صراط عشق صراط عشق
Thousands have signed a petition seeking justice for Hoda , a Muslim Girl in New Zealand who had her Hijab
She said the girls took off her Hijab and filmed her, and that the video had now been shared with boys and girls in the school. She added that the perpetrators attempted to do the same to two of her friends. “My Hijab… is my culture and my religion. My Hijab is everything for me and I love my hijab and those other girls love their Hijab.” Local police said they had identified the girls involved in the incident and had launched an investigation.
“This altercation has caused significant disquiet and distress for the girls, their families, and the wider Muslim community,” police were quoted as saying. “Violence or threatening behaviour including any involving hate, hostility, or prejudice regarding race, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or age is not acceptable.”
The school released a lengthy statement saying it had “no tolerance for unkind comments, racism, bullying or any other form of discrimination”. Dunedin’s Islamic community is working with Otago Girls’ High School following accusations that an attack at the school last week was racially motivated. Otago Muslim Association Chairman Dr Mohammed Rizwan said the school needed to set a precedent to ensure the “brutal” attack, which he said included a hijab being ripped off the head of a pupil, never happened again. He had been working with the victims, their families, the police and the school. Rizwan said the incident began when a group of Muslim pupils were approached by another group who tried to intimidate the Muslim pupils into teaching them Arabic swear words.
Justice for Hoda
The incident sparked local and international media attention, with a petition calling for justice receiving nearly 60,000 signatures in two days. Several social media users shared the hashtag #Justice for Hoda to highlight the incident and condemn Islamophobia in the country. On 15 March 2019, 51 people were killed in Christchurch when a gunman opened fire on worshippers at Al-Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre.
Hoda Al-Jamaa was sitting with her friends at Otago Girls’ High School last week when three girls approached and started beating her while they filmed the attack. The 17-year-old had her hijab ripped off and suffered a concussion. #Justice For Hoda
https://t.co/vNXUQAqQYH
— Mobashra (@mobbiemobes) February 18, 2022
Palestinian-Dutch supermodel Bella Hadid shared the campaign on her Instagram feed on Thursday. The 2016 “Model of the Year”, shared with her almost 50 million Instagram followers her anger towards the disrespect and violence 17-year-old Hoda Al-Jamaa experienced. “It makes me angry and sick to my stomach.” We need to change this mindset of immediate judgement, “Hadid wrote.
“We need to change this mindset of immediate judgement. Teach our friends, children, parents, families that wearing a Hijab, being Muslim, or being anything other than white in general, does not equal being a threat or different than anyone else.”
