1,000 march in Qatar over Muslim students’ US murder by white neighbor

2015/02/16
Qataris march down a street in Doha on February 15, 2015, in remembrance of the three victims of the Chapel Hill shooting in the US.(AFP Photo / STR)

Qatar branded the murder “a terrorist act.”


Protesters’ banners read, “End hate crimes”, “Unity”, and “We all have the right to live free from hate”, AFP reported.



US Ambassador to Qatar Dana Shell Smith was among the demonstrators.


She later posted to her Twitter that it was “good to see young people rejecting hate of all kinds.”



At the end of the march, the protesters watched a video message from Suzanne and Farris Barakat, the brother and sister of one of the murder victims.



In the video, Farris said it was “amazing” that “the people of Qatar were thinking about us and the family.”


READ MORE: US TV show runs story on how to safely find parking in wake of Chapel Hill Muslim killings


The march was organized by a foundation headed by the mother of Qatar's emir, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Masnad.



Last week, three students – 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat, his 21-year-old wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and her 19-year-old sister Razan – were allegedly murdered by their white neighbor Craig Stephen Hicks.


READ MORE: Hate crimes against Muslims in US have skyrocketed during ‘war on terror’


The killing happened in the North Carolina university town of Chapel Hill.



Hicks, 46, has been charged with three counts of murder, and is thought to be a fierce opponent of religion: on his Facebook page, he published anti-religious posts, including against Islam, Christianity and Mormons.


According to police, they are looking into the incident as a parking dispute. However, the students’ families believe the attack was religiously-motivated.


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