Muslim woman’s car shot at in Dallas; police not investigating

DALLAS—On Mother’s Day, Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) organizer Sabah Mooswi’s car was shot at as she drove home along Interstate 35 in Dallas, Texas. The bullet pierced through her windshield and went straight through the seat where her son usually sits. Luckily, he was not in the car with her at the time.

Mooswi called 911 while glass shards still covered her face. The police officers who arrived were dumbfounded by the bullet—which was found in the trunk—claiming it was unusual to be shot at while driving on a busy highway.

Mooswi wondered the shooting could’ve been a hate crime, as she was wearing a hijab that was clearly visible. But she said the cops told her there wasn’t enough evidence to make that conclusion and that the shooting must have been a random attack rather than a targeted one.

Mooswi later decided to hold a press conference with the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and local allied community organizations.

During the conference, Mooswi elaborated on how traumatizing the gunshot was for her. To this day, she still feels the windshield glass on her skin and panics “over and over again” about the possibility of her son being in that seat when she closes her eyes.

“By the mercy of God, my son was not in that seat when the bullet came through my window,” she told local media, “and if he had been there, I truly believe that I would have been burying my child right now,”

The incident inflicted a trauma so deep that she said she has greatly increased the security in her house and pushed for the same at her children’s school.

Mooswi was keen to point out that, even though the exact circumstances of the shooting are still unknown, she can’t separate her assault from an environment where Muslims, immigrants, and people who speak out against the genocide in Palestine are “constantly surveilled, demonized, harassed, [and] painted as threats.”

Other speakers further highlighted the hostile environment facing American Muslims. Mustafaa Carroll, the president of CAIR Dallas, pointed out that the shooting incident followed other recent hateful attacks on Muslims, such as a San Diego mosque shooting and the disruption of  prayers by a Muslim student group at a park in Plano, Texas.

Carroll explored how the Texas government has stoked anti-Muslim bigotry in the state, exemplified by the efforts to ban CAIR from Texas and the suspension of student groups organizing for justice for Palestine at the University of Texas at Dallas.

A speaker from the Iqbal Center for Social Justice expressed concern over law enforcement’s refusal to further investigate Mooswi’s case. The Dallas Police Department has told Mooswi that her case is “technically suspended.”

Imam Muhammad Abdullah of Masjid al Islam in Dallas condemned politicians like Republican Congressman Brandon Gill and commentators such as Laura Loomer who have called to ban Muslims from the U.S. Abdullah further described Islamophobia is part of “a pattern of dehumanization in American history that started with Native Americans and Black Americans.”

Deb Armintor of Jewish Voice for Peace DFW compared the demonization of Muslims to Nazi Germany’s campaigns to demonize Jewish people and called on press conference attendees to express solidarity.

The Dallas-Fort Worth chair of Young American Labor Leaders (YALL) and CPUSA member Dahj Voytek pointed out that the hate campaigns targeting Muslim Americans are “part of a campaign to break worker solidarity apart.”

She called on the labor movement to show solidarity with the Muslim community and explained how the real fight is between those at the top of the economy and working people because “we can’t afford food, or rent, or healthcare in this country”.

Nidaa Lafi, a leader from PYM Dallas, concluded the press conference speeches with a reminder that “the violence that U.S. imperialism imposes on the rest of the world will always find its way back home.”

Despite the dangers posed by anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim trends in the U.S., all the organizers present at the press conference committed to continuing the struggle for Palestinian liberation and against Islamophobia.

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