Muslim group hands out free flowers at South Coast Plaza to promote peace

Representatives of the Muslim Women Network of Southern California were at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Saturday to hand out free Valentine’s Day roses.

The idea was to promote peace, unity, diversity and freedom, the group said.

“There are too many misconceptions about Islam,” Shalizeh Afatbi, a member of the Muslim Women Network, said in an email. “Unfortunately, usually the media … don’t display the life of real Muslims, and mostly they talk about the people that hijacked the name of Islam.”

—Rob Vardon