We’re old enough to have attended school back before terms like “intersectionality” and “marginalization” had taken over the curriculum, so we didn’t see the carefully placed dog-whistle in The Hill’s tweet about Rep. Ilhan Omar reciting a Muslim verse in the aftermath of the Christchurch mass shooting. Maybe you’ll catch it.
Ilhan Omar shares Muslim verse after New Zealand mosque shootings: ‘We must not live in fear” https://t.co/BRzmJ78uma pic.twitter.com/NHmjETh9iL
— The Hill (@thehill) March 15, 2019
Here’s the tweet on which The Hill was reporting:
Inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. This is chilling news to wake up to. In the face of this horror, I’m mourning with, and holding our community extra close today.
We must not live in fear. I will be at Jumu’ah today and I hope others will too. Jummah Mubarak.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 15, 2019
Now she’s accusing The Hill of “otherizing” her and other Muslims by pointing out she shared a Muslim verse.
What is a “Muslim verse”?
Why did you have a need to signal it out?
And more importantly, are Muslims not allowed to say a prayer for our dead?
This is lazy and “othering”. Do better!
Astaghfirullah ??♀️ https://t.co/B8otmRHZzh
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 16, 2019
First, our guess is that a Muslim verse is a verse said by Muslims, and second, where the hell did she get the idea that The Hill was suggesting that Muslims aren’t allowed to say a prayer for their dead?
She's so addicted to media coverage that when she can't generate it herself by baiting Jews she generates it by baselessly accusing others of bigotry against her. What a scam. https://t.co/l4BvyGjiOU
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) March 16, 2019
See if you can find the bit in the reporting that suggests Muslims aren’t allowed to say a prayer for their dead:
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Friday expressed support for victims of a mass shooting in New Zealand, tweeting that the devastating attack that killed an estimated 49 people in Christchurch would not force Muslims to “live in fear.”
Omar, who along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is one of the first two Muslim women elected to the House, tweeted that she would attend traditional Friday prayers and urged others to do so as well.
“Inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. This is chilling news to wake up to. In the face of this horror, I’m mourning with, and holding our community extra close today,” Omar wrote.
“We must not live in fear. I will be at Jumu’ah today and I hope others will too. Jummah Mubarak,” she added.
How ungracious! Rethink this tweet.
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) March 16, 2019
1/ My point here is, why not take the time to educate the irreligious instead of snapping back? When you Google what @IlhanMN said, which is probably what someone at the Hill did, you find "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un is a part of a verse from the Qur'an…"
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) March 16, 2019
2/ Christians often complain that the media doesn't "get" us either, and too often we get our backs up when we could use the opportunity to explain our faith further. Scripture tells us the secular world will not understand us. It should not be a sore spot for us.
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) March 16, 2019
3/ I did not read that tweet or article as suggesting Muslims cannot pray or mourn, just explaining (or trying) what she said.
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) March 16, 2019
4/ There has been a tremendous amount of support for those affected by this massacre and my tweet was an attempt to urge @IlhanMN not to alienate those who may simply be ignorant, not malicious. I am sorry I came across, apparently, as a jerk.
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) March 16, 2019
What R you complaining about?
— Joey Salads (@JoeySalads) March 16, 2019
They aren’t saying you can’t. It’s a headline explaining the subject of the article.
— Brenna Simon (@BrennaSimonSays) March 16, 2019
Muslim congresswoman says Muslim verse in the aftermath of a mass shooting that killed 49 Muslims. It makes sense to us.
A “Muslim verse “ is an Arabic quote from the Quran, and Muslim communities often repeat certain verses in different moments as a shared notion of experience and culture.
— Selman Ipek (@_SIpek) March 16, 2019
(In sympathy with the journalist) I'm sorry for all the mean-spirited tweets and vitriol to which you have doubtless been subject, and which has raised your level of sensitivity to such a degree. (I hope you can forgive us both..)
استغفر الله— Haytham Matthews (@HaythamMatthews) March 16, 2019
Hey I don't think they meant it in a negative way.
— woodst0ck (@Brooklynjal) March 16, 2019
But they “otherized” her as a Muslim whereas a Christian would have just said a prayer. Why she’s making an issue of this when 49 people are dead escapes us, but that’s just how she rolls.
Othering is dividing people down to the point that you say "our dead." https://t.co/xfu64Gnp7x
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) March 16, 2019
— Fresh Brownies (@Fresh_Brownies) March 16, 2019
The lady doth protest too much, methinks https://t.co/5CFbzlIy6D
— Harmony (@hrmnyA) March 16, 2019
@IlhanMN @thehill @BobCusack Ilhan, stop. How in the hell do you take reporting meant to share your expression of grief as something nefarious? 24 years here, huh? Did you live in a gated community, isolated from diverse experiences and growth? https://t.co/rzYRmOSr1p
— Spencer Leone (@SpencerLeone) March 16, 2019
I'm failing to see what the hill did wrong here.
Are you desperate for attention today? https://t.co/UJ1SIqd2iv
— Matt R (@Hofinator10) March 16, 2019
Related:
Linda Sarsour wants those who piled on poor Ilhan Omar to reflect on their contribution to Islamophobia https://t.co/NBLEvTAvvc
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 16, 2019
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