Symbolic funeral for Hijab Martyr in Tehran

TEHRAN - The cruel murder of an Egyptian Muslim woman in Germany has come as a shock to the world, and especially the Islamic world, and Iran has denounced the killing which was inspired by prejudice against Muslims.
Marwa al-Sherbini, a 32-year-old Egyptian who was about four months pregnant and wore the hijab, had pressed charges against her neighbor for calling her a terrorist and was set to testify against him when he stabbed her 18 times inside a courtroom in front of her 3-year-old son on July 1 in Dresden.

Iranians have been greatly saddened by the murder.

Tehran citizens held a symbolic funeral for the woman. Students also plan to hold a protest rally in front of the German Embassy in Tehran.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the German and Italian ambassadors to Tehran on Friday to protest about the Group of Eight leaders' inaction over the murder of the young woman.

In his meeting with German Ambassador Herbert Honsowitz, the director of the Western Europe Department of the Foreign Ministry criticized the German government for its slow response to the shocking crime and stated that Germany is responsible for ensuring the security of minorities living in the country, including Muslim residents.

The crime was another example of Islamophobia in the West and the fact that Western media outlets downplayed the story once again showed the West's selective approach toward human rights, he noted.

The Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador because his country hosted the Group of Eight summit in L'Aquila.

The handling of the case was "a clear example of the West's double standards toward human rights issues," the Foreign Ministry official told Italian Ambassador Alberto Bradanini.

It is said that the assailant originally began to verbally insult the victim because she wore the Islamic headscarf, the hijab. Al-Sherbini filed charges against the man for the verbal insults.