OIC concerned over 'rising Islamophobia in US'

A Muslim international organization has condemned the “gruesome” murders of the three American Muslim students in North Carolina and voiced concerns over rising Islamophobia in the United States.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on Saturday urged the US government to take measures to protect Muslims in the American society from hate crimes and to fight back against religious hatred.

A middle-aged white man shot dead Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus on Tuesday afternoon.

"This gruesome crime has left Muslims worldwide in a state of shock and has raised concerns of the growing feelings of hatred towards Muslims and the increase of acts linked to Islamophobia in the United States," said Iyad bin Amin Madani, secretary general of the 57-member OIC, which is based in Saudi Arabia.

The OIC secretary general called on the US government to protect society there from "negative images, discrimination, and stereotyping that contradict the core values of the American society."

Madani also urged the international community to fight "extremism, violence, and religious intolerance, as well as hate crimes and (acts) that incite them."

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened a preliminary inquiry into the murders to determine whether or not any federal laws were violated.

Local police have launched a homicide investigation focusing on a dispute over a parking space, but the families have rejected that narrative, describing the killing an “execution-style murder” and a “hate crime”.

The tragic murders of three bright Muslim students have started a debate over whether the students were targeted because of their religion. The incident has also caused outrage among Muslims all over the world are calling for Craig Stephen Hicks, the shooter, to be charged with hate crimes.

"There is a high probability that the shooter targeted the victims because of their religion and national origin," the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has said.

The Arab American civil rights group said on Thursday it had recently recorded a sharp increase in "reported hate rhetoric" following the release of the Hollywood movie "American Sniper," which has been denounced for its portrayal of the Iraqi people.

The movie is based on the autobiography of a notorious US Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle, who was deployed to Iraq and is known for being the most lethal sniper in US military history.

In his book on which the movie was based, Kyle writes of killing 60 Iraqi "savages".

AHT/GJH

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