GEORGIA – A leading American Muslim organization has launched a new outreach program to educate conservatives about mainstream Islamic beliefs and practices, in a bid to reduce Islamophobia which has reached a new level.

“During the 2000 presidential election, many American Muslims voted for George W. Bush,” Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director of the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-GA), said in a statement published on the group’s website. .

“However, the rise of violent extremism overseas, as well as Islamophobia here at home, has led some conservatives to fear and even loathe their neighbors. Georgia Muslims—who love God, family, and country as much as any other American—hope to put those fears to bed by addressing them head-on at their source.”

CAIR’s Georgia chapter will make overtures to conservative and Tea Party-affiliated groups across the state with an offer to deliver an “Islam 101” presentation, according to a press release sent to The Daily Caller.

The presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer period about various topics including terrorism. There will also be meet-and-greet sessions.

“Georgia Muslims look forward to meeting, greeting and dialoguing with various political groups, including Republican and Tea Party-affiliated activists,” Mitchell said. “We’re willing to answer any and all questions about Islam and American Muslims, whether those questions are tame or critical.”

Mitchell, who regularly delivers Islam 101 lectures to church groups and mosque visitors on behalf of CAIR-GA and the Islamic Community Center of Atlanta, recently sat for a joint WABE interview with a local Tea Party leader in which the two men discussed the “unexpected friendship” that developed after they engaged in interfaith dialogue.