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“Blind Trust” catches on internationally

(Photo: YouTube/In the Now)

A social experiment conducted by Muslim Canadian university students has caught on internationally, following the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.

Last January, Mustafa Mawla, who moved to Canada from Saudi Arabia in 2001, stood blindfolded at the busy Toronto intersection of Dundas and Yonge streets. With him were two signs. The first read, I am a Muslim, I am labeled as a terrorist. The second stated, I trust you, Do you trust me? Give me a hug.

The response was astounding, as many people stopped to embrace the 21-year-old.

“It was very daunting in the beginning,” he told the Toronto Star. “You’re kind of wondering if you’re going to get hugs or not, and if someone is going to attack you or not.”

The video, titled Blind Trust Project, has since been viewed over 2 million times.

He says some of the feedback he’s received calls him out for doing such an experiment in Canada, a country known for being welcoming.

“But then people have been recreating it in New York, Michigan, Germany and Norway, and they received the same kind of response,” he says.

Another video that’s recently gone viral shows a similar clip in Paris, near a vigil for the victims of the terrorist attacks. In the clip, a Muslim man stands blindfolded, as a crowd surrounds him and people give him hugs and whisper words of encouragement.

“He’s definitely a courageous person, and I was very surprised by the reaction he received,” Mawla told the paper, adding that he doesn’t know the man.

Assma Galuta, a university student from Ottawa, launched the Blind Trust Project as a way to “break down barriers” and “challenge” how people might perceive Muslims, the Star reports.

“Education is key. When you don’t understand something, you fear it,” she told the Star.

She says she’s overwhelmed by the reaction the Paris video received.

“Because of the things that you hear and see, and some of the really hurtful things people have been saying, blaming all these attacks on Muslims in general, it was very nice to see that the French were still very welcoming and giving the encouragement and support to the Muslim community,” she told the Star.