#MuslimLivesMatter

By

Saima Sheikh

I was horrified to read the news of the murders of three Muslims in Raleigh, North Carolina. As I learned the details of the brutal murders of Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and Abu-Salha’s sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, this sounded more like a movie than real life. I couldn’t believe that three young people who had so much potential and a bright future ahead of them were killed ‘execution style,’ meaning that they were shot in the head.

The alleged gunman, 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks, is in police custody facing three counts of first-degree murder after turning himself in after the shooting. The police haven’t mentioned a motive yet, but did say that Craig Hicks and his Muslim neighbors had a “parking dispute” over some parking spaces. Hicks is an anti-theist and made it no secret he disliked all religions.

The father of the two sisters, Mohammad Abu-Salha, said his daughter — who wore the Muslim headscarf and lived next door to Hicks — hadreportedly told her familya week earlier “that she had a hateful neighbor.” He also said that in the past,she had told her familythat Hicks picked on her and her husband and would talk to them while carrying his gun in his belt, making them feel extremely uncomfortable. ” ‘Honest to God,’ she said, ‘He hates us for what we are and how we look.”

Following the shootings, Hicks’ wife, Karen Diane Haggerty said, “This incident had nothing to do with religion or the victims’ faith but was related to a longstanding parking dispute that my husband had with the neighbors” Her attorney said that Craig “had a problem with many of his neighbors,” and that the “victims were at the wrong time and the wrong place.” What? They were home and Hicks came and shot them. So, being at home at any time is somehow the wrong place and the wrong time? Rubbish!

All day Wednesday and Thursday, none of the major news outlets covered the story. The morning shows only had a one-line ticker about the killings. The evening world news mentioned the murders but again emphasized the “parking dispute” story angle.  The only place that mentioned these murders was on Twitter. Hashtags such as #ChapelHillShooting and #MuslimLivesMatter were trending all day on Twitter. I can’t believe the hypocrisy of the American media outlets. If this was a Muslim man killing three White Christian Americans, the media and American public would have been in arms ready to blame all Muslims and Islam.

Christian Evangelicals like Franklin Graham, would have promoted more bigotry against Muslims. Fox News hosts, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and then likes of Bill Maher and Sam Harris would have had a field day bashing Muslims. The bias by American media when it comes to reporting the murders of innocent Muslims is obvious. All lives matter, yes, even Muslim lives.

Follow Saima on twitter at @SaimaGSheikh