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Double Suicide Attack in Baghdad Kills Dozens

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by Rehan Qamar

Another horrific incident occurs in Iraq, adding to the increasing country death toll, as a twin suicide bombing occurs in central Baghdad.

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, at least 27 people were killed and many others injured Monday, from the twin suicide bombing which occurred in a heavily crowded market street in central Baghdad. 

Security forces, and medical teams rushed to the scene to contain the area after the attack, hurrying to clear the debris and help as many people as possible. Injuries totaled to about 100 people, officials said. 

Most of the victims included large groups of laborers who usually gathered in the morning looking for work.

Monday’s suicide attack marked the second deadliest attack to hit the city of Baghdad in the past three days.

Earlier that week, on a Saturday, a suicide bomber attacked a Shitte gathering in a market square. Killing 41 people and injuring at least 33 people. The attack took place in a crowded market tent in the neighborhood of Shaab. ISIS later claimed responsibility in an online statement.

Baghdad has been a key target to the terror group, ISIS, as they gained land in 2014.

As of now, No group has taken responsibility for either attacks done in the past days.The attack in Aviation square was deemed the deadliest attacks in Baghdad since the massive truck bombing. Which killed 324 and injured many, in a commercial district of Karrada, July 2016. This bombing was the single deadliest attack Iraq has faced since the 2003 US invasion that exiled Saddam Hussein.

Iraq has been subject to many attacks in the past from ISIS which have been occurring after the Iraqi government claiming victory over ISIS. They had claimed this victory after regaining control of an estimated one third of the country that had been under ISIS control.

Muslims aren’t the problem. Yet why are they the only “terrorists”?

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by Tina Lapsia

First came President Trump’s ‘Muslim’ travel ban, issued with a statement “We don’t want ‘em [Muslims] here.” Nine months later, a white man unleashed havoc in Las Vegas, Nevada, killing 58 innocent concert-goers and wounding hundreds of others, in what has been declared as the worst mass shooting in American history.

Stephen Paddock, the suspect in the Las Vegas shooting. (Source: Medium)

Since Trump took office, some of the worst attacks, including the one in Las Vegas, have occurred on American soil. These include:

  • August 2017: A 20-year-old white Nazi sympathizer from Ohio sped his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing a woman and injuring at least 19 others.
  • June 2017: A 66-year-old white man from Illinois shot at Republican Congress members during an early morning baseball practice, severely wounding several people including House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
  • June 2017: A 52-year-old white man from Kansas shot one Indian man and killed another as he told them to “get out of [his] country.”
  • March 2017: A 28-year-old white man from Baltimore traveled to New York City with the explicit aim of killing black men. He stabbed 66-year-old Timothy Caughman to death.
  • May 2017: A 35-year-old white man from Oregon began harassing Muslim teenagers on a train in Portland, telling them “We need Americans here!” Two men interceded; the perpetrator then stabbed and killed them both.

After the attacks of September 11, Muslims have been automatically associated with the radical Islamic terrorists responsible for that horrific tragedy. However, the bigger threat to Americans have been those who “blend right in” – those who are not affiliated with any specific religion or extremist group.

In fact, according to a new study by the think tank New America, more Americans were killed by “native” right-wing extremists between 2001-2015 than by Islamic terrorists.

Despite Trump’s travel ban to protect Americans from such terrorists, the country home to the biggest number of terrorists who have carried out successful attacks inside the US is the US itself.

But such individuals who commit acts of mass murders are, in many instances, not labeled as terrorists – such was the case with the suspect in the Las Vegas shooting, Stephen Paddock.

Why? Terrorism seems to be a label reserved for foreigners, for Muslims. Whites have the privilege of being the “lone wolf” shooters.

When the definition of terrorism cannot even be agreed upon by the FBI, US Department of Defense, Congress and the US Department of Homeland Security, terrorism becomes a term defined by society and the media.

When a white perpetrator carries out an act of terrorism, public discourse is confined to “thoughts and prayers,” while Congress and the public rally for policy change and legislation in the wake of an attack by a Muslim.

A Muslim attacker has never been referred to as an American, a local of the community he attacks. Rather, despite his country of citizenship, he (or she) is considered to be a foreigner or an external threat by the Western press.

It is no surprise that this worldview and perception has lead to anti-Muslim discrimination in America. It has lead to racial profiling, torturing Muslim suspects in Guantanamo Bay and instating a Muslim ban.

Terrorism has no race, no color, no gender and no religion. We must change this narrative that Muslims are the only face of it.

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17 Year old Nabra Hassanen’s Death Shakes the American Muslim Community to the Core

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by Aysha Qamar

Another tragic death stuns the Muslim community as a body found in a pond is identified as 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen, of Reston- Northern Virginia.

Hassanen was kidnapped and beaten to death this past weekend in Sterling, Virginia.

Reported missing between 3-4 A.M. after last being seen walking home after prayers at a mosque near Washington, police identified the teen’s body in a local pond.

“While searching, one officer saw a car driving suspiciously in the area and stopped it,” the police said. “The driver, later identified as Martinez Torres, was taken into custody as a suspect.”

A baseball bat was discovered nearby and detectives later obtained a murder warrant against Martinez Torres.

Police have charged 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres with her murder. The crime has not yet been charged as a hate crime, as motives are currently under investigation.

“I think it had to do with the way she was dressed and the fact that she’s Muslim,” Hassanen’s mother, Sawsan Gazzar told the Washington Post. “Why would you kill a kid? What did my daughter do to deserve this?” she added.

According to reports, Hassanen was headed to Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center with her friends around 3:30 A.M. They had taken a break from their prayers to go eat after which were returning to the Center, however before arriving two men with baseball bats emerged from a car and began attacking them. The group then fled believing that everyone was able to reach safety. When the friends reassembled, they realized was Hassanen unaccounted for.

“They all dispersed after the incident, and when they met back up they realized she was missing,” ADAMS board member Rizwan Jaka told Buzzfeed News.

The ADAMS mosque in Sterling, the biggest in northern Virginia, holds late-night prayers during the last 10 days of Ramadan. Hassanen was reported 1 of 5 teenagers who had left the mosque in the early hours of Sunday. The area which is normally considered safe, commonly has worshippers walk at this time of prayer.

An investigation determined she was walking outside with a group of friends when they got into a dispute with a man in a car. It appears the suspect, Darwin A Martinez Torres, 22, of Sterling, got out of his car and assaulted the victim. Her friends could not find her and police were called to help, Fairfax County Police said in a statement.

Various people were still present at the mosque at the time Hassanen went missing causing her death to further shock and terrify the community.

“People are petrified, especially people who have young Muslim daughters,” Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights lawyer and author, told the Washington Post

The ADAMS community has released  a statement regarding Hassanen’s death reading, “We are devastated and heartbroken as our community undergoes and processes this traumatic event. It is a time for us to come together to pray and care for our youth. Adams has licensed counselors on site to assist anyone in need of counseling during these difficult times.”

Various fundraising pages have been set up to support Hassanen’s family. Over $250,000 has currently been raised by supporters on LaunchGood.

According to a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) anti-Muslim hate crime incidents rose sharply in 2015 and have increased a further 44%, from 180 to 260, in 2016.