You may have thought a quirky new secret society was budding at U of T last Thursday if you happened upon one of three locations providing free humus and pita. Actually, it was the culmination of Jewish student group Hillel’s “More Humus, Less Hamas” anti-terror campaign.

The humus and pita was served at Sid Smith, the Junior Commons Room at University College, and the basement of the Sir Sanford Fleming building. Hillel has been distributing buttons and stickers to promote the campaign for the past several weeks.

“The goal of the campaign is to truly promote peace, and condemn terror,” says Hillel Public Relations Coordinator Johanna Herman. “Humus is one of the main foods that both Israelis and Palestinians share. There are commonalities that must be built upon to work towards peace.”

Hillel wishes to show that the Middle East has a rich culture, not just the “warfare, bloodshed and terror” usually associated with it, said Herman. She explained that “hamas” refers to the Hamas activists who “have conducted many attacks-including large-scale suicide bombings-against Israeli civilian and military targets.”

The campaign is “an important student initiative which hopefully can foster relationships between Jews and Muslims, Hillel and the MSA,” said Ben Bach, a representative on the SAC Board of Directors. It “promotes understanding between the two cultures instead of terrorism and violence,” said Bach.

David Kolinsky, Communications Director for the Muslim Student’s Association, had no comment regarding Hillel’s campaign.

Besides being fed, students were also asked to sign a pre-written postcard addressed to Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Signers supported a petition that calls on the United Nations “to declare that suicide bombings and acts of terror against civilians are “crimes against humanity,” as stipulated in the Nurenberg principles.” They ask that “those political, governmental, military and religious organizations who engage in these activities, and those who are complicit in the commission of these crimes, be prosecuted to the fullest extent of International Law.”

The postcards will be sent to Kofi Annan en masse.