BOSTON – A story of a jewish man who warmly greeted a Muslim mother and her children at a Barnes & Noble and bought them gifts, has gone viral. 

Leena Al-Arian, an American from Greater Boston, wrote in a Facebook post about the moment a stranger, Lenny, a Jewish-American, approached her at a Barnes & Noble and told her how beautiful her daughters were and apologized for the anti-Muslim sentiment in society today.

“He had tears in his eyes and told me that it must be so hard to turn on the news, that he feels awful about the bigotry my kids might one day experience, and that as a Jewish man whose parents didn’t speak any English growing up, he personally understands what it feels like to be rejected and discriminated against,” she said.

Al-Arian told Yahoo News that she had taken her 4-year-old, Hiba, and 20-month-old, Huda, to the bookstore on Wednesday to meet characters from the cartoon “Paw Patrol.” 

After meeting Lenny, Al-Arian asked if she could hug him because it looked like he needed one (and she needed one as well). He reassured her that most Americans are not prejudiced against Muslims and don’t believe everything they hear in the news.

“There’s been so much hostility toward Muslims, and this hateful rhetoric has become mainstream. I wanted people to know that there’s still goodness, kindness, compassion and love of humanity. Love trumps the politics of fear.” 

Al-Arian said Lenny offered to buy presents for her children so they could have something to remember him with, but she suggested simply taking a picture together. He insisted on buying the presents anyway.

“I think they are a little bit too young to understand still the general hostility towards Muslims. They were excited to get new toys, for sure,” she said. “They saw the emotion for sure, especially my older one.”