Orland Park Police Chief defends his department

Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy defended the conduct of his officers against claims that they may have abused the rights of Nour Hadid, the Arab Muslim woman charged in the murder of her two year old niece.

Ghia Hadid was found dead and a pathology report, which attorneys for Nour Hadid dispute, concluded the two year old died from blunt trauma over a four day period. The baby’s body reportedly had 55 bruises.

But McCarthy insisted the Nour Hadid case was handled not by the Orland Park Police but rather by the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force.

“The reason the investigation was initiated was that a team of experts at the Medical Examiner’s office said the 55 wounds on this little girl were consistent with child abuse. There is no other way these could have occurred other than by the belt,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the probe was not conducted by the Orland Park Police but by the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force. Nour Hadid, after two days of interrogation, confessed to the killing.

“The interview of the suspect, at that time, was monitored by the assistant state’s attorney from beginning to end. And finally, the interview was not done by an Orland Park police officer,” McCarthy said during an interview Monday morning on “Radio Chicagoland” on WJJG 1530 AM Radio.

“We assisted. We called in the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force. The interview of the suspect was done by Arab speaking members of the Task Force. In fact one of the members works with the FBI… all of which was monitored by the Assistant States Attorney.”

Nour Hadid’s attorneys, Reem Odeh and Joel Brodsky said they believed that the pathology report is incorrect and that their client was “humiliated” into a position where she falsely confessed.

Odeh said that Nour Hadid had her Hijab removed during the mug-shot booking. The mug-shot showed Nour Hadid naked from just below the shoulders up.

“When someone is booked, there is no police department in the country that allows people to wear a hat, sun glasses like that. As far as the rest of the clothing, it is what the person had on at the time. No more. No less. And that is what is in the picture. The press requested the picture,” McCarthy explained.

Controversy surfaced over whether or not the police humiliated Nour Hadid by forcing her to remove her Hijab. But the Hijab that Nour Hadid wore was not a typical Hijab that simply covered her head. The Hijab she wore was an extended Hijab that covered the upper torso of her body.

With the Hijab removed, she would appear as if she had also been stripped of her clothing, a view confirmed by Amani Ghouleh, who is the publisher of the Arab Horizon (al-Offok al-Arabi) Newspaper and who has closely monitored the situation.

“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” Ghouleh explained.

But she added, “Her Hijab when the police came, was a long Hijab that covered her head and shoulders. It is more than just a Hijab it is outer wear,” Ghouleh explained.

Ghouleh said that McCarthy does have “great respect” in the American Arab and Muslim community, but noted that McCarthy did acknowledge responsibility for releasing the photograph. She said the police should have used discretion to only release an appropriate photograph, not one that was so revealing.

While McCarthy and Odeh will square off on the issue of the humiliation and evidence reviewed by the pathologist, rightwing conservatives have been portraying this as a Muslim trying to get special treatment in the United States, a common theme advocated by anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racists.

Nour Hadid is being held without bond. Odeh said she will be interviewing the suspect soon.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

East and West clash even in backdrop of child's killing

East and West collide even in a child’s death
By Ray Hanania

Earlier this week, a woman was arrested and charged with the murder of her two year old niece. The story itself is tragic enough, but on top of it are details of her religion. She happens to be Muslim in a region of Chicago where anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hatred has been notorious prevalent.

In this case, though, the woman, Nour Hadid, was charged with beating her niece by the Orland park Police Department. The police followed routine procedures and finger printed and also photographed for a standard police “mug shot” the accused suspect. But her attorneys, represented by Brodsky and Odeh LLC, claims she is the victim of pressure and intimidation.

The victim was two year old Bhia Hadid and an autopsy concluded the child was beaten to death by blunt trauma. She had 55 bruises police and medical examiners concluded occurred over a four day period at her home.

The mainstream media carried the story, which is amazingly tragic on its face. Few mentioned that Nour Hadid is a Muslim or an Arab, although to those in the community the race and religion seemed obvious.

The mug-shot of the suspect showed the suspect with an expression of great pain and grief, like she was crying. There was nothing unusual in the picture. But this morning, Nour Hadid’s husband accused the Orland Park Police of “discrimination,” arguing that his wife was innocent and had her religion disrespected because she normally wears a Hijab, or head covering.

Removing the Hijab and forcing his wife to pose for the picture and then making the picture public, he alleges in several media interviews, violated her rights as a Muslim and depicted her in a disrespectful manner.

Is it really racism? Should the debate be focused on whether or not the accused woman was in fact the victim of discrimination, which the Orland Park Police denied claiming they followed the same procedure for Nour Hadid as they do for all suspects?

Or, is the real story the tragic death of the two-year old girl. Beaten to death, according to the autopsy report?

There was no outrage over the death, but there have been many calls and emails complaining that Nour Hadid’s rights were violated. The incident has also drawn the ire of conservative media fanatics who have blasted the husband and who are using the discussion as a basis to foment their continued anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hatred.

According to the media, Nour’s husband, Alaeddin Hadid said Orland Park police are “really going to be in big trouble” for releasing the woman's booking photo to the news media after she was charged with first-degree murder. He continued that Nour, who is Muslim, “never leaves the home without covering up.” He vowed to file a lawsuit. He asserted, “It [being shown without your hijab] is against our religion; we do not do this in our culture.”

One Muslim activist is quoted in the media saying that the police would not have been so disrespectful to a Christian Nun. The constant comparison of Muslim women who wear a Hijab and Christian Nuns is a constant argument used to support charges of anti-Muslim bias in this country. But are the two really relevant?

Another said it was disrespectful, adding that she looked like she was in her “underwear.” The photo showed Nour Hadid from just below her shoulders upwards. Her arms were crossed over her chest which was not visible.

The comment regarding the nuns is especially offensive to Christians – mainstream Christians and Arab Christians, too – as it was made on the eve of Good Friday as Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Easter (this Sunday for mainstream Christians and next Sunday April 19th for Orthodox Arab Christians).

The fact is that a Nun is not just any woman who observes her religion and wears a head covering, called a “Habit.” In fact, they are official members of the Catholic Church and represent the Catholic Church in official capacities, working at Churches. The “Habits” are obligated by specific Church doctrine to be worn at all times.

Some Muslim women wear a Hijab, which is not to be confused with the oppressive “berqa.” A Hijab is a head and hair covering, similar to the coverings worn by Orthodox Jewish women and very conservative Christian women, too. A “berqa” is a full body covering that also includes the covering of the wearer’s face, which is offensive and reflective less of religious belief and more of male arrogance and domination over women, and not just Muslim women, but Jewish and Christian women too, who are often as easily enslaved in gender-driven oppression.

But the husband asked in the media, “Would they do that to a Nun?” Would they force a nun to remove her Habit off her face to pose for an official criminal identification photograph called a “mug shot?”

The answer is yes. Nuns arrested and charged in crimes have been photographed for mug shots without their head coverings, too. The mug-shots are not private either because police agencies are public institutions. That means that the mug-shot is a legitimately issued public domain property. The public has a right to know who is charged and alleged to be involved in a criminal offense, especially offenses of such heinous nature.

Is Nour Hadid guilty or innocent? Too often in America, Arabs and Muslims are guilty until proven innocent. That was in fact the policy of this country for the past eight years after Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 terrorists who happened to be Muslim, became the poster children of the anti-Muslim and anti-Arab conservative fanatics and mainly Christian zealots in this country.

Nour Hadid is innocent until proven guilty. But is this an incident of discrimination? I’m not sure. The Orland Park police were simply following procedure in events that were out of their control. A woman is accused of murdering a two year old child. And Orland Park has had a history of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim incidents.

It’s the murder of the child that is really the significance in this matter. In the face of such atrocities, some – I repeat some -- individual rights must be sacrificed, especially those rights with which have to do with identification.

You cannot permit anyone accused of a crime to hide behind their religious observance. The real tragedy is that the crime, whether Nour Hadid is innocent or guilty, imposes on us a vigilance that must place the need to determine the truth as our cumulative priority.

Let’s determine who did or did not kill baby Ghia Hadid. Everyone should be ready to make a personal sacrifice for that.
END