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A 32 year old Iraqi woman named Shaima Alawadi died last Saturday after being attacked in her home 3 days earlier. She was found unconscious by her daughter at about 11 in the morning in her San Diego home. She was lying in a pool of blood that apparently resulted from severe head injuries that suggest she was beaten. Beside her lay a note with the sentence: “go back to your country, you terrorist.” Alawadi had fled persecution by dictator Saddam Hussein in her home country of Iraq nearly 20 years ago. Her brothers are military consultants, helping to culturally train US troops heading to the Middle East. Alawadi was a devout Muslim who volunteered at her local mosque and wore a hijab, the traditional Arabic Muslim head covering. Her family reportedly received a letter similar to the one found next to Shaima Alawadi’s body earlier in the month. Police and FBI authorities are investigating her beating and death as a possible hate crime.

The Associated Press reports that “[t]here were 1,409 hate crimes nationwide based on religion during 2010, including 186 targeting Muslims.” These do not include the more than 1000 hate crimes based on ethnicity or national origin that also happened in the same time period. Because she wore a hijab, Shaima Alawadi’s killing is being compared to the killing of 17 year old African American teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida, who was deemed suspicious by a neighborhood watchman, apparently partly because he was wearing a hooded shirt.

Alawadi’s body is being flown to Iraq for burial. She is survived by five children.

GUEST: Hanif Mohebi, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Diego

Visit www.cair.com for more information.

Watch a video of a local news story covering the beating death of Alawadi, featuring an interview with her daughter: