted the veil on deeply rooted bigotry and racism towards Muslims and towards anyone perceived to be Muslim, such as Palestinians, Arabs and Sikhs. This, however, is precisely what was done by previous crises such as 9/11 and even before, as far back as the first Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s, when ING started working to correct and supplement education about Muslims and their faith—an effort that brought us to the realization that Islamophobia could not be successfully countered without confronting racism and bigotry in all their forms. 

Over the years and decades, we have come to an ever deeper understanding that our concern with racism could not be limited to the bigotry against any one group but that we had to view and combat racism globally by working alongside other communities facing hatred, discrimination, and violence, including Jewish Americans—the only other religious group that faces hate at nearly the same rate that Muslims do according to surveys—and other marginalized groups that have historically encountered racism in the United States, such as Americans of Indigenous, African, Latinx, and Asian backgrounds. Acting with this understanding, since 2007, we have engaged representatives of all these groups, as well as Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, to work together at ING to counter bigotry by building mutual understanding and respect and offering tools for countering prejudice and racism interpersonally and institutionally.    

So when crises such as the one taking place right now in Gaza and Israel arrive, ING doesn’t do new work, we just do more of what we know we need to do: to counter the prejudicial attitudes that lead to hate incidents, through education about and encounters with the diverse communities that make up our multifaith, multiracial, and multiethnic nation.  

That is precisely what we have been doing since the beginning of the latest crisis this past October: we’ve held dozens of cultural diversity trainings for corporations, universities, and school districts over the past few months—more than we did in the entire year (40) preceding October 7.

In the current situation, it’s not surprising that the program with which we began our interfaith work in 2007, the Muslim-Jewish panels countering Islamophobia and antisemitism, has been equally in demand these last few months. We’ve held 42 such panels in corporations, universities, school districts, and other institutions this year. 

Overall, we’ve held at least 5 training seminars and panels a week this year, reaching 4 million people with our programs. We know that these programs are effective from the feedback we receive from those who request them. One college DEI director offered this feedback:  

“Our deepest gratitude for your important work of bringing Muslims and Jews together to speak on Islamophobia and antisemitism, and ways to counter both. Modeling solidarity on common concerns is indispensable in polarizing times such as these.”  

College DEI Director

The present crisis demonstrates how vital our work is to the future of our country and our world. We need not just to continue as we have been doing but to expand our reach and deepen our impact.

Please continue to invest in education and engagement work across all our differences and commonalities as Americans. We live in a unique place called the United States that has managed to bring out the best of us in all our uniqueness and diversity. Let’s keep our nation a beacon of hope and opportunity. 

Learn more here, and join us by your support at www.ing.org/donate. 

Sincerely,

Maha Elgenaidi

Founder and Executive Director