(AhlulBayt News Agency) - New Yorkers showed their solidarity with Muslim women by donning stars and stripes headscarves at rally on World Hijab Day - just days after President Trump's controversial travel ban.
Dozens of women gathered on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday on the fifth year of the annual event. It was created by New York resident, Nazma Khan, who hoped it would help foster religious tolerance and understanding by inviting both non-Muslims and Muslims to experience the hijab for one day.
It has become an international event, with women all over America and the world experiencing the realities of wearing a hijab - a head covering worn by some Muslim women in the presence of men who are not their immediate family members.
New York officials have endorsed the event in the face of a soaring number of hate crimes in recent months.
Attacks on Muslims have tripled in the past year, with many Muslim women reporting experiences of abuse when they wear their traditional headscarves.
Just last week, Asma Elhuni, a Muslim American, claims she suffered racial stereotyping after a man branded her a 'b***h' and demanded to know if she had a green card during a confrontation at an Atlanta coffee house.
'Rooted in the American principles of religious freedom and liberty, the World Hijab Day movement seeks to end the discrimination and judgment that comes with wearing a hijab.'
Founder Khan, who moved to New York from Bangladesh when she was 11, explained that she started the day as a way to end the discrimination that many hijab-wearers faced in America.
'Growing up in the Bronx, in NYC, I experienced a great deal of discrimination due to my hijab, 'she said. 'In middle school, I was 'Batman' or 'ninja'. When I entered University after 9/11, I was called Osama bin laden or terrorist. It was awful. I figured the only way to end discrimination is if we ask our fellow sisters to experience hijab themselves.'
This year's event had extra significance as it also came just days after Donald Trump issued his executive order banning anyone from a list of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Initially even Green Card holders were turned away at the airport.
In New York, NYPD officers Aml Elsokary and Maritza Morales, who both donned the American flag headscarves, were joined by the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the South Asian Fund For Education, Scholarship & Training, public officials and other civil society organizations.
At the University of New Mexico, students held a World Hijab Day booth and asked non-Muslim students to take photos of themselves in hijabs and post them on social media.
Events were held at campuses and cities across the states while campaigners tweeted out pictures of themselves in their hijabs with the hashtag: #IStand4Hijab and #WorldHijabDay.
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