These Jewish and Muslim Best Friends Go Viral as ‘Juslim’ Superheroes for Halloween

Image by Catherine Pearlman
A simple halloween costume just made the collective internet community a very, very happy place.
13-year-old Casey Pearlman is Jewish and her best friend Yasmin Idris, also 13, is Muslim. Together, they decided to dress up as a superhero team called “The Juslims” for Halloween. They donned capes with the initials JM written in glitter on the back, along with bright yellow t-shirts that read: “Don’t worry, it’s not religious, it’s not offensive,” to ensure they didn’t break any of their school’s rules.
Casey’s father, Jeff Pearlman, tweeted out a picture of the two in their superhero costumes, writing: “My daughter is Jewish. Her best pal is Muslim. For Halloween they created a superhero team: The Juslims. I’ve rarely been more proud. Truly.”
My daughter is Jewish. Her best pal is Muslim. For Halloween they created a superhero team: The Juslims. I’ve rarely been more proud. Truly. pic.twitter.com/zqPCCwzshR
— jeffpearlman (@jeffpearlman) October 30, 2016
That tweet has since gone viral, garnering nearly 50,000 retweets, 91,000 likes and a whole lot of happy commenters.
“Parenting done right!”
Parenting done right! https://t.co/1M4HsM8oyP
— Alaa Basatneh (@AlaaBasatneh) October 31, 2016
“A true definition of girl power! ? #respect”
@jeffpearlman @BntA7mad A true definition of girl power! ? #respect
— IKEA UAE (@IKEAUAE) October 31, 2016
“faith in humanity. Restored. #TeamJuslims”
@jeffpearlman @jk_rowling faith in humanity. Restored. #TeamJuslims ✌?️❤️
— Alison AB (@AlisonBousa) October 31, 2016
Pearlman credits the current political climate for all the positive feedback his daughter and her best friend have been receiving.
“There’s been this tidal wave of anti-everything,” he said in a phone interview. “There’s been a palpable feeling of hatred this election cycle that I’ve never seen in my lifetime.”
Their costume, he explained, serves as a small reminder that all of that negativity is just “nonsense.”
“It’s so simplistic. Two kids in a halloween costume. They weren’t trying to send a message, they weren’t trying to be political. They were just two kids who thought it was a funny costume,” he said. “That’s kind of the innocent beauty of it all.”

Image by Catherine Pearlman
Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Opinion Is this new documentary giving voice to American Jewish anguish — or simply stoking fear?
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee said there’s ‘no such thing as a Palestinian.’ It’s worth thinking about what that means
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Think every Palestinian in Gaza is Hamas? This week’s protests prove you’re wrong
-
Opinion A Palestinian Oscar-winner’s arrest shocked the world. For these Jewish activists, it was terrifyingly normal
-
Opinion In the Trump administration and Israel, a grotesque display of virility coupled with a loss of humanity
-
Fast Forward Cornell’s new Jewish president says he is ‘very comfortable with where Cornell is currently’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.