CALIFORNIA – A pair of a Muslim and Jewish 13-year-old friends have sent a message of unity to the American community by dressing up as a superhero team for Halloween, thus laying a common ground for followers of two faiths.
“There’s just so much hostility in the air and in this election season,” Jeff Pearlman, the father of Casey, who is a Jewish, told BuzzFeed News on Sunday, October 31.
“This was just a refreshing, innocent reminder that we don’t have to be this way. We do not have to let this divisiveness take over right now.”
Casey Pearlman and Yasmin Idris, both 13, are best friends and classmates in Laguna Niguel, California.
The pair, a Muslim and a Jewish, decided to dress up as a superhero team for Halloween which they called, “The Juslims.”
The team’s costume went viral after Casey’s dad, Pearlman, tweeted a photo of the superhero duo on Saturday, saying, “My daughter is Jewish. Her best pal is Muslim. For Halloween they created a superhero team: The Juslims. I’ve rarely been more proud. Truly.”
The tweet by Pearlman, a best-selling author with 50,000 followers, has since gone viral, with tens of thousands of people sharing it.
My daughter is Jewish. Her best pal is Muslim. For Halloween they created a superhero team: The Juslims. I’ve rarely been more proud. Truly. pic.twitter.com/zqPCCwzshR
— jeffpearlman (@jeffpearlman) October 30, 2016
The girls designed their JM glittery superhero logo, which stands for Jewish-Muslim. As their school does not allow religious or offensive costumes, their t-shirts also had a disclaimer: “Don’t worry, it’s not religious, it’s not offensive.”
Casey and Yasmin told BuzzFeed News that the word “Juslims” was coined by Casey’s dad during a car ride last year while the three of them were discussing things both religions had in common.
“We were making up fun names that combined both of our religions together and he decided to call it ‘Juslims,’” Casey said. “And we kind of stuck to it for a long time,” Yasmin said.
NO Trump
Though starting as a funny costume for Halloween this year, the girls see their unity as opposite to what Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump believes in.
“When we realized that we were standing up to what [Donald Trump] believes in, that kinda made me really happy,” Casey said, referring to Trump’s rhetoric against Muslims, women, and immigrants.
“Me and Yasmin both disagree with almost everything that [Trump’s] deciding to do,” Casey said.
“That didn’t at first influence our costume idea. But when we realized it was standing up to what he believes in, that kind of made me really happy.”
On Twitter, people could not stop raving about the new superhero duo in town.
“The Juslims is my new favorite super hero story,” Lexi Alexander wrote on Twitter.
“The Juslims win Halloween. It’s over ya’ll,” another added.
However, the girls said they received very few negative reactions from people at school who thought the costumes were “racist” or “offensive to religions.”
“We explained to them that it wasn’t, but we can’t change somebody’s mind,” Yasmin said.
“I’m Muslim and she’s Jewish; I’m black and she’s white. I think it’s really empowering for people to see us as role models in saying let’s stop the war and to show equality between all people,” Yasmin said.
After the massive and largely positive response to Pearlman’s tweet, the girls said they were excited and happy to have spread a valuable message.
“I think a lot of people find it really interesting that kids are standing up against a lot of what’s happening in the media and the world right now,” Casey said. “People were impressed that kids realize that and want to change something.
“There are wars happening between these two religions and races and this is kind of like integration,” Yasmin said.
The Juslims’ superpowers? “To watch each other’s back,” Yasmin said. “We’re a super team, like friends forever.”