Posted on 02/15/2015 9:34:41 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Eastern Michigan University students taped their mouths shut in a silent protest Thursday.
The students wrote #ChapelHillShooting across the tape in honor of the deaths of three students from the University of North Carolina.
Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were Muslim-American students at the University of North Carolina. They were shot Tuesday, Feb. 10, by their neighbor, Craig Steven Hicks, 46. The Chapel Hill police released a statement Tuesday evening citing a parking dispute as Hicks’s motivation.
EMU Junior Layali Alsada and senior Zaeem Zafar created a flyer with their perspective on the shooting and information about the victims.
Alsada and Zafar said if the shooter was not a white male the media would be focused less on the parking spot, and more on his beliefs and background, as they do with minorities in this country.
Ahmed Abbas, a graduate psychology student, helped organize the silent protest.
“There is a clear narrative to how minorities are looked at,” Abbas said. “It seems like minorities are kept aside when it comes to their voices being heard.”
The students wrote #ChapelHillShooting on tape and put it over their mouths and clothes and passed out the flyer they created.
“Before religion, before race, a family just lost three lives,” said Mohamed Nouadir, a senior majoring in political science. “They were aspiring for higher education. They were aspiring to better this nation. Beyond that is the fact that minorities today in the United States don’t have the same rights as white people. Every minority at this point either has to fend for themselves or come together and say, ‘I’m not going to accept this.’ Black lives matter, Muslim lives matter, Native American lives matter.”
Senior Nora Mattar, interior design major, said a silent protest promotes peace.
“The idea of silence at a time like this is really important,” Mattar said. “It encourages everyone in the community to think and reflect. It also eliminates acts of violence and aggression because we’re all very angry and upset. It controls our anger because we can’t yell or get upset about anything. Our strength comes from our silence. It’s very important to be a visual symbol of that and remind people that we are peaceful.”
After researching the shooting, Abbas said he was struck by the similarities between the victims and students at EMU.
“They were people who have been doing the same thing that we have been doing,” Abbas said. “If he was on this campus, we would have worked together. That part connected.”
Students from the University of Michigan gave speeches. Some of the speakers knew the victims and gave their take on the shooting.
Students here on EMU’s campus plan on continuing to raise awareness until Hick’s probable cause trial set for March 4.
“It effects non-Muslims in the reality that today it’s me, tomorrow it might be you,” Abbas said. “You should try to start supporting people who are being discriminated against now so that when the day comes and it’s you, you have a support group coming to aid you and give you assistance.”
Mattar was brought to tears when she talked about the fear she felt after hearing about the shooting.
“I fear for my sister,” Mattar said. “She is in a high school environment and there’s a lot of bullying. I know how hard it can be. Muslims and minorities are dehumanized, but we experience acts of terrorism too.”
LOL! !!
Grow up...!!!
/SShift the Blame for His Losing ISIS Strategy
Not really,my Muslim buddies. The biggest killers of other Muslims are — wait for it — other Muslims! It seems there’s this Sunni Muslim vs. Shi’ite Muslim war that’s been going on for 1400+ years and shows no sign of victory for either side.
.@BOTeleprompter @WhiteHouse @PressSec Obama condemned Islam as "despicable" http://t.co/e0qCZxzQDO #tcot #p2— 1st Native Americans (@Solutrean) February 16, 2015
muslem are subhuman. How can their existence matter in any way. Vermin have no protection. They all have surrendered their ‘Human Being’ membership card as far as I can tell.
Mostly from other Muslims....
Yet it is perfectly okay for Alsada and Zafar (I'm assuming they're Siamese twins hooked at the hip) to automatically call it a hate crime against Muslims BECAUSE the shooter is white?
Where were Alsada and Zafar out on the streets condemning the insane viciousness of their Muslim Brothers beheading, burning and shooting anyone who even looks sideways at Muslims or their cult religion? Hey Al and Za, here's a quarter - go call somebody who gives a rat's patootie.
Did the protestors do this when all the Christians were being killed in Syria and Iraq this pass year???
the only good mooselimb is a dead mooselimb.
That’s an interesting FACT that the news people tend to not remind people...the Battle of Karbala saw Kurd/Sunnis surrounding and killing the grandsons of Muhammad (Shi’ite)...so much for “true” religion....it was about control then as it is now and they will murder, rape, and enslave anyone they deem fit - those of course holding the AK’s...
muslims lives dont matter to me.
“Beyond that is the fact that minorities today in the United States don’t have the same rights as white people. Every minority at this point either has to fend for themselves or come together and say, ‘I’m not going to accept this.’ Black lives matter, Muslim lives matter, Native American lives matter.”
If these primitive barbarians believed this, they wouldn’t be coming here. They are here because they don’t want to live with those Muslims elsewhere.
Any import making a public statement like this should be deported; they have already made it clear that they are not here to be Americans. I expect as much contribution from them as I do our “aggrieved minorities du jour”, urban blacks.
They became America’s second government-certified victim group after 9/11. They were given special privileges, including the right to get away with their crimes.
Muslim lives matter to Islamists only when they are useful for propaganda purposes. Islamist Muslims are generally indifferent.
Egypt and Jordan’s leaders are surprisingly courageous.
#Conservativelivesmatter and #Fetuslivesmatter. Think we will see those?
“Thou shalt not murder” is the Commandment, which means killing will be justified by God and no other.
I fear along with you. I have this awful feeling that BO wants to wipe out as many of our troops as possible and of course he will either blame We the people or Bush.
I fear along with you. I have this awful feeling that BO wants to wipe out as many of our troops as possible and of course he will either blame We the people or Bush.
I pray you are Right! Bless our troops!
Sorry, most Muslims are white. Islam is a religion, not a race. What we are seeing here is the start of a new narrative about this shooting. In a few months the narrative about this shooting will be: "the killer was a Tea Party activist, and the killed were poor minorities".
The religion of psychopathy or the pychopath, are the words that came to mind when reading your first paragraph. And reading your final paragraph, I not only pray, speak to, but praise God, Yaweh, Jehovah, the Great I am, Jesus, the Christ, all day long with out the need to take any ritual break let alone take them 5 times a day. I am praying now within my soul, I pause, I speak to God, asking guidance and I feel God’s eternal presence and thank God the assistance in living my life.
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