DOHA: More than a thousand people marched at the Education City yesterday in a rare show of solidarity with the family of the three Muslim students killed at Chapel Hill in the US last week.
The ‘Qatar Solidarity Walk’ organised by students of the Qatar Foundation demonstrated the participants’ belief that education and not hatred must be shared among everyone.
H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani and the US Ambassador to Qatar Dana Shell Smith were among the participants of the demonstration.
The three students Yusor Mohammad Abu Salha, her husband Deah Shaddy Barakat and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were shot and killed last Tuesday at their home near the University of North Carolina allegedly by a neighbour Craig Stephan Hicks. The student community and teachers of Hamad Bin Khalifa University and QF’s partner universities, as well as students of Qatar University and other academic institutions walked together in solidarity and in support of families of the Chapel Hill victims.
The participants also included Engineer Saad Al Muhannadi, President of Qatar Foundation, Fahad Saad Al Qahtani, Group Executive Director of QF Administration, and Engineer Jassim Telefat, Group Executive Director of Qatar Foundation Capital Projects and Facilities.
Marchers carried placards with slogans such as ‘We all have the right to live free from hate’ ‘Hate Crime’ and ‘United we stand.’
The walk started from near Hamad Bin Khalifa University Student Centre at Education City at around 3pm and proceeded in silence passing through all branch campuses.
It ended at the Education City Ceremonial Court, where a minute of silence was observed.
Some participants wrote solidarity messages on a wall set up for the event at the court. Sheikha Hind wrote, “From Qatar: peace, respect and love – Hind”
Ambassador Smith tweeted: “Attending student event in Qatar honouring innocent lives lost, good to see young people rejecting hate of all kinds.”
A Syrian-American living in Doha identified herself as RK participating in the march told this newspaper, “It (the march) shows that we are against racism. Racism still exists, and it’s unfair.”
Another group of Syrians said, “We are here to say that we are against terrorism.”
A video from Deah’s siblings was aired, urging people not to be responsible for hate and stressing that love overcomes hate.
Faris Barakat, brother of Deah, said, “It is amazing that Qatar is thinking about us and our family. We want to spread the message that love overcomes hate. It is our responsibility as youth and citizens of this world to fight ignorance and come together with Americans, with Qataris and with everyone as, after all, Earth is not that big of a place.”
QF and Qatar University students expressed grief over the killings and support for the victims’ families.
Abdul Aziz Soud Al Tamimi, a student from HEC Paris, told this daily: “We all as human beings we don’t accept such incidents, especially against innocent students. They had just started their lives.”
Kais Khemakhem, an engineering student at Texas A&M University Qatar who has been studying in the US for several years, said, “The incident happened in Chapel Hill is sad to happen… It should not be thought of something fear from, instead to learn from… No matter where you go in the world, there is hate and this is a sad thing. But it is easily overcome with loving and caring of those around you.”
A box for Barakat’s Dental charity for Syrian refugees in Turkey was available to collect donations. The Peninsula
