One Million Hijabs For Shaima Alawadi: Women Wear Hijabs In Support Of Slain Iraqi Woman
Photo: Facebook page of “One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi” By Omar Sacirbey Religion News Service (RNS) Jean Younis won’t be wearing an Easter bonnet at church this Sunday. Instead, the office manager at Bonita Valley Adventist Church in National City, Calif., will don an Islamic headscarf to support the family and friends of Shaima Alawadi, the Iraqi immigrant and mother of five who died March 24, three days after being beaten in her home in El Cajon, Calif. “I do expect a reaction, but that’s the point. It needs to be discussed,” said Younis, 59, who predicted that most church members would be supportive or respectfully inquisitive. She is one of many non-Muslim women to post photos of themselves wearing a headscarf on “One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi,” a recently created Facebook Page that had nearly 10,000 likes on Monday (April 2) and hundreds of photos. Others posting on the page have identified themselves as Catholics, Quakers, Mennonites, Jews, Pagans, and atheists. Alawadi, 32, fled Iraq in 1993 and settled in Dearborn, Mich., before she moved to California where she and her husband worked for the U.S. military, providing cultural training. Supporters worry that because of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S., Alawadi’s murder, which many believe was hate crime, would be overlooked. Alawadi’s killer has not been caught. “I am a devout Christian and will be wearing hijab as a prayer in April,” wrote Karen Streeter of Pasadena, Calif., next to her photo of herself in a hijab. “Growing up, I was bullied because I was different from others, so I have had a taste of what it is like to be harassed because of how you look.” entire article at source
Jean Younis won’t be wearing an Easter bonnet at church this Sunday. Instead, the office manager at Bonita Valley Adventist Church in National City, Calif., will don an Islamic headscarf to support the family and friends of Shaima Alawadi, the Iraqi immigrant and mother of five who died March 24, three days after being beaten in her home in El Cajon, Calif. “I do expect a reaction, but that’s the point. It needs to be discussed,” said Younis, 59, who predicted that most church members would be supportive or respectfully inquisitive. She is one of many non-Muslim women to post photos of themselves wearing a headscarf on “One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi,” a recently created Facebook Page that had nearly 10,000 likes on Monday (April 2) and hundreds of photos. Others posting on the page have identified themselves as Catholics, Quakers, Mennonites, Jews, Pagans, and atheists. Alawadi, 32, fled Iraq in 1993 and settled in Dearborn, Mich., before she moved to California where she and her husband worked for the U.S. military, providing cultural training. Supporters worry that because of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S., Alawadi’s murder, which many believe was hate crime, would be overlooked. Alawadi’s killer has not been caught. “I am a devout Christian and will be wearing hijab as a prayer in April,” wrote Karen Streeter of Pasadena, Calif., next to her photo of herself in a hijab. “Growing up, I was bullied because I was different from others, so I have had a taste of what it is like to be harassed because of how you look.” entire article at source