Manama: A solidarity walk will be held in Doha on Sunday for the three Muslim students shot dead in the US last week.
“In response to the terrorist act committed against three American Muslim students in Chapel Hill in North Carolina in the United States last week, Qatar Foundation calls on the entire community to join a solidarity walk for the victims at Education City on Sunday February 15,” the foundation said in a statement.
“The sad deaths of Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu Salha, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu Salha, have shocked people around the entire world. The community at Qatar Foundation has been particularly touched by the tragic events as these students’ academic pursuits and their charitable endeavours are reflected in QF’s mission to unlock human potential and promote education and community development in Qatar and beyond.”
The foundation said that students and staff led by Qatar Foundation and the community of students and faculty of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and QF’s partner universities would walk together “to condemn this act of terrorism and show their solidarity and support to the families of the victims.”
“The walk will start from the entrance of the Hamad Bin Khalifa University Student Centre at Education City at 2.30pm. It will proceed in silence to the Education City Ceremonial Court, where a minute of silence will then be observed and students will say some remarks,” the statement said.
Newlywed Deah Barakat, 23, a University of North Carolina dental student, his wife Yusor Abu Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Abu Salha, 19, a student at North Carolina State University, were gunned down on Tuesday.
The murders prompted an outpouring of emotion in the Muslim world where people saw it as a hate crime and an act of terrorism.
The initial silence by US leaders in the wake of the killings and the light media coverage received harsh criticism from social media users and fuelled feelings of resentment against perceived bias.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was among the most vociferous leaders to criticise the initial silence of the US administration.
“If you stay silent when faced with an incident like this, and don’t make a statement, the world will stay silent towards you,” he said. “As politicians, we are responsible for everything that happens in our countries and we have to show our positions.”
On Friday, President Barak Obama condemned the “brutal and outrageous murders” as federal investigators said they had launched an inquiry into whether the killing was a hate crime.
“No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship,” Obama said in a statement. “Michelle and I offer our condolences to the victims’ loved ones. As we saw with the overwhelming presence at the funeral of these young Americans, we are all one American family. Whenever anyone is taken from us before their time, we remember how they lived their lives.”
