You’ve probably seen it on your way to school, or walking back home. A few faces may now seem recognizable, yet you still don’t exactly know what the building’s purpose is.

That building, down the street from HMSA, is the Islamic Center of Hawthorne; it’s recently been on the news for three reasons, bad and good. It was one of two mosques that were vandalized on Sunday. Admin found the message spray painted on the front wall on Sunday morning. It read, ¨Jesus is the way.¨ The two mosques vandalized are being investigated as hate crimes.

Yet, just the day before the vandalism, the Islamic Center of Hawthorne and community members held an interfaith peace march with Saint Joseph’s Catholic School. Abdulkarim Alamad, a junior at HMSA, attended the interfaith peace march. He says, ¨The march was amazing. It truly showed how similar we all are. The march made me realize that good people do exist in this world. Muslims are not alone here. We do have neighbors who are here to live with us peacefully, respecting us as we respect them.”

The vandalism of the two mosques adds up to the growing crimes against Muslims in what is seen as ‘Islamophobia.’ Ever since the Paris attacks on November 13th and the San Bernardino shooting on December 2nd, hate crimes against Muslims have grown — so much so that Muslims are now receiving more backlash than immediately after 9/11.

The media plasters an image, often making Muslims fall victim to a certain fear and hatred. Only days after the San Bernardino shooting, our local Islamic Center of Hawthorne faced backlash when a woman was found yelling that Muslims were responsible for the shooting.

However, love and connection still stand between communities. On November 14th, two days after the interfaith peace walk, students from Saint Joseph Catholic school carried a message of peace and love to Al Huda (the Islamic center school). They carried a poster reading ¨Love one another.¨ It’s truly heartwarming to see compassion and love among the growing negativity and discrimination in the world, especially when it provides comfort and a sense of unity for the victims of harsh times.