The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Opinion Wednesday, February 25, 2015 — 5A T he night of Tuesday, Feb. 9, Deah Barakat, age 23, his wife Yusor Abu- Salha, age 21, and her sister, Razan Abu- Salha, age 19, were killed execution- style by Craig Stephen Hicks. Hicks was indicted in the triple homicide, allegedly over a parking dispute. However, many people, including the families of Deah, Yusor and Razan, believe that the shootings were a hate-crime due to the victims’ Muslim faith. I will start by saying I do not claim that the actions of Hicks were due to him being an atheist or that somehow atheism is fun- damentally violent or hateful. To do that would be stooping down to the level to those who claim that Islam is inherently violent, and I know what it feels like to be stereotyped and labeled based on the actions of someone else. I would like you to step into my world as a Muslim-American in the aftermath of this event. On Wednesday morning, I woke up to texts about how Deah, Yusor and Razan were killed from my friends and family who were upset and shocked at the heinous crime and lack of media coverage. I saw tweets and Face- book posts by Muslims pressur- ing the media to cover the story and read the media coverage that called the incident a sim- ple “parking dispute.” Despite the shock, I dragged myself out of bed, put on my “Respect my Choice” T-shirt with a hijab logo on it, and walked out of my room with a brave face. I would not let hate change me. That night, the University’s Muslim Student Association held a candlelight vigil where people expressed their mourning, shock and frustration with the media coverage. There was support from people from all different faiths, proving to me that there were others who could under- stand why this was so heart- breaking. And while the media still debates whether Islamo- phobia exists, I can tell you that at the vigil, a place where people should have their time to mourn, hagglers yelled slurs like, “Is that ISIS?” It added insult to injury; needless to say, I wasn’t com- pletely surprised. And then Thursday came, and it felt like a second blow. I could not focus on any of my classes, and yet it seemed like there weren’t many who understood why this hit me so hard. I could have sat out of class or explained why I didn’t finish my homework in time, but the fear that no one would understand overwhelmed me. Why I would feel so upset by an event that is only consid- ered a hate-crime by those who choose to believe it is something I could not bear to explain, and so I stayed silent. I spent the day scrolling through articles and pictures of the newly wedded couple and Razan, who was the same age as me. I thought of my broth- ers, friends and family members, thinking about their similarities and the bright futures that had been lost. Today, I look back at these events and tell you that all they have done is made me more aware of some crucial realities. I thought long and hard about my own identity and my place in America, the country I was born and raised in. The media portrayal of these events claimed that this was a parking dis- pute, and newscast- ers spent their time interviewing Hicks’ wife instead of the family of the vic- tims. I could not help but feel a lump in my throat. These were people that looked so similar to me, and yet there seemed to be little sympathy. Instead, another round of public debates. As if something deep inside me had been uncovered, I thought to myself, “Where do I exist?” Am I the enemy in sight of the eyehole of the American sniper? Am I the woman hid- den behind a veil of oppression? Maybe I’m one of those name- less characters screaming in a foreign language in the back- ground of an action scene. Am I a suspected terrorist or a moderate Muslim who seems to be somewhere silently floating in the midst? If you could point me to one American television show or movie that has a portrayal of the happy Muslim neighbor, I would be more than happy to watch it. Is the media trying to ignore that an educated, practic- ing, American Muslim can pos- sibly be a part of society? Am I to sit silently while the media tries to push me aside and make me feel like I just do not belong here? Or maybe I will have hope that people will see these problems for what they really are: a product of misconceptions. Regardless of whether or not you believe that this was a hate crime, there have been several after the shooting that paint a larger picture of hate-driven crimes against Muslims and Arab-Americans. On Monday, Feb. 16, a man in Houston was charged with arson in an Islam- ic center and on Thursday, Feb. 12 an Arab-American man was beaten at a Kroger in Dearborn. These are just a few of the recent hate crimes against Muslims, crimes that are five times more common now than they were before Sept. 11, 2001. The idea that Islam is inher- ently violent or anti-Western is one that incites hatred of Mus- lims. The only way to combat these ideas is by combating the ignorance surrounding these claims. I’ve heard too many times about people that simply “aren’t sure” what Islam is really about. They take the words of people who pull excerpts of the Quran out of context or claim that some- how the one person or even one government is representative of every Muslim. People must learn to separate Islam from terrorism if the hatred against innocent Muslims is to cease. I could go on to say that the lesson I learned from the death of Deah, Yusor and Razan is that it’s solely Muslims who face these obstacles, but the great- er reality is that we should be working toward a society with- out hate on all levels. Islamo- phobia isn’t just a problem for Muslims the same way that racism is not just a problem for Black Americans. It affects us all, and ignoring it as a prob- lem only allows more and more people to be hurt. The only way to combat these hate crimes is to stand up against them regard- less of the victim. I will stand with you. Won’t you stand with me? —Rabab Jafri can be reached at rfjafri@umich.edu RABAB JAFRI Stand with me Am I a suspected terrorist or a moderate Muslim who seems to be somewhere silently floating in the midst? On Monday, the University Medical School Information Services rolled out its imple- mentation of AirWatch, a mobile device management system being used to secure personal cell phones of employees and students. Numerous high-profile losses of protected health infor- mation at other institutions — and the inevitable lawsuits that followed — were cited as pre- cipitating factors leading to our health system’s adoption of the security software. AirWatch aims to prevent sen- sitive data from falling into the wrong hands by providing the ability to remotely wipe a device that has been lost or stolen, as well as the means to constantly monitor whether a device has been compromised. The software requires full administrator access to one’s phone to do so; permis- sions granted to the AirWatch Agent application are broad, including the ability to determine the device’s precise location, directly call phone numbers and even take pictures and videos. MSIS maintains that our version of AirWatch “does not collect any data related to phone calls, texts, location or web browsing,” because “these capabilities have been disabled.” Questions about AirWatch have been raised by medical stu- dents, many of whom learned about the decision to support the software on a Friday, only three days before the platform’s offi- cial Monday launch. Confusion regarding the scope of surveil- lance, access to tracked infor- mation and the possibility of uninstallation reigned, but one of the most commonly voiced con- cerns was simply, “Do I need to install AirWatch?” Announcements included phrases such as “deadline for enrolling” without pointing out that participation is strictly vol- untary; users who do not install the monitoring package will still be able to access their UMHS e-mail accounts through their devices’ web browsers. An important concept in medi- cine is the right to an informed decision, one which can only be made after understanding all of the relevant facts about each of the options available, without being coerced or rushed. It isn’t necessary for the health care provider to agree with the deci- sion, as each patient makes each choice within the context of his or her own value system; hence, there are no “right” or “wrong” options. Similarly, the crux of issues surrounding privacy and technology resides in supply- ing the end user with enough information to weigh costs and benefits before arriving at an informed decision. Patient data should be protect- ed, but at what cost to the securi- ty of employee and student data? The large number of medical stu- dents who change their names on Facebook during the residency application cycle indicates that privacy remains a major concern — if we are so guarded about the information that we have chosen to share online, why would we not also wish to protect our pri- vate texts and e-mails? We live in a time when the nature of the relationship between citizens, companies and government over communi- cations is in a state of constant flux; in the last few days alone, headlines have been awash with revelations that computer manufacturing giant Lenovo intentionally packaged a major security flaw into its new laptops, while ongoing revelations about the extent of NSA surveillance continue to astound in both vol- ume and audacity. As consumers and responsible citizens, we must take active steps to protect our privacy. This can be difficult in the mobile device domain, as the only way to truly ensure that one’s data is completely safe is to not own a cellular phone in the first place. Obviously for many people this is not a viable option, so every day we make tradeoffs, judging which risks we deem accept- able. We may still choose to talk where we can be overheard, or text where our screens can be read over our shoulders or e-mail knowing the messages can be intercepted. Some users will trust Air- Watch, acknowledging the potential privacy compromises that it presents in favor of the convenience of accessing e-mail on their own devices. Others will opt not to install AirWatch, choosing instead to check their mail with their phones’ web browsers while relying upon their pagers to communicate urgent messages. A few may even decide to use entirely sep- arate devices for personal and professional business. There are no “right” or “wrong” options, as each choice is made in the context of the end user’s individual value system. Moving forward, it’s important that we focus on seeking student input about changes related to our school’s information technology policies, in addition to continuing to supply users with the informa- tion necessary to make informed decisions regarding their privacy, without being coerced or rushed. Special thanks to Erin Conrad for contributing to this article. Mike Yee is a fourth year medical student. MIKE YEE | VIEWPOINT Who watches the Airwatchers? E-mail HEidi at HEidimaE@umicH.Edu HEIDI LIU Are you too cool for school? Do you neglect homework assignments to discuss news that’s near and dear to your heart? Could skipping class to scuriously write an 800-word viewpoint be in your very near future? If so, the The Michigan Daily opinion section is the place for you! 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