{"id":14744,"date":"2015-02-12T14:29:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T14:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/usa\/?p=1085"},"modified":"2015-02-12T14:29:15","modified_gmt":"2015-02-12T14:29:15","slug":"obamas-silence-on-chapel-hill-murders-already-speaks-volumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/obamas-silence-on-chapel-hill-murders-already-speaks-volumes\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama\u2019s silence on Chapel Hill murders already speaks volumes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha were shot dead last night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (via social media)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Note:<\/strong> This post has been updated with additional information since initial publication.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whatever he says, if anything, in the next few hours, US President Barack Obama\u2019s silence so far on the murders of three young Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, last night already speaks volumes.<\/p>\n

Once again, Obama is sending the message that racially or religiously motivated violence by white men, against Muslims or people of color, is not his concern and is not a public concern.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s demonstrating contempt for Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and Yusor\u2019s sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, who were gunned down last night<\/a>. (The Facebook page \u201cOur Three Winners<\/a>\u201d has been set up to pay tribute to the three accomplished young people.)<\/p>\n

He\u2019s demonstrating neglect for Muslim Americans left in shock, fear and anguish. Few who have paid attention to the relentlessly rising volume of unchecked Islamophobia will be surprised at these killings. And we cannot ignore the role of the \u201cwar on terror\u201d that Obama is escalating once again<\/a> in stoking hatred of Muslims.<\/p>\n

A neighbor, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, turned himself in over the shooting. A Facebook page apparently belonging to Hicks examined in detail by The Electronic Intifada contains a relentless stream of anti-religious diatribes going back years, with many posts quoting the notorious British Islamophobic \u201catheist\u201d Richard Dawkins.<\/p>\n

When the alleged perpetrator of a crime is identified as Muslim, far less than this is necessary for media to begin speculating about \u201cterrorist\u201d motives.<\/p>\n

Yet absurdly, Chapel Hill police announced<\/a>: \u201cOur preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of this morning, no mainstream media outlets I could see were referring to the murders as a potential act of \u201cterrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the 15 April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing<\/a>, however, the label was applied immediately.<\/p>\n

Obama, to his slight credit, waited a single day before rushing to judgment<\/a> that the Boston bombing was indeed a \u201cterrorist\u201d attack and its unknown perpetrators \u201cterrorists.\u201d But he did not wait that long to address a panicked nation and first spoke out about the attack, pledging federal resources within hours.<\/p>\n

As I wrote at that time: \u201cIt is also important to note the contrast between Obama\u2019s eagerness to label the Boston attack as \u2018terror\u2019 and its alleged perpetrators as \u2018terrorists\u2019 \u2013 without evidence \u2013 and his reluctance to label the August 2012 mass murder at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin as \u2018terrorism\u2019<\/a> despite the identification of the shooter as having a history of white nationalist and supremacist activism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, public intellectual Dr. Cornel West has slammed Obama<\/a> for \u201csilence\u201d on the murder and oppression of Black Americans by police.<\/p>\n

West criticized Obama for sending out condolences on the death of Hollywood actor Robin Williams before acknowledging the police killing in Ferguson<\/a>, Missouri, of Michael Brown.<\/p>\n

Obama has no excuse for not speaking<\/h2>\n

The families of Deah Barakat and Yusor and Razan Abu-Salha held a press conference<\/a>on Wednesday afternoon urging authorities to investigate the murders as hate crimes (video<\/a>). Deah\u2019s older sister Suzanne Barakat also gave this powerful and emotional interview to CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper.<\/p>\n

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Suzanne Barakat talking to Anderson Cooper about Chapel Hill Shooting<\/h2>\n