NOVANEWS
by Jody Mcintyre
I can’t believe that I haven’t read such a headline in the last 48 hours since three citizens in the USA were murdered at their home by a gun-toting, racist individual who lived next door to them. Deah Barakat, aged 23, and his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, aged 21, were being visited by her younger sister Razan, aged 19. All three were to be martyred, for no other reason than the way they look, and what they believe in.
If Islam was a violent religion in any sense of the term, would a world with 1.6 billion Muslims spread across the entire Earth be safe from terrorism for one second? In fact, to use one example, 87% of mass shootings in the US are committed by Caucasians aged 13-56, which I have a feeling might not completely reflect the common perception of terrorist attacks.
Unlike crimes where Muslims are the perpetrator, the word is “terrorist” is never even thought about, let alone beamed across the media in the hours following the event. With the exception of the Independent, not a single mainstream media organisation had this as a top story – the Guardian didn’t even have it as a story! The Metro settled for a brief item on page 23. It would be almost unbelievable, but only if we had expected anything else.
The reaction of the family’s victims is inspiring, and conveys the psychological and emotional strength of people with real faith in their heart.
Crimes like this could happen on a much more regular basis if the media are allowed to continue to propagate an unending, constant stream of anti-Islamic rhetoric and “opinion”. I’m not shy to say this – Craig Hicks killed these three young people because they were Muslim. We were then shown interviews with Hicks’ wife, who says they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is to say, at home, and neighbours who said that Hicks’ was unfriendly to everyone regardless of their background. I would have to observe that none of his other neighbourly disputes resulted in a triple murder.
Deah, Yusor and Razan are going to touch the hearts of millions, just like they did mine. They didn’t lose their lives for nothing.
