Justice for Hoda: New Zealand Muslim girl physically beaten, humiliated, garners worldwide call for justice
SHAH ALAM - Seventeen-year-old Hoda Al-Jamaa, a high school student from New Zealand, had garnered public support for justice after she had suffered physical and verbal abuse from her non-muslim schoolmates.
Hoda, who attends the Otago Girls High School in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand was attacked and had her hijab ripped off by three of her schoolmates last Feb 9.
Two of her other friends was also verbally harassed and physically attacked.
In an interview with New Zealand news publication, RNZ, Hoda explained that prior to the altercation, three of the assailants had taunted and asked her and her friends to teach them to swear in Arabic.
The situation then escalated when they tried to pull off Hoda's hijab and started to film the act.
Hoda had stated to RNZ that she now is afraid to return to school as this is not the first incident to occur against Muslim students.
The incident had even caused a Change.org petition calling for the school to address the attack and for people to unite against racism and hatred.
The petition has since garnered over 71,000 out of 75,000 targetted signatures.
Hoda's situation had even gained the attention of American Model Bella Hadid - who is of Palestinian and Dutch heritage- to post "Justice for Hoda" on an Instagram post, denouncing the attack.
"Just like Hoda and her friends in this story down below. It makes me angry and sick to my stomach.
"We need to change this mindset of immediate judgement. teach our friends, children, parents, families that wearing a hijab, being Muslim, or being anything other than white in general, does not equal being a threat or different than anyone else.
"Teach them to love before hate. To educate before judgement. To protect before bullying,'' said Bella.
In a statement to RNZ, Otago Girls' High School principal Bridget Davidson assured her administration will take every measure necessary to address the issue with delicate care.
"Interpersonal situations are inherently more complex than they may appear on the surface and so need to be handled sensitively, fairly and with the young people at the centre of the process and decisions.
"We have very high expectations of each of our students and take decisive and strong action when they break rules or do not treat others with respect.
"We link in with relevant organisations and have a range of strategies that we make use of, with the intention of achieving the right outcome for the situation and each student," she said.
