There are reports she flew to Syria to join rebels fighting in the civil war. She’s been called a jihadist, an extremist, and a martyr. But before all of that, Amira Ali, nee Karroum, was an Australian daughter, a sister, and a wife.
And that’s what makes Amira’s death as fascinating as it is tragic.
Amira was an ordinary woman from the western suburbs of Sydney who has now become the first female Australian casualty of civil war in Syria.
She was gunned down by the Free Syria Army (FSA) alongside her husband Yusuf Ali near the town of Allepo on Saturday. She was 22.
In the wake of the murders, we’re piecing together every detail we can to try and understand who this woman was, and how she met that fate. Here’s what we know so far: She was born and raised near Broadbeach on the Gold Coast by an Anglican mother and Muslim father.
She attended one of the country’s most prestigious private Anglican all-girl schools, St Hilda’s, and graduated in 2008. She enrolled in a graphic design course at UTS, and moved to Sydney’s inner west last year – the same year she married Yusuf Ali. Despite her Anglican education, she was a practising Muslim who started wearing a hijab around the same time she met her husband at a mosque in Granville, NSW.
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The destruction of Syria has been planned for many years by the MIC and big business in the West. See the Brooking Institute, "Which path to Persia?"
Syria had to go. The next stepping stone is/was to be Iran, hence the familiar catapulting of the propaganda about WMDs (where did we hear all this before??). But Iranian diplomacy has been too clever to allow that to happen and the US is too over extended/broke/f$%^ed up to dare to start a war with Iran.
This was to serve two purposes.
1) Removes remaining barrier to Western/US/Israeli hegemony in the Levant and allows "greater Israhell" to appear
2) Opens the way to Russia and China. ("The US's Pacific Pivoting")
The prize was to be the resources of Eurasia, but that will likely change given that
1) The political landscape has changed and
2) The US/Western energy conglomerates are now content to throw away the future for all of us by burning yet more filthy fossil fuels, in this case fracked gas.
To destroy Syria required playing the various factional divides, basically Sunni:Shia, masked by a number of (largely Western established/supported) 'other' factions. This has now spun out of control, but that is to the benefit of Western/Israeli interests too. Takes the attention from the ongoing crimes in Palestine. We await the outcome of Geneva, but nothing other than total subjugation will satisfy the western vultures.
This is a mess of Western manufacture. Decent people like this poor couple, have got caught up in it, like so many other useful pawns. Sad, but inevitable.
Sounds as if you suffer from Conspiracy Theoryitis.
I enjoyed your response !!!
First up, re ‘honourable Westerners’
I realize that it was tongue-in-cheek, lol, Plumplum, but I want to tell you that the expression is an oxymoron as far as I am concerned.
Also, I’d say that the West fights economic wars in addition to wars of spite and malice; economics rather than religion drives the West, in my opinion.
The damage, deaths and destruction wrought by the West is horrendous and I DO believe and openly acknowledge that we are now living with the legacies of that e.g. just one example being the horror plight of the Palestinians. (LOTS of Non Muslim Aussies agree)
I AGREE 100% with your list of the violent ones of the world.
(And we have a lot of them in the non Muslim population of Australia. We must act to change those aspects of Australian culture that have led to so many shameful attitudes and behaviours. I fear this will take a long time)
However, for brevity, I made a deliberate choice NOT to talk about the violence of those you listed because I stayed on topic – Muslims – and this ONLY because the article is about Amira and Yusuf Ali who went to Syria to be part of the action.
(They were not merely unlucky in getting ‘caught up in it)
I linked this with the concerns in Australia about all boat people, but especially, I think, unspoken fears about the growth of Islam in this country.
My main point was that those ‘boat people’ who are Muslim are probably no more / no less likely (I don’t know) to ‘cause trouble’for this country as those who arrive by plane. The fear mongering has been beyond belief – no, not really, anything to win an election, eh? . . . Cheers, Plumplum. I wish you well.
Cool story.
Great comment plumplum but a bit too intelligent for some people as you can see I suggest people look up gulf of Tonkin if they had any doubts. Might enable them to see past the BS
I’d like to know how this gorgeous Aussie girl was intending “to help”. . . ?
If it was by fighting, this tragedy speaks to “the elephant in the Australian room” which is the ease by which it appears young people can be so easily radicalized.
Being happy to fight and die in the name of Islam,
to believe in jihad and martyrdom
and to be called a hero for this –
these are not compatible with the way of life in most non-Muslim countries.
We do not fight religious-political wars any more. We moved past this some time ago.
Many Australians are concerned about the willingness of many Muslims to sort out their problems via violent conflict.It appears that some Muslim see this young woman as a poster girl for Islam. (e.g. as is indicated by the comments on Facebook)
Many Australians oppose the boat people because but we do not want Muslim violence here, but this is pretty silly, isn’t it? because the lovely Muslim families who arrived by plane, the young guys and girls with the University educations who flew in last year, any ‘nice’ Aussie family might have a fanatic in their midst, and that includes ‘nice’ NON Muslim families from which one or more children can be swept up into a radical Islamic fervour.
I think our best bet is as Karen said “I recommend making as many Muslim friends you can - to have them feel included in your community to serve as a disincentive for anyone who may think of causing strife here."
The boat people have been used in Australia as a divisive political issue.
The restoration of common sense and decency would be more sensible issues for us to promote and would be more in keeping with what used to be respected throughout the world as “AustralianValues’.
You are not particularly up to speed on the origin of much of the violence in the Middle east, are you? Like most Australians you don't have any real idea of the genesis of the problem. It is not your fault, you are not encouraged to lean the truth about much of the last 500 years or so.
Look up "Sykes Picot" and learn about what really happened in Palestine from 1897 until. well, today. Consider where many of the refugess fleeing to Australia come from and ask yourself "Who destroyed their societies and countries, for ignorant ideological and grasping financial ends?"
If we honourable Westerners are not fighting religious wars, why do you think most of the interference from the West is in Muslim countries?
People of all walks and creeds in ALL countries could be peaceful and prosperous but for malicious interference by external interests.
I believe your post to be well intended but it is unfortunate you type this..
"Many Australians are concerned about the willingness of many Muslims to sort out their problems via violent conflict.."
Substitute "young drunks", "Americans", "Israelis", "Illegal Squatters", "zionists", "Christian fundies", "football hooligans", "vandals", "rapists", "Politicians" (etc) for Muslim and you might be closer to the truth of the human condition..