Veiled woman’s murder shocks America
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Photo posted on the Facebook page One million hijab for Shaima Alawadi by Hayder Aero
Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi woman who wore an Islamic veil, was severely beaten at her home in El Cajon, California last week. Someone left a note at her house stating, “Go back to your country, you terrorist.” She died of her injuries in a hospital bed on March 24.
Fatima Al Himidi, one of the victim’s daughters, said her family had received a threatening letter a week before her mother was attacked. It read: “This is our country, not yours, you terrorists.” According to her daughter, nothing was stolen in the house; she suspects the attack was racially-motivated. For now, the police have not ruled out any possibilities.
Since Alawadi’s murder, hundreds of people have posted messages of solidarity on the Internet.
Some of them have drawn parallels between Alawadi’s murder and that of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager who was shot and killed by a member of a neighbourhood watch in Florida on February 26. In both cases, there has been speculation as to whether the attacks were racially-motivated, and in both cases, hundreds have paid tribute to those killed by posing for photos in the same clothing they were wearing when they died – in Alawadi’s case, a hijab over their heads; in Martin’s case, a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.
Photo posted on the Facebook page One million hijab for Shaima Alawadi by Pablo Trayvon Martin Paredes
Photo posted on the Facebook page One million hijab for Shaima Alawadi by Gil-nam Moon
Photo posted on Twitter by Aysha AlQassimi