BYU vigil to remember Jordanian pilot who was burned alive

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Elliott Miller
Jordanian and Palestinian citizens stand with other BYU students to pay their repects to Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, a Jordanian pilot burned to death by ISIS. (Elliott Miller)

BYU students gathered in Brigham Square Tuesday, Feb. 3, to mourn the loss of the Jordanian pilot burned earlier that morning.

Muath Al-Kassasbeh was the man caged, burned and killed by terrorist group ISIS. He was captured when his plane went down in Syria in December.

Students held up the Jordanian flag and signs with the messages “All for Muaz” and “ISIS is not Islam” as they took a photo to send to the people of Jordan and the pilot’s family.

“No matter where we are in the world, we are united against war,” said Karma Hammouz, a senior at BYU from Ramallah, Palestine. “We are against anything that represents Islam in the wrong way.”

The purpose of the gathering was to show our strength and make a stand of solidarity against terrorism.

Students gather in Brigham Square on the east side of the Harold B. Lee Library to hold a vigil for the Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by ISIS. (Nalia Tafual)
Students gather in Brigham Square on the east side of the Harold B. Lee Library to hold a vigil for a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by ISIS. (Nalia Tafual)

“More and more people are understanding what ISIS is doing is not Muslim but terrorism,” said Hanna Abdo, a BYU alumna.

The vigil was put together by two sophomores from Amman, Jordan. Talal Sisalem and Faris Naffa both felt that the pilot needed to be honored and that the people of Jordan needed to know they had support from students at BYU.

“We are here as the Arab and BYU community to send our condolences to and to show our solidarity with the family of Muath Al-Kassasbeh and the people of Jordan,” said Naffa and Sisalem.

The gathering was a positive representation of the Middle East at BYU, as students emphasized they know what they stand for and will show their support against acts of terrorism.

[vc_video link=”http://youtu.be/QhnVJsrlT9Q”]

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