Yalla & Yap

"Please don't be Muslim": Terror in NOLA

• Deanna, Mariam, Lena, Manal • Season 1 • Episode 6

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First Episode of 2025: Reactions to New Orleans Attack & Reflections on Mass Shootings


In this first episode of 2025, Lena, Mariam, and Deanna discuss the tragic New Year's attack in New Orleans, which resulted in the deaths of 14 people and injuries to over 35. The group delves into the background of the suspect, Shamsuddin Jabbar, and explores various perspectives on mass shootings, the impact on veterans, and the societal reactions to such incidents. They also reflect on the Muslim-American experience post-9/11, mental health aspects, and the broader socio-political implications. The episode concludes with thoughts on staying safe in today's world and the importance of systemic changes.

00:00 Introduction and New Year Greetings

00:07 Tragic Incident on Bourbon Street

00:53 Initial Reactions and Discussion

02:18 Personal Connections to New Orleans

05:02 Reflecting on Jimmy Carter's Legacy

08:33 Shamsuddin Jabbar's Background

13:55 Mass Shootings and Veterans

17:06 U.S. Military and Foreign Policy

20:23 Speculations and Conspiracy Theories

22:24 Misunderstandings and Clarifications

22:41 Background and Career of the Subject

23:49 Reactions and Public Perception

24:44 Historical Context and Comparisons

25:45 Statistics and Patterns in Mass Shootings

29:42 Media Sensationalism and Bias

35:07 Community Reflections Post 9/11

41:03 Concluding Thoughts and Future Outlook

 
Hey everyone, happy new year! Thanks for joining our very first episode of 2025. So much has already happened this year. Okay. Just three hours into 2025, a white truck rammed into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring over 35. The suspect, Shamsuddin Jabbar, is reported to be a Muslim from Texas, who was fatally shot on the scene. in the details  📍 because the more we learn,  the more it becomes. 


 Ahlan wa sahlan, welcome to Yalla and Yap. My name is Lena and I'm here with Mariam and Deanna. Manal is out. And, uh, hopefully she'll be here our next episode.  This is still developing news. So there will be more details that will surface by the time this recording comes out. 



 So guys, what are our first thoughts?  

The whole thing is trippy, and I feel like the more information we get, the more questions I have. Does anyone else feel that way?

Oh yeah, a hundred percent. It just seems like there are too many, um, red flags or things that are just unclear.

what were your first thoughts? So, like, once you heard that there was this attack, um, New Orleans.

Uh, knee jerk reaction was, uh, please, like, let this perpetrator not be Muslim. Like, please.

know what's funny? I didn't think that this time because I feel like there've been so many crazy non Muslim,

Mass

That is true. That is true.

to me,

That is true.

out that he was, I was like, ah, , okay, I guess it is, but it wasn't my initial knee jerk for

The only reason why I thought this was because, uh, recently there was an accident in the Christmas market in Germany and the perpetrator was Arabi, but then they turned out to be a, um, a Zionist, uh, anti Arab, Arabi

that was

guy. And it was a very strange story. And it was, they also insinuated ISIS in that situation.

So, uh, you know, it was very similar to, they drove a car, rammed a car into the crowd and killed at least like 11, uh, people.

the victims was a Palestinian Muslim.

Yeah, the one in New Orleans. Yeah. Yeah. I

Yeah.

wanted to look up his name. That one actually really hurt because, um, he's the same age as my brother and they're just having a good time. It was a New Year's Eve event and this happens out of nowhere. The footage is actually really scary. The car comes so fast.

Yeah. It's like, I didn't mean to watch it, but it just came up and I was like horrified. Um,

Yeah,

just, I can never fathom like what goes through somebody. I'm sorry.

And I was asking if you guys have been there before.

I've been there. Yeah, It can be pretty crowded.

I think about it, I'm like, man, the last time I went, like New Orleans has really gone through a lot.

Yeah, it has.

Every year it has like, you know, that's scary when it comes to hurricane season. So, you know, my husband's from New Orleans. And so,

Oh, I

yeah, it hit. I feel like it hit people, like, who are familiar with New Orleans, where it's like their old stomping ground.

It was, it hit hard.

actually really liked New Orleans. Like, uh, I took a trip there with my sister and brother, I think back in 2018? And we had a really good time. There's so much beauty there. It's so alive. Went to Jackson Square. Um, I don't know, just imagining people having a good time

It's

and

tons of

lots of culture. Yeah. Lots of history.

We went, we did the ghost tour. We learned so much. Um, yeah. Um, so much, so much

did

culture, so much culture.

I did the alligator tour.

Oh, okay. Yeah. We were trying to decide which one we just wanted to learn. And, but it, we went in October, so it was, you know, it was timely that let's just do a ghost tour, but also learned about little like urban legends and myths and, uh, folk tales or what is it, what are they called folklores and stuff?

So it was, it was, it was fun.

tickets to New Orleans on spare are like 26.

Oh my God,

I'm not, I'm not promoting New Orleans tourism, but you know,

I really liked New Orleans guys. Like I actually really, really liked it. Uh, the char grilled oysters were like the best, it was the best thing I've ever had. I've not been able to have anything like it since, but it's a shame. Um, yeah, uh, city of a lot of culture and something like this happened. There's a huge ought to be a huge ought to be community.

You're mentioning Lena. There's like a big, yeah, lots of Palestinians. Yeah.

Yeah.

Silouades, a lot. Um,

Vienna.

Silouades. Um, yeah. Um, yeah, that's the whole thing.

our

strange.

out to the people of New Orleans. Um, you know, it's funny cause we were out of town and we saw the flags were all lowered this past weekend. And we were, so first we were like, Oh, it's cause of New Orleans. They're like, Oh wait, no. Um, Jimmy Carter, former president, Jimmy Carter passed away.

That's

Oh, yeah.

And so we're like,

Died at a hundred. He's a hundred, right?

Mm hmm.

he was, he was. And I know there's a lot of mixed emotions, I think, um, even within our group, you know, how we feel about his legacy,

Hmm.

little too late type of, you know,

Can we say that though? Cause he, I mean, he wrote a whole book. He didn't have to do that.

No, he didn't. No, he didn't.

He did write a book.

No, I said, no, he didn't have to do that. I mean, I was

Oh,

with you.

okay.

Deanna was

he did

No, no, no. I was like,

not a fact denier.

And

he didn't have to. And he did. And I feel like, I feel like, you know, yeah, like at one point he moved in a way that was the way to go for politicians at the time. Uh, it didn't serve our people, but afterwards I, I believe people can be enlightened. Even if it's later on. And I think he, I think at the time that he passed, I think he really, really truly advocated for a liberated Palestine.

So that's, for me, that's good enough personally.

I mean, I completely agree Deanna. And I

Okay.

and so maybe he's held to a different standard, but you're right. Like he came out, he wrote a book. Um, Even during the Camp David, like, I feel like he was doing what seemed right in that moment. And it's something that if you kind of take it to look at what came after as U.

S. Presidents, none of them have even remotely cared to think about anything in the favor of Palestinians, right? And so I feel like for him to write a book later on or to come out and be very pro Palestinian later on must have been really hard. Like it,

You're going against what's, what the majority, in his realm and his

Circles like what

believes in. Yeah, the majority are Zionist. That's just the way it is. So for him to, uh, completely change his stance, um, yeah, to your point, what is the point of having dialogue? I mean, we post on our Instagram, we try to educate and to shame people for some, something they used to believe, you know, um, I often.

I don't know if I can say the same now as 2024 was the worst year for Palestinians. Um, but, uh, before I would assume that you're just misinformed if you're still Zionist, you know, you haven't been, you haven't, your eyes haven't opened to the truth. And so I believe that with continued dialogue, people can change their stance.

And even if at once upon a time you did believe that, like, I'm not going to hold it against you. That's, that's the way I see it because otherwise

of

Yeah,

stance, just to kind of circle back, let's talk about the change that happened with Shamsuddin. So he, let's kind of go back to his background because that that part keeps fascinating me every time I hear more about it, more details surfacing. He is raised in Texas. Um,  he joins the army. joins the war on terror in Afghanistan. That was the, the, what was it? Terminology. They used to refer to that war in Afghanistan, the longest war, um, in the US history that we just ended, uh, recently. Um, so he even earned a badge of honor for participating in that war. so how do you go from that to being an actual, quote unquote terrorists, the very people that he went to fight?

It's not unheard of to see, um, outlandish, crazy, um, Actions from people who served in the U.

S. Army. I mean, that very same day there was, um, the cyber truck, the tesla truck that was also a veteran, a U. S. Army veteran, right?

Yeah, actually a lot of there's a lot of overlap by the way if you guys want me to read them out. I took some screenshots from a news channel. I took some Similarities between the attacks. Uh, both attacks were on New Year's New Year's day in party cities. One was in Las Vegas. The Cybertruck was in Las Vegas and the other one we mentioned it was New Orleans electric vehicles rented using the Turo app suspects.

Uh, long distance suspects drive long distances to, um, execute, uh, guns and explosives and vehicles suspects using detonators. Uh, both suspects are decorated us army veterans, both

Mm

received global war on terrorism service medals, both stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, both deployed in Afghanistan in 2009, and they were both killed in attacks, um, not trying to imply anything guys.

Just saying that there's some overlap in their background, especially when it comes to the veteran aspect of it and where they served. Um, and then the irony of both of them receiving the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. That, that is ironic indeed.

And, you know, instead of the U. S. government providing resources for our veterans, we have of dollars going to Other countries to continue wars. You know, I mean, like people, the veterans have been raising flags of like, Hey, our veterans need resources. Our veterans come out of the army, they come out of, um, combat and

Um,

like,

Silence.

cyber truck, to be honest with you, the perpetrator. I don't know too much about him, but the Jabbar one was. Uh, just cause people did die. I think 15, it was 15, uh, 14 that, that passed.

Um, unfortunately, um, that in 2020, he had a second divorce and it was really rough and he was under a lot of financial strain.

he had 27, 000 dollars in debt.

That's it.

I mean,

Literally, Deanna, I was thinking, that's it? Like, that's what's gonna make him

I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry. Like, sorry. I just watched Squid Games Season 2. These people are in billions of dollars in debt. I'm like, over here, like, 27, 000. Maybe we could've started a GoFundMe, you know? But anyway, he was in a, like, a, you know, something like that can And I know, uh, it's not talked about often, but you know, divorce can be, uh, a huge emotional, um, hit, uh, for men.

Um, I know that's not often talked about, unfortunately. Uh, it's a whole other topic, but he was really going through it and they said it just kept getting worse after that. I don't know too much about what happened from then until now, but at somewhere along the lines, he, you know, he made videos. Did they say when he released those videos and when those were updated, uploaded,

He posted five videos. I'm not sure exactly the timeline, but they said the last video he posted, um, was where he said, quote, unquote, um, the war between the believers and the disbelievers. and then 30 minutes before the attack, something like that, he posted another video similar to that tone. Um, I think the thing is, like, since this is still developing, we know.

Different facts, we just don't know how to piece it together to make a cohesive, you know, understanding of what happened. And it might be years until we get that,

that's true.

final conclusion. Um, and in the end, we really might never know, but 1 of the main things that I always like to mention, whenever we talk about mass shooters is like, but he was saying there have been so many mass shooters. It's become a normal part of our society. To where it can literally happen anywhere, anytime, in any city, any state. It happened in Allen, where I live. 

That one really shook me.

at the outlet, that

Yeah.

had just, I was actually in Ellen.

Oh my God.

when that happened, not at the outlets, but in Allen and I could see the, the fire fighters and the ambulances rushing up 75. And I was like, what's going on? By the time I got home, I found out what happened. One of the, the, uh, ladies that the little girls that were killed were in our neighborhood,

Oh my.

Oh no.

in our neighborhood.

Um, they went to a sister school to the elementary school. My daughters went to, like, it has struck way too close. Um, and then during, I think I told you guys during, like, uh, right before uh, winter break, we got a notification on our phones, everyone in their neighborhood because the school went on lockdown. And, like, I was in the middle of a meeting and I got a notification that said the, sorry, not the, we want to take out the name of the school, but the school is on lockdown. Um, It turned out to be a glitch like they were working on the phone lines and you can actually trigger a lockdown through phone lines, maybe and so, but the kids had to do the entire thing.

The police officers had to come in and like, evacuate the rooms. was a hard reality. Like, I. We didn't, we were sitting the moms at dismissal and we were kind of talking like how much do the kids know? Like do they know that this was real? Like it wasn't a drill because they do the drills all the time. Do they know that this time the police officers were taking them out of the classrooms? So it's, it is a very real reality that we're living in and Unfortunately, again, I don't think there's enough resources. I don't think there's enough decisions. I think that we are not like, if we talk about the last presidency for Biden, last four years, was there any, any change that really happened here on the ground with shootings like Allen that were, were large scale and were considered to be very like inner, um, on national news, no gun reform, no healthcare reform. No access or services for veterans. Like, but what I can tell you is that there was plenty of money that was being sent to Israel. Like, you know what I mean? Like,

So it's going to come back to that, honestly. And it should, yeah. It doesn't make any sense. None of it makes any sense. Hey,

So, okay. So the whole money with to Israel, I think there has to be a little bit more in depth of how that works. Um, I was listening to recently. Um, what's his name? Rashid Khalidi. Is that his name? I keep saying his name. I keep saying Khalid Rashidi, but I think it's Rashid Khalidi.

I do the same thing, actually. Yeah. I think it is. Yeah.

Yeah, but he was saying, and I've heard this from several sources, that the way it works when America sends money to foreign, um, as a foreign recipients like Israel, Egypt, Jordan, that is as credit, military credit, In which they have to purchase U. S. weapons. So the people who are really benefiting are actually American manufacturing companies that every almost every state in the United States has manufacturing jobs, and they all have interest groups that lobby for those jobs and that, you know, everybody who represents who has interest or a stake in those companies. And so really, um, America and benefits. It's not really like America loves the U. S. Israelis and they love Netanyahu. There is a mutual benefit there. Um, and that's why you will never see a president who will stop aiding Israel, no matter what his personal views are, if he's sympathetic, because it is still, um, integral part of US foreign policy.

well, we've talked about this. It's the military. Um, military complex, right? Um, what is it? The

Military and industrial and industrial complex. Yeah. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

military industrial complex. So we understand that, But I mean, mm

for something else. It's kind of predetermined. Um, and all those have to spend it on American weapons because they need to sell that to someone. Right. They, they're making it and they want to test it out and they're not going to use it to themselves. Right.

has been what they've and there's been, um, research and articles and doctors that have come out and said how now they're testing all of the most latest weapons on Gaza.

Yeah. On our people. Exactly.

Oh, my God. That just makes me sick to my stomach.

the United States is 100 percent hand in hand. Perpetrators of what's happening in Gaza, they wouldn't, what would happen in Gaza would have stopped a long time ago if it wasn't for the U. S. So,

And they can pull the plug. They could have all ended with one phone call. Just one phone call. It could end. But,

well,

you know, I was

um, according to some estimates, I saw anywhere between 26 to 36 percent of all mass shooters in the United States have served at some point in the U. S. military.

just listening to something. And they're, they're talking about if there, is there a pattern with regards to being in the military and as far as like the degree of what to which somebody is radicalized and they said there's no actual studies. It's not like you're more radicalized if you're in the military, but they said like outside the military and in the military is the same degree of radicalization.

The only difference is like, obviously, the one in the military is going to be a lot more lethal in result. So it could. Yeah, that's the thing. Yeah, they're trained. So,

skills.

if they, there's equal, like you could have two people that are like on the really dark side of the web being radicalized, but the one who's had, who has military experience is, you know, going to be the more deadly, uh, outcome.

Speaking of radicalized, apparently, They're now floating this idea that he went to Egypt in 2023, and maybe he went and came back radicalized.

Egypt of all places.

That's what they're saying.

They're also saying they found a Qur'an that was open in his house.

So can I tell you something? Um,

Who leaves

all, you're not

a Qur'an open?

the Quran open.

oh, do you, I guys, I had no idea You're not supposed to see open. And actually my sister was like, Miriam, you know you have Aran. I have a Koran open on Sur Miriam in my house.

Oh, you're supposed to close it until

to TikTok. Now I know that

Thank God for TikTok. Well, we can say goodbye on January 19th. When the man is Honestly,

am I gonna

I don't know. I don't know because all these, uh, creators, a lot of these creators are starting to move their content over to YouTube so they can monetize still. Um, who knows? Uh, some people believe it, some people won't.

I am kind of skeptical, but, um, but yeah, uh, some benefits of TikTok. So you learn that you need to not leave your Quran open, but that's one of the things that they found in his house. They also found something, a book on Christianity. I really don't know what the objective of the house search was. And this was from New York post and I don't know.

Admittedly, I don't know how any of this works. I don't know how they were able to like, go into his house immediately and start searching. It's just, whatever. But again, I don't know the process, so.

So, um,

searched.

according to Forbes, Jabar was married 3 times and divorced 3 times and has 3 children, including a 15 and 20 year old daughters.

What was their

Oh, I thought it was just two marriages. I guess that's irrelevant.

develop. Well,

developing it. When I first heard it, I thought it was a second divorce.

be relevant.

That's true. That's true. But when I first heard it, I'm pretty sure they said initially it was a second divorce. It was still around 2020, the third.

Oh, I'm not sure. Um, but it says he was born in Beaumont, Texas,

Beaumont.

So this is a, uh, he was born and bred in America as American as apple pie. He is. Oh, he's got a twang. We should play the clip. The, what is it? A real estate.

on my eyes and cross the

He's a realtor, right?

So he initially, he came back from the military and he decided to go to To Georgia state and get his degree in computer information sciences. then he got a good six figure job from, uh, I think it was Deloitte.

hmm. Deloitte. Mm hmm.

then, um, at some point he became a realtor, gone to marriages, messy divorces, maybe in debt. mean, who knows? A lot of people go through these very similar. situations, you

Yeah. And they don't like, um, ram a truck, a truck into a crowd, you know? So that's, I mean, the jump from the divorce to Isis. Mm. Mm hmm. Mm

seeing. So let's, so here, so the reactions that I see and, you know, maybe because I'm a little bit older, you know, I don't go on TikTok as much, but I, I look at like Instagram or I see things like on the news. I see comments on like New York times. And most of the comments that I see are kind of treating this as they treat any other mass shooter. that we don't, we have, um, neglected our vets. There's a lot of trauma.

hmm.

there's a lot of people who are struggling financially. It leads to so all kinds of psychological issues that could more likely lead to kinds of situations, not necessarily mass shooting, but just, you know, self harm,

Yes,

Um, and then Dana, what are you seeing?

Well, I wonder that. I mean, that's an interesting one that you brought up. Was there not there? I'm pretty sure there was guys. There's have been so many shootings if you guys think about it. But do you guys not remember? Do you guys remember the one where it was a, uh, a mass shooting? At a base by, yes.

is

And he is a psychiatrist, right? Right. Yeah. He was a psychiatrist and they stressed mental health.

Nidal. Uh, what's his name?

Muslim. He was

Yes. And he,

changed the name. It's not Fort Hood anymore. They changed it to Fort Cavazos.

Oh, interesting. I didn't know that, but yeah, they did talk about mental health. Uh, there was a lot of that discourse after that one, which is a, More, um, sensible direction, in my opinion, instead of jumping to radicalization because of religion, um, I think it's so short sighted and too, uh, convenient for islamophobes and racists, you know?

So, just looking at statistics, according to the Rockefeller, um, Center, uh, from 2013 to 2022, there were 170 mass shootings. 170. That's from including the last 2 years. 95. 7 were male. Let's look at the common pattern. 95. 7 were male. Um, average age 33. 4 and 54 percent were white. And like I mentioned earlier, um, between 26 to 36 percent are people who served in the US Army.

Yep.

So, of course, like,

Isn't it?

first thought, it wouldn't be he's Muslim, just because it has been primarily just white,

Mm hmm.

30 something,

Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

most likely served in the army.

I think that's why, like, for me, this time around, I feel no, I mean, prior to this, anything would happen again. This is coming from a person who lived out, um, 9 11 as an 11 year old. Right? So, like, I was in school and I really remember every aspect of post 9 11. have no inclination to go and post my Facebook feed or like, um, on Twitter or whatever we like we used to do before and say, Oh my gosh, like this is a horrible act, like trying

Denouncing it.

I have no inclination to do that

Yeah, same.

to me, it's like, if you. No, we, in, in that time frame between 2001 and today, all these mass shootings, which you said are 54 percent white male and we're talking about like Sandy Hook. We're talking about, um, uh, the Allen outlet mall. We're talking about things that like really stuck with us, right?

Like shootings that were, um, Yeah. Very painful. Not that one shooting is not as painful as another, but I mean, like, they, I think they all struck a chord. The one that was in South Texas earlier, a

all day.

ago, Yuvalde.

Mm

Um, And nobody comes out and like denounces, like these are one off people, like

hmm. Mm hmm. Mm

problems that go out and do things in the world.

And our problem and the way that you can solve something like that is making sure that these people can't get guns in their hands.

hmm.

Why is it to me? I by no means feel like I have to denounce this. This isn't my problem. This person is trying to use Islam trying to misinterpret. I am very confident in how Islam, um, preaches.

Um, I know that this is something that's very much against the preachings of Islam,

Yeah,

or to say this is un Islamic. Like if you don't know that by now, go pick up a book. Like go do your

Well, it makes me, but it really, so, so, for me, I, like I said, admittedly, I had some, only because of the recent incident in Germany and the parallels of ramming a truck into the, into the crowd. So, it just, for me, it was just, you know, that felt like that was, like, very soon. But if it was like a shooting, I wouldn't have even thought that it was going to be a Muslim, to be honest.

Right. Um, but it's just weird now the way that, yeah, like to y'all's point. Um, and like read, Lena was reading out what we've so many, uh, horrifying killings and mass shootings, um, happening in this country way too frequently. Okay. And, you know, For this one. It was just for us. It's been frustrating. So this is a headline for New York Post, right?

Even though I like a pay no attention to these people But these are that this is the the journalist the journal the journal that that like investigated his home New Orleans, New Orleans ISIS terrorist Shamsuddin Jabbar had bomb making station and Quran open to chilling passage in his home new photos reveal like What are we doing?

What is, what was the point? It is a, it's a tabloid, but it's like, I know they're going to, you know, tabloids are going to sensationalize things, but it's like, but why tabloid or not? You know? Um, but it's not, I mean, I think with more time, I think people are starting to ask questions luckily. And I, and I feel more hopeful hearing from you, Lena, like that, that on Instagram, people are more talking about the mental health and not helping our veterans.

And there's an issue in that. Sense versus, you know, the more ignorant, like they already have, you know, looking for that confirmation bias. Yeah.

people are making are realizing that

Yeah.

having mass shooting regularly. Unfortunately,

of a sudden you have, Oh, the ISIS. Where do you even get an ISIS flag?

Um, I know, I know. I was talking to my husband and he was like, Oh, you can just print it. Like, why is that such a big

Was it made of paper?

I

Was it, was it cardboard?

I, I

Was it, it was a little car, like a business card?

in

Like what?

I read in the rabbit hole of comments that it was just a bumper sticker,

Shut up.

get that?

What?

And listen, he was posting videos online like, um, uh, Lena, didn't you share that he had posted five videos prior

He had posted five videos.

and,

sure the timeline

it's like, okay, so, and nobody noticed any of

these videos that were online.

and Facebook. No one even uses Facebook anymore,

so, what they're saying is he went. to Egypt in 2023 and they're investigating that

I see.

and who he talked to and

Hmm.

him

Okay. Interesting.

like, you know, ISIS isn't even relevant anymore. You know what I mean? That's kind of

We're trying to make it relevant.

can't you say what's happening in Gaza is what motivated like, it just doesn't make sense.

Right. Okay.

That's not what happened. What was that?

have been a little bit more rational because that's what you're seeing on the news. Like this is what's happening to fellow Muslims. If you're a Muslim and you feel that, that would be my motivation. Not like, it just seems very disconnected.

I, I can

It's very random.

Mm

Almost. Yeah.

like, we don't even,

Well, they, well, they pulled, they tried to pull the ISIS card with the Germany incident, but they tried to pull the ISIS card in the Germany incident and that didn't stick because it turned out he was Zionist.

weird because he's a, he's a Zionist, anti Muslim,

Yeah. From Saudi Arabia.

know what happened.

Yeah,

Come on, I don't even know.

was. The whole thing was weird.

stopped like, Who,

like, yeah, yeah, whatever guys like honest condolences to the families, like, you know, but it's like, what, what are you guys doing with that? Like bringing up ISIS again? Well, do you remember initially after October 7th, um, they kept trying to say that like Hamas was ISIS, Hamas was ISIS, trying to keep ISIS relevant for some reason, you know, that was all over Twitter.

It's all over Twitter by like the, like the, you know, the really weird propaganda Zionist, like spokesmen, like especially that one that comes up. He debated, uh, Mehdi Hassan once. Um, God, I don't, I forgot his name.

Levi,

Yes. Uh, yes. Let something Levy

Eli, Eli, Levi. Hold on.

Eli Levy or something like that. He's propagandist,

NPR. Like he's been, he was the spokesperson.

you know, uh, political propagandist, but he, uh, is that his name? Sorry. I'm like stuck on his name now.

Hold on. I'm going to get it. Uh, Ilan Levi. Ilan.

That's the one, right? He, they would, there was a whole like. Uh, uh, infographic or like picture thing. Uh, Hamas is ISIS. Hamas is ISIS. You know, and they just kept spreading that to try to like get people to understand, like, you know how bad ISIS is, this is them. And really trying to keep ISIS relevant. So, cause I'm, who's still, who's still talking about ISIS, you know?

Um, yeah.

they're around, but, like, they've been reduced to, like, kind of the fringes and, like,

Right.

here, you know, just

Yeah.

a farfetched, uh, association. So, um, I'm just reading here the, um, Suspect's younger brother. Uh, had told the FBI and the New York Times that his brother was super sweet and very caring and that he said, even though he's not Muslim, he said, what he did does not represent Islam and there's more, some type of radicalization, not religion. His own brother is saying that.

Hmm.

Yeah. I'm just, I mean, I, are you guys seeing it, uh, uh, being a, like, is the ISIS factor being presented on the news recently? Cause to be honest, I haven't really kept up with more recently, like anything today or yesterday. Have they brought up ISIS again?

they're kind of just mentioning it, but I feel like kind of like what Miriam was saying, it did give me post 9 11 vibes.

Hmm.

I was a little bit older than 11, but I remember the whole vibe and the whole mood and we were so scared.

hmm.

Hmm.

our whole community was scared. Our school, we went to Islamic school, they closed down.

We had to bring security and police and

Oh my gosh.

threats to our school. Nobody wanted to leave their houses. People were scared. You know, neighbors would help, you know, offer to buy groceries. Um, you know, because Muslims are, especially if you're visibly Muslim, like hijabis,

hmm.

you know, I was in my family was, um, and I remember specifically, like, the day after, um, we went to target and people were like, Oh, my God, how, how did you do that?

Why would you do that? That's so scary. You weren't you scared? You know, it's kind of like, I was like, What, what does that have to do with me? Like, that was just my first reaction. Like, what does

Good for

As a

you.

Yeah.

like now, you know, now, alhamdulillah, I think we're, we've shifted. Like, we're not even scared to have to feel like we have anything to be sorry about because we didn't do that.

Right.

religion doesn't represent that.

I think that we have also gotten to a point where as Muslim, um, second gen, uh, first generation Americans, there's second, third generation Americans right now that are Muslim Arab American, um, back in 2001, and I know that there were definitely Palestinian and Arab immigrants to the U. S. from, like, 60s and even earlier, but I think we have established our presence and our significance.

We are becoming more assimilated. We have Rashida Tlaib who posted a picture 2 days ago saying how she took pictures with like fellow Muslim, um, Muslim representatives. Like, we are not where we were.

Mm hmm. Definitely.

are assimilated into society. We are more vocal. We are, we are in higher positions. and so really I feel like if The normal Joe that did post post 9 11, our neighbor across the street was a priest, and he was so kind prior to 9 11 and right after 9 11, despite the fact that we were great neighbors, like, would I remember him arguing with my dad?

Like, you know, Muslims this, Muslims that, right? I feel like we're at a better place. we, those, like, our neighbors are more, um, backing us up than they were post 9 11 because of how we've, how far we've come, if that makes any sense.

no. I think definitely we've made great strides. Um, our generation has, the millennial generation has absolutely. And the attitude has shifted. There is more awareness. There's more education on the topic. And even that removed, there have been so many mass shootings. Like, it doesn't make any sense to say that if they're more likely to happen by a quote unquote Muslim word.

Yeah. and of course, this is labeled terrorist, right? All the other mass shooters by white people are not considered terrorists.

forget? I mean, Luigi Mangione,

Yeah,

on, he wasn't, I mean, of course, TikTok social media universe are like swooning over him. But, um, like, was a mass shooting. I mean, not a mass shooting. There was a shooting that killed weeks before, just a couple of weeks before this one.

And they weren't, he wasn't a terrorist. Like, it's just

Well, they are charging him with, with terrorism, which is so interesting. Yeah.

That

But now, now it makes me question though, like what

a technical definition

it is like, right. I think in New York,

to,

New York, it's specific. Yeah.

Um, agenda

Yes. So that brings me to my next, well, because I wanted to bring this part up because there is a specific definition for terrorism, is there not?

Like it's supposed to be some kind of political motive. Right? I'm, if, I, I don't know. Is that correct?

You can't just be pissed off,

So, then,

which

why?

Most mass shooters

Right. You're just pissed off. So they can't call every single one of them, uh, active terror. But then why did they, for some, they, uh, tried to call what Jabara did an active terror, cause I'm like, what is the political motive here?

You know? And that's, and that's what I feel like when they're sensationalizing these posts or bringing up the, the Quran in the house and then the quotes and the videos and are trying to make it some political motive, some ulterior reason, you know, when he could have just been like, of an upset individual,

you're right.

right,

a Muslim. Like he, it's not like, it's not like he was out there and like that motive was very clear.

where he was like targeting a specific group, you know.

group.

Yeah, it just seemed very random.

one of his, and I say in quotes his own,

Yeah.

Like this was a Muslim Arab American. And like, actually. boy, um, that was killed is more a reflection of Muslim Americans than this guy is. You know, someone that's out there trying to have fun on New Year's Day, you know, in New Orleans. To me, that's someone I can relate to more and I can absolutely not relate to at all with this Shamsuddin guy. Like to me, he's not like, he's not even a part of us.

Like, what? 

So To circle back, you know, um, it, The, the, this, uh, 2025 began with a bang, literally, and, um, uh, we just, it's unfortunately part of our reality as Americans, um, as we mentioned that, you know, mass shootings have skyrocketed it happens in no matter under any administration, Republican, Democrat, And so, let's shop online guys, as much as you can.

Avoid big crowds on major events. I know I avoided all parades for 4th of July because I think that was like after the Allen outlets.

It's sad that we have to live that

I know, but that is our sad reality until something, I don't know what change

Until we

has to happen.

until we become more active,

Yeah.

become part of Congress,

until you become more powerful than the

powerful

RNA.

NRA. NRA.

Oh, sorry, did I say RNA?

You

 📍 Oh, it's like the Sofiani.

Saifani.

On that note, thanks for listening. And make sure to like and subscribe.