The Story Behind Viral Photo of Muslim Family and Jewish Family Protesting Immigration Ban Together in Chicago
— -- Amid stories of heartbreak and devastation in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive order restricting immigration from seven predominately Muslim countries, a photo of hope has touched thousands of people on social media.
The photo, taken on Monday by Chicago Tribune photographer Nuccio DiNuzzo, shows a Muslim father and daughter bonding with a Jewish father and son at a protest against Trump's order at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
DiNuzzo posted the photo to Twitter, and it has since been re-tweeted over 12,000 times and "liked" more than 19,000 times.
"It's about human beings being together in harmony," DiNuzzo said of his photo in a Chicago Tribune report.
The two fathers told ABC News today they were surprised at how many people have been moved by the photograph. Both agreed, though, that the story behind the photo, and the new friendship that has come out of it, is truly incredible.
Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell said that he had never met Satih Yildrim, the Muslim father in the photo, before the protest.
Bendat-Appell said he and his 9-year-old son, Adin, decided to go because they felt Trump's order "went against our sense of American values and also struck home personally for us as Jews."
"My wife's grandparents were Holocaust survivors and refugees for a number of years after World War II," he said. "In addition, Jewish tradition is so clear that we have the imperative to remember that we were once enslaved, suffered and strangers in a land not our own, so we have an obligation to respond actively and lovingly to those in a similar situation today."
Yildrim told ABC News that he, his wife and four kids went to the protest because they felt Trump's order was "unjust, and we wanted to stand up against this as a family."
He added that he and his wife were really moved by the lawyers who were offering free services at the airport.
The two fathers eventually bumped into each other at the protest and started chatting.
"It was a really sweet conversation," Bendat-Appell said. "Much of it wasn't even political at all, just us connecting and laughing about human things like food our shared struggle to find a halal steakhouse."
Bendat-Appell added, "Despite being of different faiths, it was pretty cool how we looked so alike that we could be cousins and that we share the same sense of humanity and values."
Yildrim said he was surprised that so many people have shared the photo.
"I almost feel bad about all this praise and positive feedback we're receiving because we were just doing something so normal," he said. "We're not heroes or extraordinary."
Yildrim said he hopes the photograph does inspire others to "get to know one another and learn more about cultures and religions different from their own."
According to Bendat-Appell, his family and Yildrim's family will be getting together for dinner next week.
"We'll definitely be keeping in touch," Bendat-Appell said. "We've been truly humbled by how this has given people hope and a sense that the things that divide us don’t need to."
