Sunday 15 February 2015

Not a Parking Dispute

It's not Tuesday, my usual Blogging Day. But three have been lost from three shots: Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha. I disagree that their deaths occurred over a parking dispute. I'm shocked that the police are not inclined to treat it as a hate crime. How much evidence do we have that it was so? Craig Hicks was known to post on Facebook anti-religious statements. He had not started bothering them until Yusor Abu-Salha move in. He turned himself in. How many would do such an act for only a parking space, have an almost-divorced wife state the reason, and turn themselves in? It's the first time I've heard of it. I believe that the crime was a hate crime. I believe Islamophobia is why it is not being treated as so. The police in Chapel Hill. The anti-Muslim protesters in Europe last month. Those that use the human gift of communication to insult those for their race or religion. Why are so many afraid of those that are different from them, those that struggle each day under their stereotypes when fact points against such ideas? To those that knew them and loved them, I know they were so close to your heart. Simply because a man acted on an idea, a stereotype, and turned his idea to hatred, they're not here. What remains are the memories they created and their impact on the world. What remains is fear for the rest of us. What also remains is hope for the rest of us. We must stop using the first thing we hear to judge others, rushing to greet stereotypes and then holding onto them like protons to electrons (Positive charges to negative charges, for those without a Science background). We must stop putting every person on the same shelf for what they are called. We must look at the person and not the words they're called. Look at the three and you won't see Muslim as in person that states a woman must stay at home and be a man's slave. You see Muslim as in dental students. A couple that loved each other. A dentist that made kids smile. Giving dental care to refugees in Syria. Charity. Humanity. Enjoying non-Muslim friends. Being kind to others regardless of their religion. Examples of Islam. There is so much we lost at the three shots.

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