Tragedy in Chapel Hill: ‘If the Murderer Were Muslim the Story Would Have Been Different’ · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

A tribute to Deah Barakat and Yusor and Razan Abu-Salha, by @_mz_cool
“We're all one, one culture,” said 21-year-old student Yusor Abu-Salha last year in an interview recorded by the StoryCorps project about growing up in the United States.
This week, Abu-Salha, along with her sister Razan (19) and husband Deah Barakat (23), were brutally murdered in their home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Police have arrested their neighbor, Craig Stephen Hicks, and charged him with first-degree murder. While stories from the two young women's friends paint Hicks as an angry man who scared them on occasion, Hicks’ wife has portrayed her husband as a tolerant man and claimed that the triple murder was prompted by “a parking dispute.”
There has been an outpouring of reactions in response to what many see as a crime motivated by hate. Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha, the father of Yusor and Razan, called on US President Barack Obama from the funeral to investigate the murders as a hate crime; reports state that the FBI has indeed launched an investigation.
Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdoğan criticized President Obama's silence on the killings, stating: “If you stay silent when faced with an incident like this, and don't make a statement, the world will stay silent towards you.” His was a sentiment echoed by many, including politicians in the Middle East, as Juan Cole points out.
On social media, people criticized the media's response, noting that it was both slower than is typical for similar crimes and that the alleged killer's background was not a topic of discussion as it would likely be if he were Arab or Muslim.
Palestinian journalist Ali Abunimah tweeted:
I remind you, Obama responded immediately to Kansas City Jewish Center shooting. Contrast his silence on Chapel Hill http://t.co/yCGkvJKDkp
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) February 12, 2015
In a series of tweets, Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami synthesized the reactions of many when she said:
We may not know all the details about the white shooter and Muslim victims, but we know how the media would cover it if roles were reversed.
— Laila Lalami (@LailaLalami) February 11, 2015
The futility of a dispute over a parking space is already being used as evidence that the murders are not motivated by bigotry.
— Laila Lalami (@LailaLalami) February 11, 2015
But if a Muslim had shot three people over a parking space, the futility of the dispute itself would be used as evidence of his savagery.
— Laila Lalami (@LailaLalami) February 11, 2015
Palestinian-American journalist Sara Yasin pointed to the absurdity of certain media claims with this tweet:
If you haven't investigated it yet, how do you know that it's not a hate crime?
— Sara Yasin (@missyasin) February 11, 2015
Mohammed Al Shuhail, from Saudi Arabia, remarks:
يصبح الإسلام كله إرهاب عندما يكون الجاني مسلماً، أما #مجزرة_شابيل_هل فهذه جريمة لا اكثر !. #ChapelHillShooting pic.twitter.com/0HZaRbf9NT
— محمد الشهيل (@Mafalsh) February 11, 2015
All adherents of the religion Islam become terrorists when the culprit is a Muslim, but with the Chapel Hill Shooting, it is just a crime and nothing more ..
This tweet by Muthker Ben Samhan, a teacher from Al Qaseem, Saudi Arabia, was retweeted 95 times and reads:
لو القاتل مسلم لشن الإعلام الغربي حربًا على الإسلام والمسلمين لكن القاتل منهم وهذه تسمى حادثة عرضية!! #مجزرة_شابيل_هل #ChapelHillShooting
— مذكر مسلط ابن سحمان (@ben_sehman) February 11, 2015
If the murderer was Muslim, the Western media would have waged a war against Islam and Muslims but because the murderer was one of them, this is just an incident
And Saudi Saud Bas tells his 8,000 followers on Twitter:
#مجزرة_شابيل_هل في الإعلام لا يسمى شابيل هل ارهابي لأنه غير مسلم (( يسمونه مجرم )) الإرهاب فقط للمسلمين.
— سعود باس (@riirs) February 11, 2015
In the media, the murderer of Chapel Hill is not called a terrorist but just a murderer.
Terrorism is just restricted to Muslims