News

On Tuesday evening, we graduated our most recent cohort of MAJICians, and we take inspiration from them in this moment. They have been doing this work for a full year in some of the most difficult circumstances for Muslim and Jewish teens in the US right now. And they persevered.

  @abcnews highlighted NewGround and our Executive Director, Aziza Hasan, in a new article saying: "One of the most powerful moments for me, however, was one of the most somber." The iftar held by NewGround, a group led by executive director Aziza Hasan and associate director Andrea Hodos – Palestinian and Jewish, respectively – brought together dozens of Muslims and Jewish people.

Last weekend, our current cohort of Professional Fellows convened the first NewGround Symposium, an opportunity for NewGround community members to come together under the guidance of the Fellows to discuss the intense topics that these Fellows have grappled with over the past year: anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hate and bias, the interconnections between them, and the many painful stories connected to Israel Palestine and the crisis in Gaza.

We are in search of strong candidates for next year’s MAJIC cohort. Learning to listen resiliently and speak with courageous compassion is more critical than ever before. MAJIC provides the space to have rough draft conversations and build coalition skills at a time when polarization is ripping us apart.