A two year-old Muslim girl is beaten to death.  The community cries out, but not for the loss of a child, but for the loss of the modesty of the alleged perpetrator.

East and West clash even in backdropped of murdered child

Ray Hanania

Earlier this week, a woman was arrested and charged with the murder of her two year old niece. The story itself is tragic enough, but on top of it are details of her religion. She happens to be Muslim in a region of Chicago where anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hatred has been notorious prevalent.

In this case, though, the woman, Nour Hadid, was charged with beating her niece by the Orland park Police Department. The police followed routine procedures and finger printed and also photographed for a standard police “mug shot” the accused suspect.

The victim was two year old Bhia Hadid and an autopsy concluded the child was beaten to death by blunt trauma. She had 55 bruises police and medical examiners concluded occurred over a four day period at her home.

The mainstream media carried the story, which is amazingly tragic on its face. Few mentioned that Nour Hadid is a Muslim or an Arab, although to those in the community the race and religion seemed obvious.

The mug-shot of the suspect showed the suspect with an expression of great pain and grief, like she was crying. There was nothing unusual in the picture. But this morning, Nour Hadid’s husband accused the Orland Park Police of “discrimination,” arguing that his wife was innocent and had her religion disrespected because she normally wears a Hijab, or head covering.

Removing the Hijab and forcing his wife to pose for the picture and then making the picture public, he alleges in several media interviews, violated her rights as a Muslim and depicted her in a disrespectful manner.

Is it really racism? Should the debate be focused on whether or not the accused woman was in fact the victim of discrimination, which the Orland Park Police denied claiming they followed the same procedure for Nour Hadid as they do for all suspects?

Or, is the real story the tragic death of the two-year old girl. Beaten to death, according to the autopsy report?

There was no outrage over the death, but there have been many calls and emails complaining that Nour Hadid’s rights were violated. The incident has also drawn the ire of conservative media fanatics who have blasted the husband and who are using the discussion as a basis to foment their continued anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hatred.

According to the media, Nour’s husband, Alaeddin Hadid said Orland Park police are “really going to be in big trouble” for releasing the woman’s booking photo to the news media after she was charged with first-degree murder. He continued that Nour, who is Muslim, “never leaves the home without covering up.” He vowed to file a lawsuit. He asserted, “It [being shown without your hijab] is against our religion; we do not do this in our culture.”

One Muslim activist is quoted in the media saying that the police would not have been so disrespectful to a Christian Nun. The constant comparison of Muslim women who wear a Hijab and Christian Nuns is a constant argument used to support charges of anti-Muslim bias in this country. But are the two really relevant?

Another said it was disrespectful, adding that she looked like she was in her “underwear.” The photo showed Nour Hadid from just below her shoulders upwards. Her arms were crossed over her chest which was not visible.

The comment regarding the nuns is especially offensive to Christians – mainstream Christians and Arab Christians, too – as it was made on the eve of Good Friday as Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Easter (this Sunday for mainstream Christians and next Sunday April 19th for Orthodox Arab Christians).

The fact is that a Nun is not just any woman who observes her religion and wears a head covering, called a “Habit.” In fact, they are official members of the Catholic Church and represent the Catholic Church in official capacities, working at Churches. The “Habits” are obligated by specific Church doctrine to be worn at all times.

Some Muslim women wear a Hijab, which is not to be confused with the oppressive “berqa.” A Hijab is a head and hair covering, similar to the coverings worn by Orthodox Jewish women and very conservative Christian women, too. A “berqa” is a full body covering that also includes the covering of the wearer’s face, which is offensive and reflective less of religious belief and more of male arrogance and domination over women, and not just Muslim women, but Jewish and Christian women too, who are often as easily enslaved in gender-driven oppression.

But the husband asked in the media, “Would they do that to a Nun?” Would they force a nun to remove her Habit off her face to pose for an official criminal identification photograph called a “mug shot?”

The answer is yes. Nuns arrested and charged in crimes have been photographed for mug shots without their head coverings, too. The mug-shots are not private either because police agencies are public institutions. That means that the mug-shot is a legitimately issued public domain property. The public has a right to know who is charged and alleged to be involved in a criminal offense, especially offenses of such heinous nature.

Is Nour Hadid guilty or innocent? Too often in America, Arabs and Muslims are guilty until proven innocent. That was in fact the policy of this country for the past eight years after Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 terrorists who happened to be Muslim, became the poster children of the anti-Muslim and anti-Arab conservative fanatics and mainly Christian zealots in this country.

Nour Hadid is innocent until proven guilty. But is this an incident of discrimination? I don’t believe so. The Orland Park police were simply following procedure in events that were out of their control. A woman is accused of murdering a two year old child.

It’s the murder of the child that is really the significance in this matter. In the face of such atrocities, some – I repeat some — individual rights must be sacrificed, especially those rights with which have to do with identification.

You cannot permit anyone accused of a crime to hide behind their religious observance. The real tragedy is that the crime, whether Nour Hadid is innocent or guilty, imposes on us a vigilance that must place the need to determine the truth as our cumulative priority.

Let’s determine who did or did not kill baby Ghia Hadid. Everyone should be ready to make a personal sacrifice for that.

– Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Admininstrator’s Note:  It is the policy of this blog not to post the picture of ANY perpetrator unless the person is being sought by authorities.  The mugshot of Noura Hadid is available on other sites and can be viewed by any interested parties.

Readers:  This thread along with others dealing with child abuse has been moved to Flutterbyewings.com

Update:

Cops Say Body of Missing Vermont Girl Found

Despite the tone of the earlier entry, it gives me no great satisfaction to post this update.  Brooke Bennett is not just another statistic, but perhaps her life and death will convince one person to look at those around them and decide who they really can trust with their precious children.

My powers of prediction are based not on some gift but upon the firsthand knowledge of how sexual predators work.  They don’t quit; they don’t become rehabilitated.  Don’t let them near your children–EVER!!!!

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Most people wouldn’t allow a former bank robber free access to their cash, safety deposit box, or bank account.  So why do so many parents allow their children around convicted sex offenders?

The tragic disappearance of twelve year old Brooke Benton brings to the public eye again another repeat performance of stupid, careless parents.  Benton’s maternal uncle, Michael Jacques, was convicted in 1993 of the the sexual assault of a young girl.  There is no dispute over the fact that Brooke’s mother knew of her brother’s past.  Brooke’s own father knew as well and has not fully justified why he also turned a blind eye to the close association between his daughter and Jacques.

One thing that is for sure now, Brooke’s mother and father are looking back at their decision to allow access of their precious daughter to a pervert and asking themselves, why?  Some might say that calling attention to their folly while their grief over the diappearance of their daughter is so apparent might seem crass.  If so, so be it.  Maybe by speaking the truth some other child will not be left in the company of a sex offender.

There are state and national databases easily accessible by the public.  Even if there isn’t a sex offender in your family, take advantage of the database.  Run your zip code, find out where the sex offenders are in your neightborhood because whether or not you know them, they ARE there.

If parents are not pro-active in the protection of their children, then they may find themselves in the same position as the parents of Brooke Bennett.  Waiting for the next call from the police and wondering why you didn’t do more.

For information on how to protect your children, go to Klaaskids Founation.  Marc Klaas knows the tragedy of losing a child and is committed to preventing other parents from the same pain.

Readers:  This thread along with others dealing with child abuse have been moved to Flutterbywings.com

More than 400 children have been removed from their Texas home over the weekend. Allegations of abuse brought the Texas Department of Public Safety to the compound near El Dorado which was built by Warren Jeffs, the leader of the fundamentalst sect of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

While some might think that those children removed might be happy to leave a place in which they were subject to physical and mental abuse. However, looking through the child’s eyes, the situation might be different. They have been ripped from the only home that many of them have ever known and the only family they have ever had.

Are the children better off being away from their previous home? Perhaps, but it is hard to leave behind everything familiar even if the familiar is bad.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that approximately 317,000 children were removed from their homes in 2005. Some children were sent to foster homes, and some were sent to group home settings. In either case the child has been detached from all that is familiar–his parents, his residence, his clothes, his toys, and sometimes his siblings.

Along with the fear and uncertainty that comes with removal, there is also sometimes guilt. Children often feel that they have done something wrong that has caused their removal. The emotional damage caused to a child after state intervention only adds to the already fragile sense of self-worth and dignity.

So what can be done for these children? Texas Children and Protective Service is trying at this time to find placements for 400 children. There is already a shortage of foster homes for children, so many may end up in group care until more permanent and suitable arrangements can be made as each of the individual cases goes through the court system. Eventually some may be returned to parents and some may not. Throughout this process, though, the child needs to be given a voice.

That is where those who feel the need to help the most vulnerable among us can do something to help by becoming an advocate for a child. An advocate provides a stable presence in the lives of children who have lost everything that they have known. They act as a sounding board for children who are able to communicate their wants and needs as they go through the impersonal legal system.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is a volunteer-based organization that acts in the interest of abused and neglected children who have been removed from their homes. Volunteers don’t need to be a lawyer or a social worker; CASA provides training before the advocate is sworn in as a Guardian Ad Litem for their jurisdiction. They need to only have to desire to help children who need an adult to care about and listen to them.

There will be a drain on the CASA volunteers within the region where the children were removed over the weekend and some of the children may not even be assigned an advocate. But it is not just these children who need an advocate; there are CASA councils all across the United States with children waiting for their own volunteer to be assigned.

To make a difference in a child’s life become their advocate and their voice in the legal system. You will both benefit from the experience.

Readers:  This thread along with others dealing with child abuse have been moved to Flutterbywings.com

Sometimes the headline is all that is needed:

Man Faces Child Abuse Charges After Home Circumcision

After reading the story, though, the question should be where were the mothers when this atrocity took place? Being abused herself is NO excuse for a mother not stopping the abuse of their children. She is the first and most important defender of her children. What other acts were ignored by these women? There are services available for battered women, but nothing can compel them to be proactive if it is not what they want. Staying in an abusive relationship is not a crime; allowing children to be abused is.

Because of their INACTION, they share the guilt, the blame, and the responsibility for the man’s actions. Charge them all and find real protections for the innocents.