Community Corner

Mourners Gather at Lakeside Mosque for Memorial of Iraqi Woman Fatally Beaten

Local Muslim leaders, a Christian minister and a representative of the Iraqi government took turns standing before the gathering at the Islamic Center of Lakeside to decry the violent death of Shaima Alawadi.

Religious dignitaries joined dozens of mourners at a Lakeside mosque, just on the outskirts of Santee, Tuesday afternoon to offer condolences and a show of communal solidarity to the family of an last week in a possible hate crime at her El Cajon home.

Local Muslim leaders, a Christian minister and a representative of the Iraqi government took turns standing before the gathering at the Islamic Center of Lakeside to decry the violent death of 32-year-old Shaima Alawadi and to pledge their support to her grieving relatives and authorities searching for her killer.

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The homemaker and mother of five died in a hospital Saturday, three days after her eldest daughter found her bloodied and unconscious in the living room of their Skyview Street home. A threatening note lay nearby, according to police, who have said the slaying may have been fueled by racial hatred, although they haven't ruled out other potential motivations.

Officials have declined to reveal the contents of the message, but the victim's 17-year-old daughter told reporters it read, in part, "go back to your country, you terrorist." The girl said her mother had been beaten to death with a tire iron.

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Police have not publicly identified any suspects in the killing.

Speaking in Arabic during the mosque service, the victim's husband, Kassin Alhimidi, thanked those in attendance for their support during his family's tragedy and called an anyone with information about the case to come forward.

"If anyone knows anything about the murder, please don't be shy, and pass information to authorities," Alhimidi said, with his youngest son, Mohammed, 15, by his side, translating his statements into English. "The main question we would like to ask is: Why did you do it, and what are you getting out of this?"

Sharif Battikhi, a 30-year imam, or Islamic religious leader, in the San Diego area, urged the crowd of about 50 to avoid drawing conclusions about the case until police have completed their investigation.

"Our emotions are high, but we must control (them), because we live in a state of law and order," Battikhi said.

However, Battikhi suggested that the killing would be among the most egregious of hate crimes if ethnic animosity turned out to have been the reason behind it.

"I've seen discrimination, but nothing like this," Battikhi said.

Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, noted that Alawadi and her relatives had left their native country as political refugees to avoid running afoul of dictator Saddam Hussein.

"They are a family that fled persecution and found calamity here," he said.

Christian minister Bernon Mitchell, who called himself a "fifth generation" pastor, told the assembly he had come "to grieve for the family and call for peace and justice."

"When one suffers, we all suffer," Mitchell added.

Basan Alhussanai, a representative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki, offered his government's condolences to Alawadi's family and told the crowd that "these vicious people, terrorists (who) want to kill our good people," would be brought to justice.

Alawadi is survived by three daughters and two sons. She will be buried in Baghdad, Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Monday.

The victim, who generally wore a traditional Muslim hijab, or headscarf, and her family had lived in the El Cajon home only a few weeks, having recently moved to San Diego County from Michigan, according to family friends.

Her husband had worked in San Diego as a contractor for the U.S. Army, serving as a cultural adviser to train soldiers who were being deployed to the Middle East, but was on disability recently.

-City News Service


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