Losing one of our own

Aziyade · 04-18-2007, 05:30 PM

I didn’t know Reema Joseph Samaha. We never met, I never attended class with her, and I never got the pleasure of seeing her dance. We never emailed each other our goals and accomplishments, nor did we remark on each other’s frustrations, but we shared the same dream and passion: a love of Middle Eastern Dance.

On Monday, April 16, 2007 Reema was murdered in the Virginia Tech massacre. I can’t help but feel like we’ve just lost one of our own.

We often refer to the “sisterhood” of dance, or we talk about the Belly Dance Community, but in reality, dancers are part of a large, extended family. We support each other and encourage each other, argue and debate each other, share costuming wisdom and music reviews. Sometimes we fight with each other, as siblings will do, but ultimately we make up one big happy “family.”

It’s not fair to lose such a family member.

We often read news reports after such tragedies as these and think to ourselves, “Oh, how terrible.” We may say a silent prayer, or offer the families our condolences. But most of the time, when we read the list of the victims, we don’t see faces. We don’t think about each life lost and what that means to us: we who are simply strangers reading a newspaper.

But Reema was a belly dancer. One of us. One of our own. I’m looking at her picture now, seeing her smiling at the camera in her coin scarf, and Reema is not just some face or some name in a newspaper memorial. She was a belly dancer. One of us.

What I know about Reema fits inside two column inches in the newspaper: Her heritage was Lebanese. She had been dancing since she was two years old and studied ballet, jazz, modern dance, and hip-hop as well as Middle Eastern dance. She performed for her church and her high school and even won “best individual performance” in her school’s talent show. She was a part of Hill and Veil, the Middle Eastern dance association at Virginia Tech.

And she was one of us.

(x-posted cause it think it needs to be said)

KuteNurse · 04-18-2007, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aziyade

I didn’t know Reema Joseph Samaha. We never met, I never attended class with her, and I never got the pleasure of seeing her dance. We never emailed each other our goals and accomplishments, nor did we remark on each other’s frustrations, but we shared the same dream and passion: a love of Middle Eastern Dance.

On Monday, April 16, 2007 Reema was murdered in the Virginia Tech massacre. I can’t help but feel like we’ve just lost one of our own.

We often refer to the “sisterhood” of dance, or we talk about the Belly Dance Community, but in reality, dancers are part of a large, extended family. We support each other and encourage each other, argue and debate each other, share costuming wisdom and music reviews. Sometimes we fight with each other, as siblings will do, but ultimately we make up one big happy “family.”

It’s not fair to lose such a family member.

We often read news reports after such tragedies as these and think to ourselves, “Oh, how terrible.” We may say a silent prayer, or offer the families our condolences. But most of the time, when we read the list of the victims, we don’t see faces. We don’t think about each life lost and what that means to us: we who are simply strangers reading a newspaper.

But Reema was a belly dancer. One of us. One of our own. I’m looking at her picture now, seeing her smiling at the camera in her coin scarf, and Reema is not just some face or some name in a newspaper memorial. She was a belly dancer. One of us.

What I know about Reema fits inside two column inches in the newspaper: Her heritage was Lebanese. She had been dancing since she was two years old and studied ballet, jazz, modern dance, and hip-hop as well as Middle Eastern dance. She performed for her church and her high school and even won “best individual performance” in her school’s talent show. She was a part of Hill and Veil, the Middle Eastern dance association at Virginia Tech.

And she was one of us.

(x-posted cause it think it needs to be said)

Thankyou for this post. I saw her on the news also. It is such a shame and a senseless waste of life. I grief with her family for their loss of such a special person and it brings tears to my eyes. She and her family and friends are in my thoughts and prayers. God Bless.

Babylonia · 04-18-2007, 06:27 PM

What a tragic waste. I'm so sorry for the loss and can't imagine what her family is going through. My heart goes out to them.

Moon · 04-18-2007, 06:31 PM

My heart goes out to all victims of murder, and all family members and friends of those victims.

Aniseteph · 04-18-2007, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aziyade

... And she was one of us.

Thanks for posting. I read about her in the paper at lunchtime today and felt exactly the same.

and

.

And

at the fact that Reema and all the others get a few column inches each while there are pages and pages devoted to speculations about the motivation of the... well I'll keep it polite and just say perpetrator. Wrong.

charity · 04-18-2007, 09:03 PM

thoughts and prayers to all families and friends that have suffered from the tragedy.

unfortunately there will be no justice to console them.

Kharmine · 04-18-2007, 09:17 PM

I saw her picture and read her bio this morning and was struck by the same thing. One of those connections that struck a chord if we had nothing else in common...

From everything I've read about about the killer, he was marked as disturbed and disturbing for some time -- teachers tried to get him into counseling, women he paid unwanted attention to complained to the cops, his fellow students avoided him after they read his ranting work in English class...

And yet, in our society, his rights were preserved -- no one could make him go to counseling or get a psychiatric examination, his behavior was not illegal, he could easily buy weapons and ammunition with a one-minute background check, no one talked to his parents to let them know so many people were alarmed about him. If he had a juvenile record, I'm sure it was sealed. If he was ever treated for mental problems when younger, I doubt the school or the gun shop knew about it.

I'm a journalist, a defender of free speech and the right to just be "weird" if one wants to be. But somewhere between the absolute "right to privacy" and the obligation to defend the public from any and all "potential" risk, there should be a middle ground. Because the price we pay for individual "freedom" should not be a mass killing.

KuteNurse · 04-18-2007, 10:05 PM

I suppose we will see some copycat's. The University of Minnesota had a bomb threat note found in a bathroom today. Everyone was evacuated and dogs were brought in to search. It is unbelieveable what happens as a result of this viscious killing.

charity · 04-18-2007, 10:47 PM

to me yes the perp was disturbed, they always are.

what pisses me off is the lackadaisical approach of the authorities. wouldnt common sense dictate that if the suspect were not apprehended that the threat was still in effect? yet they did nothing to notify department heads of any danger, they did nothing to shut down campus until it was too late.

and why??? why didnt they make an ATTEMPT to do what they had to in order to guarantee that no one else got hurt?

they believed the 715 shooting was an isolated event. When human life is at stake you ASSUME NOTHING.

so what did they do, what precautions did they take at 715 except to try and preserve the reputation of their university by isolating the incident and there-by inadvertantly allowing the 915 assault to occur?

Faculty and acting authorities FAILED, and young students and their families are living with their decision and incompetence.

police authorities are trained to evaluate threat and how to respond accordingly, all authorities must do it. so why didnt they??? i am seeking a response or clarification of details. perhaps i am wrong with my details?

Kharmine · 04-19-2007, 01:29 AM

This didn't follow the pattern of other campus killings. I think I remember one time that a high school student killed his mom before going off to shoot up his school, but usually the killer just makes a beeline for the school and goes to work.

From what I read, the campus police thought they had a "domestic" killing on their hands -- a young woman and one of the dorm advisors killed in their dorm. The woman's boyfriend was known to carry a gun so they went looking for him.

I've just heard more on the news that the killer was actually given a psychiatric evaluation, and it was recommended that he be hospitalized, but "privacy laws" meant that no one could force him to do so, and because he was an adult, no one was allowed to contact his parents, his roommate or anyone else to warn that he might be a problem. He actually was hospitalized at some point a year or so ago, but that did not prevent him from legally getting guns very recently.

I have a feeling we re going to see some laws modified, and I hope we can do so without setting off a battle over civil liberties.

04-18-2007, 05:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
Aziyade V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Cornfields of Evansville Indiana. Posts: 1,050	Losing one of our own I didn’t know Reema Joseph Samaha. We never met, I never attended class with her, and I never got the pleasure of seeing her dance. We never emailed each other our goals and accomplishments, nor did we remark on each other’s frustrations, but we shared the same dream and passion: a love of Middle Eastern Dance. On Monday, April 16, 2007 Reema was murdered in the Virginia Tech massacre. I can’t help but feel like we’ve just lost one of our own. We often refer to the “sisterhood” of dance, or we talk about the Belly Dance Community, but in reality, dancers are part of a large, extended family. We support each other and encourage each other, argue and debate each other, share costuming wisdom and music reviews. Sometimes we fight with each other, as siblings will do, but ultimately we make up one big happy “family.” It’s not fair to lose such a family member. We often read news reports after such tragedies as these and think to ourselves, “Oh, how terrible.” We may say a silent prayer, or offer the families our condolences. But most of the time, when we read the list of the victims, we don’t see faces. We don’t think about each life lost and what that means to us: we who are simply strangers reading a newspaper. But Reema was a belly dancer. One of us. One of our own. I’m looking at her picture now, seeing her smiling at the camera in her coin scarf, and Reema is not just some face or some name in a newspaper memorial. She was a belly dancer. One of us. What I know about Reema fits inside two column inches in the newspaper: Her heritage was Lebanese. She had been dancing since she was two years old and studied ballet, jazz, modern dance, and hip-hop as well as Middle Eastern dance. She performed for her church and her high school and even won “best individual performance” in her school’s talent show. She was a part of Hill and Veil, the Middle Eastern dance association at Virginia Tech. And she was one of us. (x-posted cause it think it needs to be said)

04-18-2007, 09:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
Kharmine V.I.P. Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Foot of the Rocky Mountains Posts: 1,248	I saw her picture and read her bio this morning and was struck by the same thing. One of those connections that struck a chord if we had nothing else in common... From everything I've read about about the killer, he was marked as disturbed and disturbing for some time -- teachers tried to get him into counseling, women he paid unwanted attention to complained to the cops, his fellow students avoided him after they read his ranting work in English class... And yet, in our society, his rights were preserved -- no one could make him go to counseling or get a psychiatric examination, his behavior was not illegal, he could easily buy weapons and ammunition with a one-minute background check, no one talked to his parents to let them know so many people were alarmed about him. If he had a juvenile record, I'm sure it was sealed. If he was ever treated for mental problems when younger, I doubt the school or the gun shop knew about it. I'm a journalist, a defender of free speech and the right to just be "weird" if one wants to be. But somewhere between the absolute "right to privacy" and the obligation to defend the public from any and all "potential" risk, there should be a middle ground. Because the price we pay for individual "freedom" should not be a mass killing. __________________ What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about? Last edited by Kharmine; 04-18-2007 at 09:20 PM.

04-18-2007, 10:05 PM	#8 (permalink)
KuteNurse V.I.P. Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Duluth, Minnesota Posts: 2,969	I suppose we will see some copycat's. The University of Minnesota had a bomb threat note found in a bathroom today. Everyone was evacuated and dogs were brought in to search. It is unbelieveable what happens as a result of this viscious killing. Last edited by KuteNurse; 04-18-2007 at 10:16 PM.

04-19-2007, 01:29 AM	#10 (permalink)
Kharmine V.I.P. Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Foot of the Rocky Mountains Posts: 1,248	This didn't follow the pattern of other campus killings. I think I remember one time that a high school student killed his mom before going off to shoot up his school, but usually the killer just makes a beeline for the school and goes to work. From what I read, the campus police thought they had a "domestic" killing on their hands -- a young woman and one of the dorm advisors killed in their dorm. The woman's boyfriend was known to carry a gun so they went looking for him. I've just heard more on the news that the killer was actually given a psychiatric evaluation, and it was recommended that he be hospitalized, but "privacy laws" meant that no one could force him to do so, and because he was an adult, no one was allowed to contact his parents, his roommate or anyone else to warn that he might be a problem. He actually was hospitalized at some point a year or so ago, but that did not prevent him from legally getting guns very recently. I have a feeling we re going to see some laws modified, and I hope we can do so without setting off a battle over civil liberties. __________________ What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?

04-18-2007, 06:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
Babylonia Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: South Florida Posts: 402	What a tragic waste. I'm so sorry for the loss and can't imagine what her family is going through. My heart goes out to them.

04-18-2007, 06:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
Moon V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 3,621	My heart goes out to all victims of murder, and all family members and friends of those victims.

04-18-2007, 09:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
charity Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: north carolina Posts: 819	thoughts and prayers to all families and friends that have suffered from the tragedy. unfortunately there will be no justice to console them.

04-18-2007, 10:47 PM	#9 (permalink)
charity Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: north carolina Posts: 819	to me yes the perp was disturbed, they always are. what pisses me off is the lackadaisical approach of the authorities. wouldnt common sense dictate that if the suspect were not apprehended that the threat was still in effect? yet they did nothing to notify department heads of any danger, they did nothing to shut down campus until it was too late. and why??? why didnt they make an ATTEMPT to do what they had to in order to guarantee that no one else got hurt? they believed the 715 shooting was an isolated event. When human life is at stake you ASSUME NOTHING. so what did they do, what precautions did they take at 715 except to try and preserve the reputation of their university by isolating the incident and there-by inadvertantly allowing the 915 assault to occur? Faculty and acting authorities FAILED, and young students and their families are living with their decision and incompetence. police authorities are trained to evaluate threat and how to respond accordingly, all authorities must do it. so why didnt they??? i am seeking a response or clarification of details. perhaps i am wrong with my details?