Monday, October 31, 2016

She's Jewish. Her BFF is Muslim. And their costumes just won Halloween.

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Last year, best friends Casey Pearlman and Yasmin Idris were chatting about what their two religions have in common during a car ride.

Casey is Jewish, and Yasmin is Muslim, and a spectacular new word was born: Juslim.

The term — coined by Casey's dad, Jeff — was a perfect descriptor for any ideas or values that the two faiths share.

Yasmin Idris (left) and Casey Pearlman (right). Photo courtesy of Catherine Pearlman, used with permission.

Fast forward to Halloween 2016, and the two 13-year-olds from California may have just won the holiday by turning the term into an original costume creation.

Internet, meet the Juslims: an intolerance-fighting superhero team for the ages.

Photo courtesy of Catherine Pearlman, used with permission.

"The delightful thing about their costume is that it was thoughtless," Casey's mom, Catherine, said. "It was so authentic to the nature of who they are and their friendship."

Jeff shared a photo of his daughter and Yasmin as the Juslims online.

And even for him — a best-selling author with thousands of Twitter followers — the photo took off, going viral overnight.

Reactions to the photo have been "absolutely amazing and mind-blowing," Catharine said, garnering attention from places like Egypt and the U.K. — even landing a coveted retweet from author J.K. Rowling.  

"If you’re a kid and you make a fun costume with your friend, and you don’t think anything of it," she said. "And then there’s people all over the world who are responding to your homemade superhero costume, it’s pretty special."

Twitter users began chiming in on what the costumes meant to them using the #Juslims hashtag.

What's truly remarkable to Catherine, however, is that her daughter's friendship with Yasmin couldn't be more ... unremarkable.

And that's probably a reassuring breath of fresh air to many people who've been discouraged by a divisive election season.

Photo courtesy of Catherine Pearlman, used with permission.

"To me, their biggest statement is that it wasn’t a statement to them," Catherine said. "They don’t feel different to each other. They feel like eighth-grade girls."

Their superpower — watching each other's backs — is another reason why the pair totally owned Halloween 2016.

"We’re a super team," Yasmin told BuzzFeed. "Like, friends forever."

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