On June 10th 2020, 18 year old Alaa Massri was arrested at the Miami #BLM Protest unlawfully, after attempting to treat the wounds of a group of people who were hit by a police car. During this attempt, she was blocked by 6-8 police officers, where she asked them -in a passive manner- to not touch her. After this interaction, Massri then chose to walk away from the policemen but was later surrounded, and zip tied by them. It was confirmed by witnesses that she was not in any way violent before this arrest, and was simply trying to aid the wounded, as a medic. Alaa Massri was then charged with battery assault; using violence to resist an officer and disorderly conduct.
Massri was directed to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Centre, and from there, she was forced to remove her hijab for 7 hours. during this time, her mugshot was taken and was plastered all over the media, a violation against her rights.
1st amendment: The 1st amendment (1791) labels the 5 basic freedoms; religion, press, speech, petition and assembly. What this means is that people are allowed to practice religious acts freely, and are allowed to protest against the government. Massri’s rights were breached when the officers refrained her from peacefully walking away from the wounded protestors.
An online petition on change.org with (as of 26/6/20) over 160,000 demands for her mugshot to be taken down, as well as for her charges to be dropped. With this, the petition also wants the police officers who were involved with this case to be thoroughly investigated, “in favour of human rights.”
Zainab Merchant
Muslim women every day get slurred at, looked at, stared at like foreign beings that don’t belong in their own countries. The hijab has always been, for me, a shield from the rest of the world representing my faith and the idea that my religion will always be with me to protect me from the world we live in. Zainab Merchant had this protection stripped from her when she was stopped by the TSA in an “intrusive and humiliating search” in September 2016. As an Australian Muslim, it has been routine for me to be stopped every time I go through airport security. A privilege many people never knew they had was never having to prepare to be stopped at airport security due to the fabric around your head. It has been normalised for Muslim women around the world, including Zainab Merchant to ensure that we come hours early in the routine of being stopped.
Now on top of that, Transportation Security Administration officers put her through additional checks. Checks that are beyond ridiculous. They demanded her to be publicly stripped and was threatened when she refused to pull her pants down and have her underwear checked whilst on her period. THIS IS HARASSMENT. THIS IS AN INVASION OF ONE’S HUMAN RIGHTS. This incident was not reported and mainstream media remained quiet until 2018 when Zainab began speaking up on the subject. This is not something to be quiet about and it certainly is not something that is only experienced by a few. TSA officers have over and over again targeted certain appearances. THIS IS HARASSMENT. Now, mother of three, Zainab Merchant has grown from her experience and is an author and journalist ensuring that Muslim voices are heard.
Written by Mi Cao and Ayumi Sofyan
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