Thrive
St. Pete comes together for love and compassion
Hundreds of residents representing all faiths came together Tuesday to “embrace their fellow human beings.”
The Tampa Bay Area Muslim Association held its 5th annual Iftar Dinner at the St. Petersburg Coliseum. The event celebrates the traditional after-sunset dinner amongst loved ones following a day of fasting in recognition of Ramadan.
In a letter to guests, the Iftar Dinner Committee noted that the event’s theme and mission is “breaking bread together with love and compassion – two necessary pillars of every well-functioning society.” There was no assigned seating as organizers encouraged attendees to share a table with people of varying beliefs.
“Your presence here tonight is emblematic of all that is great about America; the United States of America,” read the welcoming letter. “Compassion pushes us to contemplate matters from others’ perspectives so that we may muster the courage to open our minds and hearts … And once we do, it becomes impossible for us not to love the beauty of not only our similarities, but our differences.”
While speakers did not address the antisemitic fliers distributed by an unknown group just a few days before the event, the incident underscored the need for the themes of love, peace and compassion espoused during the presentations. Residents in the Old Northeast neighborhood of St. Petersburg reported finding the fliers in local book exchange boxes Sunday.
Although the materials left in the Little Free Libraries propagated hateful antisemitic claims, they did not make threats, and the property was undamaged. The First Amendment protects placing the fliers.
After the event, Mike Igel, chairman of the Florida Holocaust Museum, compared the contrasting idealogy to looking through “a prism of society.” He explained that people spreading hatred and misinformation about Jewish people just before the city came together as one community represents a constant societal battle.
“I continue to know in my heart and believe that the good side will always outshine the bad side,” Igel said. “But that doesn’t happen by mistake. It takes action in order for us to be successful.”
Reverend Linda McLeod, vice president of Interfaith Tampa Bay, implored Iftar attendees to “be open to what you don’t know.”
“Love is the one thing that binds us all together,” McLeod added. “When I can look at you and see you – and not the color of your skin or your faith or what I think about you, but I see you as a person – then I can hear and listen to you.”
Reverend Linda McLeod, vice president of Interfaith Tampa Bay, said her church was also defaced over the weekend.
After the presentations, and as Muslims kneeled for prayer while others lined up to receive their meals, McLeod relayed that a group also defaced her South St. Pete church over the weekend. Officials found crosses painted on the building as they arrived for Sunday service.
While Interfaith Tampa Bay is a new “thought community” that promotes religious pluralism alongside community service, she said the incident was confusing because “we’re a very Christian church.”
She said both incidents show that “people are just hurting and don’t know how to express love. So, we have to express love for them.”
“With the antisemitics and all of this other stuff, it’s really about fear,” McLeod said. “We need to find a way to come together and love – like this dinner. Coming together as a collective community will eliminate a lot of that.”
Mayor Ken Welch said that hundreds showing support for their Muslim neighbors embodied the city’s “We Are St. Pete” motto. He noted the smiles and love filling the event space and several familiar faces “who wouldn’t be anywhere else but here tonight.”
Several city and county officials attended the event, and Welch recognized former Mayor Rick Kriseman, who helped launch the annual Iftar Dinner. Welch called the night a “powerful expression of unity.”
“An expression we should display not only during the holy month of Ramadan but every day.”
A group of Muslim women engage in prayer before dinner.
Ayesha K. Mustafaa – a prominent journalist, community activist and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organization’s 2022 National Muslim Woman Achievement Award winner – was the event’s keynote speaker. As the last presentation before a special meal, she aptly used food metaphors to support her message.
Mustafaa took umbrage with using the term “melting pot” to describe the nation’s population. She believes America is more like a “great salad bowl.”
Rather than trying to melt everyone down into a homogenized mixture, Mustafaa said people should celebrate their distinct and valuable differences. She also noted that if a Muslim receives pork at dinner, they should push it aside and continue eating instead of becoming upset.
Similarly, when people have insignificant differences, Mustafaa said they should brush them aside and remain thankful for the rest of the “meal.” She added that the Muslim community and people of all faiths have the opportunity to come together and achieve great things if, as former President Barack Obama once said, they can “unclench their fists.”
“Let us not get in perpetual wars,” Mustafaa said. “Let us not get into perpetual disputes. Let us pause and take time to unclench our fists and really get to know other human beings.”
