NCC leaders express anger over beating death of Iraqi women

Washington, March 26, 2012 – Leaders of the National Council of Churches expressed anger Monday over the brutal beating death of an Iraqi-American women last week in El Cajon, Calif. The death of Shaima Alawadi, 32, is under investigation but signs indicate the attack was a hate crime. A note was placed beside her body saying, “go back to your country, you terrorist.” Alawadi’s daughter told police her mother had received a similar threatening note days earlier but had dismissed it as a prank. NCC President Kathryn M. Lohre and Interim General Secretary Clare J. Chapman joined calls Monday for a thorough investigation of the murder. “This attack on an innocent woman in the safety of her own home is horrible to contemplate under any circumstances,” Lohre and Chapman said in a joint statement. “The possibility that someone beat her because she was Iraqi, or because she wore a hijab, adds a terrifying dimension to the crime,” the NCC leaders said. Alwadi was beaten repeatedly on the head with a tire iron, according to press reports. “It is tragic and unconscionable whenever persons feel threatened because of their nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, age or any other aspect that sets them apart,” the leaders said. “The 37 member communions of the National Council of Churches have always welcomed all persons to our communities as the neighbors Jesus told us to love.” The leaders cited Jesus’ admonition that persons cannot love God and hate their neighbor. “When we hurt individuals because they don’t look or act like us,” the leaders said, “we are casting aside the very Creator who commanded us to love God and one another.” Ref: http://www.ncccusa.org/news/120326alawadi.html