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Opening Books, Opening Minds at the Festival |
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Monday, 01 May 2006 |
 With critics pointing a harsh finger at Muslims and the Arab world, Alia Dada and Shahid Ali could not have been more pleased with the crowds gathered around their little information booth at the 11th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday.
By day's end, they had handed out more than 1,500 free paperback English translations of the Koran and answered hundreds of sometimes tough questions about their faith.
Refilling the diminishing stack of Korans on her display table over the weekend, Ali said a few visitors even "came up to apologize for having said negative things about Islamists in the past."
Theirs was one of 350 booths visited by an estimated 127,500 people during the two-day book festival, a community event designed to celebrate the written word and bring together a critical mass of readers and authors to develop ideas and discuss the hottest topics of the day.
On the sprawling grounds of UCLA, thousands of readers listened in on crowded panel discussions and packed book booths in search of their own special interests.
"It's amazing, almost a miracle, that people are so interested in Islam right now," said Ali, a 24-year-old college student majoring in international business. "The fact that so many people are taking Korans will only help dispel misconceptions.
"We are not terrorists," she added, "and we're here to spread that message."
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