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‘You are loved’: Threatened Muslim girl receives 500 supportive notes

SHAFAQNA Two weeks after receiving the threats, 10-year-old Muslim girl receives 500 interfaith letters of support from all over the United States.

The Muslim child, a fifth-grade student at Hemenway Elementary School, discovered a note in her cubby calling her a terrorist, followed by a second letter days later that said “I will kill you,” according to local authorities, Bostonglobe reported.

The letters stopped after school officials and police began investigating the possible hate crime.

In a statement, the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-MA, said supporters responded to the group’s appeal for “people of conscience to send the letters to the young girl to support her and to show wider solidarity for the Muslim community.”

Now, two weeks after receiving the threat, the  Muslim student  has stacks upon stacks of letters of support from all over the country, waiting to be read.

In all there are more than 500 letters from more than 20 states.

“Dear young sister, assalam ‘alaikum!” one letter with a colorful heart began. “May you have peace in your heart, a smile on your face, and every good thing in this life and the next.”

“Hi friend!” another read. “A Jewish family from Maryland is sending you love and support. You are wonderful.”

“People of all religions should be friends [sic],” a 6-year-old child named Sophie wrote above a colorful illustration of a young girl in a red hijab holding hands with a blond-haired girl.

“No child deserves to feel afraid at school because of their faith,” said Sumaiya Zama, director of community advocacy and education for CAIR’s Massachusetts branch.

“We’re incredibly heartened by the wider community’s support for this young Muslim student, particularly by the powerful messages from the interfaith community.”

“Despite the climate of animosity and fear that so many Muslims face today, it’s clear that we have allies,” Zama noted.

They plan to bring the letters, which they collected at their own address to protect the girl’s security, to the girl’s home early next week.

Hemenway principal Liz Simon also asked students to send notes showing they “stand against” such hatred, explaining that such acts could constitute hate crimes. An art teacher at Hemenway said her students responded by creating artwork filled with messages of love and acceptance, religionnews reported.

A report this fall from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding noted that 42 percent of Muslim parents reported that at least one of their children had been bullied in the past year because of their religion.

 

Read more from Shafaqna:

10-year-old Muslim girl in Massachusetts receives threatening notes

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