Showing posts with label honor killing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label honor killing. Show all posts

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Afghan Husband Rapes Wife: Culture, Law, History, and Catching Up

Men getting a bit frantic about having children isn't unknown in Western civilization. Take England in the early 1500s, for example.

Henry VIII of England had a problem having children. Boys, anyway, who would live past their teens. Although, given his bed-hopping habits, it wouldn't have been hard to claim that just about boy whose mother was in or near London was an illegitimate son of the "Defender of the Faith" (who later set up his own church).

That was then, this is now. These days, heads of state are expected to keep their shenanigans discretely under wraps: although some still do get a little carried away. (Reuters)

Ishmael to Internet in One Lifetime

I've made the point before, that many Muslims have been dragged across several thousand years of history and cultural change in one or two generations. Stable cultures, carrying on traditions which had been ancient when Abraham moved out of Ur, were relatively isolated until Western civilization needed petroleum.

Then, the world of individual rights, Barbies, beer, bikinis and Mickey Mouse dropped into their quiet world. It must have been like a retirement community suddenly having a frat house near the golf course.

'I Can't Get My Wife Pregnant: It Must Be Her Fault!'

Afghanistan is an Islamic country. It's also in the Middle East - or just outside that region, depending on who you're reading.1 And, it's not the best spot in the world to live if you're a woman.

Take Shameen, for instance. She's had a rough time lately. She and her husband haven't had children. He blames her, and apparently Afghan culture backs him up.
"... After one severe beating, she ran from her home and to the police station. Her husband promised the police he would not attack her anymore, so she gave in and agreed to go back home with him.

Days later, Shameen's husband took her on a trip to visit her sister's grave -- a 15-year-old sister who was burned to death for displeasing her husband.

"Shameen says her younger sister was 11 years old when she was forced to marry an older man. He would beat and abuse her until one day he killed her.

"As Shameen walked along the graveyard with her husband he took her near a shrine where he forced her to the ground, lifted her burqa and raped her. He then threatened her with a knife and asked her who was going to help her now. She was screaming as he slashed her throat and body.

"A passerby saved her.

"Now, she has no one to turn to -- not even her own parents. In their eyes, she has brought them shame, an offense punishable by death.

"In Afghanistan, a woman is blamed for the injustices she must live through. Shameen says when her sister was killed, her parents turned a blind eye...."
(CNN)

Rape isn't Nice, and We Shouldn't Do It

Rape is a serious offense. And, yes: a husband can rape his wife. It's wrong, it's bad, and it's a monumentally stupid thing to do. But, it's possible.

This definition and discussion of rape might help clarify my views:
"Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. Rape deeply wounds the respect, freedom, and physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right...."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2356)
A key word here is "forcible." Shameen's husband forced himself on her. That may be okay in some cultures - but I don't buy into the multicultural ethic that says morality is determined by culture. Some things are wrong anywhere, and rape is one of them.

"A passerby saved her."

I think there's some hope for Afghanistan. The CNN article says: "A passerby saved her." At least one person in the country doesn't think that sexual assault in a cemetery is okay. And, the Afghan government not only allows shelters for abused women to exist, but cooperates with them.
"... Authorities brought Shameen to a shelter run by Women for Afghan Women (WAW). The organization started in New York to provide humanitarian assistance to women who do not know they have rights.

"In this safe house, WAW is currently providing care, security and an education for 54 women and children.

"Nearly 90 percent of Afghan women suffer from domestic abuse, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women...."
(CNN)
I was doing time in a university in the eighties, when political correctness was in flower, so I've got - ambivalent? - feelings 'women's rights' and other PC dogmas. But the CNN article gives no clear indication that political indoctrination is part the WAW shelter's program: And those women desperately need a place to stay.

Islam, Culture, Rape and Attitude

There are more Muslims in America today then there were when I was growing up: but they're still a tiny minority here. My guess is that many Americans get their impression of what Islam is from the antics of Sudan's government, Saudi clerics, and people like Shameen's husband.

It's sort of like knowing Christianity from the activities of the Westboro Baptist Church and the KKK in the sixties. (November 26, 2007) Yes, those outfits claim to be Christian - and their members may believe it sincerely - but their actions are not typical of Christianity as a whole.

With Islam, it really is different. It looks to me like we've got a situation equivalent to entire nations being controlled by analogs of the Ku Klux Klan, as was in the sixties, at least; and the Westboro Baptist Church, with it's notions about the American military being part of a homosexual plot. (October 31, 2007)

But, based on what I've read - and correspondence with Muslims and Muslimas who do not think terrorism is a good idea - I think that Islamic belief is highly influenced by the culture of whatever region Muslims live it. I see a strong analogy to the "Bible truths" preached by some Christian groups: like 'alcohol is the work of the Devil' or 'rock music is Satanic,' which appear to stem more from the personal preferences of the pastor and mores of the local culture, than anything else.2

I've used Indonesia as an example of a very Islamic country that doesn't act like Sudan or Saudi Arabia. I don't think Indonesia is perfect, by any means. (August 22, 2008) Indonesia's officials may be struggling with reconciling their own beliefs, demands by Islamic crazies, and awareness of what's happened since the Magna Carta: and trying to run a country where terrorists have a limited - but significant - number of supporters.

For that matter, I don't think America is perfect. Which is another topic. (July 3, 2008)

I'm old enough to remember the 'good old days,' when significant numbers of Americans - including judges - figured that if a woman got raped, she must have been asking for it. Okay: In some cases, the victim was behaving imprudently. But that wasn't an excuse for rape. Not. At. All.

That attitude, and an indulgent view of drunk driving, seem to be on the wane. At least, I sincerely hope so.

Afghanistan is in Bad Shape - Abandoning Them to the Taliban Won't Help

I've said, often, that who wins the war on terror matters (July 30, 2009, for starters) Abandoning Afghanistan and the rest of the Islamic world to the Taliban and Saudi clerics isn't just wrong, it's a bad idea. There are Muslims - many, I hope - who would say "this is not us" about jihad as imagined by Bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Taliban. (August 9, 2007)

If they're not given an opportunity to develop an Islamic world that's a bit more post-18th-century than what the Taliban and Al Shabaab have in mind, I don't think it would be long before the rest of the world had a relatively united block of terrorist nations to deal with.

Related posts: In the news:
1 With a world population of a bit over 6,000,000,000, somebody's going to have a passionate opinion about whether or not the term "Middle East" should be used at all.

I try to use terms that most people who understand English are familiar with. And "Middle East" is a whole lot shorter than "the-swath-of-countries-along-the-south-and-east-shores-of-the-Mediterranean-around-the-Caspian-and-south-shore-of-the-Black-Sea-and-eastwards-to-India."

Sure, "Western Asia" sounds cool - but leaves out the northern tier of nations in Africa, and Sudan: which have more-or-less-strong cultural similarities to the other Middle Eastern countries.

2 There's an anecdote, which I haven't traced to its source, about a Christian denomination with members on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. Sometime in the 20th century, when transportation technology made a national convention practical, delegates from north and south got together.

The 'Bible truth' that one set believed was that alcohol was okay, but tobacco was the work of the Devil. The other was okay with smoking - health problems notwithstanding - but knew that God Himself had declared alcohol to be the work of the Devil.

They had, I heard, quite a lively theological discussion before thrashing out a compromise.
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Friday, February 20, 2009

Honor Killing, Muzzammil Hassan and Aasiya, Protecting Feelings, and Common Sense

Honor killing is out of the news - for today. Muzzammil Hassan, founder of Bridges TV and prominent member of Orchard Park's Muslim community, is still in jail. It seems that beheading your wife is illegal in America.

If you read traditional news outlets, like The New York Times, you've learned that a Pakistani-American's decapitation of his wife is not an honor killing. Never mind that she shamed him by filing for divorce. And kicking him out of 'his' house.

Honor Killing, Image, and Common Sense: A Review

I wrote about honor killing in North America, and how traditional news media handle it, yesterday, in "Muzzammil Hassan's Beheaded Wife No Honor Killing - Move Along" (February 19, 2009).

Since this post continues an idea from "No Honor Killing," here's a review of yesterday's post:
  • Not All Muslims Kill Their Women
    • The vast majority of Middle Eastern families in America don't kill embarrassing wives and sisters
    • Some do
    • The 'Muslim community' and 'Islamic leaders' seem to get defensive as soon as this little cultural quirk is brought up
    • Traditional news media seems to accommodate hypersensitive Muslims
      • This may not be a good idea
  • Editor's Quandary: How to Handle a Prominent Muslim, Founder of Islamic Network; and a Beheaded Wife
    • After the story became international news, The New York Times wrote about
      • "outrage from Muslim leaders after suggestions that it had been some kind of 'honor killing' based on religious or cultural beliefs"
  • No Honor Killing Here: Move Along
    • The New York Times' slant on the story seems to have set the tone for most coverage of Aasiya Zubair Hassan's beheading
  • After the Times: Polite Reticence and (Sort of) Bold Challenge
    • CNN didn't use the phrase "honor killing" at all, in its low-key online coverage of the killing in Orchard Park, New York
    • An op-ed in the United Kingdom's Guardian made a remarkably bold claim, and call to action
      • But insisted that Muzzammil Hassan's beheading of Aasiya wasn't an honor killing
  • There is No Honor Killing: Just Domestic Violence
    • Wajahat Ali's "A wake-up call for the community" boldly suggests that Muslim community leaders should start treating domestic violence as a problem, and stop shielding wife-beaters
      • That's an over-simplification, of course
    • Wajahat Ali also says that we mustn't think about "honor killing:" it's "domestic violence"
  • Defying the Times: Journalists Unchained
    • The Buffalo News defies The New York Times' leadership, by acknowledging that
      • "...Advocates for women — some of them Muslims — have called for the community to acknowledge religious and cultural traditions that stigmatize divorce and heighten the danger of violence in divorce cases...."
  • 'Vilifying the Islamic Faith or Muslims?' No - Trying to Save Lives - Yes
    • A few people with roots in the Middle East seem to regard domestic violence as a culturally-acceptable way of dealing with having a snit
    • I'm pretty sure that many Muslims don't think that flogging or killing their women is a good idea
    • I think Islamic/Muslim/Middle Eastern religious and community leaders could do wonders for the image of Islam and Muslims if they'd make:
      • Fewer claims that honor killings aren't happening
      • A greater effort to spread the word that embarrassing relatives can't be killed in the new country

Domestic Violence and Honor Killing: Not Quite the Same

It's true that domestic violence isn't exclusively in one group.

Even America's cultural leaders, like Rihanna and Chris Brown, are involved. I know: it's all "allegedly" at this point. Their alleged dust-up in the alleged city of Los Angeles is, if what's leaking out is any indication, domestic violence.

It would be unreasonable to claim that Barbadians, Virginians, or American entertainment stars, are particularly prone to domestic violence.

So, why bring up "honor killing" when a prominent member of an upstate New York Muslim community whacks off his wife's head?

Why not just call it "domestic violence," like what apparently happened to Rihanna?
Domestic Violence, Culturally-Sanctioned Domestic Violence: Not the Same Thing
To the best of my knowledge, neither Barbadians, Virginians, nor the American entertainment industry, encourages family rulers to kill relatives who embarrass them, or condones honor killing.

On the other hand, it's hard not to notice the motive behind the murders of: It's also hard to miss the way that 'Muslim leaders' in America rather consistently deny that honor killing exists. And, insist that the phrase shouldn't be used.

The New York Times and its acolytes accommodate this view, by and large, denouncing the use of the phrase "honor killing" and insisting that "domestic violence" is the correctly tolerant, open-minded term. I don't think this is a good idea.

Given the way that Muslim community leaders are said to be 'outraged' at the mention of honor killing, while some Muslim women say it should stop, it's easy to get the impression that, by and large:
  • Muslim men are satisfied with the status quo
  • Muslim women aren't, entirely

Honor Killing: Embarrassing, but Ignoring the Problem Won't Solve It

As I wrote a few days ago, A couple of educated Americans came to an unstartling conclusion: Aasiya Hassan's beheading looks like an honor killing. One of them's Dr. Phyllis Chesler, professor of psychology at the Richmond College of the City University of New York. The other is M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (he's from Wisconsin).

As reported in a news outlet that doesn't take its cues from The New York Times, the gruesome beheading and display of body parts, and other details, make Aasiya's murder look like an honor killing.

I don't blame the leaders of Orchard Park's Muslim community for being embarrassed. Another dead Muslima doesn't make them look good.

Denying that there's a serious problem probably isn't the best idea, though. Americans, by and large, don't approve of killing women - even if they embarrass their menfolk, or get fed up and leave.

And, although in a sense "honor killing" is an extreme form of domestic violence, it also seems to be a practice that's promoted or at least condoned in some parts of the world. Strident insistence that the phrase "honor killing" not be used, along with what appears to be failures to educate newcomers about what's allowed in the new country, does not make Muslims in America and Islam look good - and doesn't keep Muslim women alive.

Orchard Park Police: Investigating a Crime, Not Protecting Feelings

I don't envy Orchard Park's police. They've got a homicide to investigate, that involves a group of people who can make their lives - and careers - quite unpleasant.

My hat's off to Orchard Park's Police Chief, Andrew Benz. From the sounds of it, he isn't letting misguided multiculturalism get in the way of a police investigation.

"Asked if the murder is being probed as an honor killing, Benz replied, 'We've been told that there's no place for that kind of action in their faith, but I wouldn't say that there's anything that's being completely ruled out at this point.' " (FOXNews)

You Mean, Educated, Intelligent, People Think Honor Killing Exists?

I'll grant that "Islamophobia" - an irrational, unfounded fear of Islam - is real. And, it isn't limited to "confused and uneducated Americans. On the other hand, I don't think that research that may embarrass some Muslims is necessarily "Islamophobic."

Not even if it relates to a beheaded woman in upstate New York.

Psychologists, and even some Muslims have said that Aasiya's murder looks like an honor killing.
Aasiya's Decapitation and Honor Killing: A Psychologist's View
" 'The fierce and gruesome nature of this murder signals it's an honor killing,' said Dr. Phyllis Chesler, an author and professor of psychology at the Richmond College of the City University of New York. 'What she did [file for divorce] was worthy of capital punishment in his [Muzzammil Hassan's] eyes.'..."

"...Chesler, who wrote 'Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic Violence?' for Middle East Quarterly, said some Muslim men consider divorce a dishonor on their family.

" 'This is not permitted in their culture,' said Chesler, whose study analyzed more than 50 reports of honor killings in North America and Europe. 'This is, from a cultural point of view, an honor killing.'

"Chesler said honor killings typically are Muslim-on-Muslim crimes and largely involve teenage daughters, young women and, to a lesser extent, wives." (FOXNews)
Aasiya's Decapitation and Honor Killing: A Muslim's View
The non-Muslim psychologist's conclusion is backed up M. Zuhdi Jasser. He's the founder and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. He said: " 'She expressed through the legal system that she was being abused, and at the moment she asked for divorce, she's not only murdered — she's decapitated.'..."

"...Jasser said he was concerned that Aasiya Hassan suffered such a barbaric death after she and her husband were seen as a couple focused on bettering the 'Islamic image' in the United States.

" 'The most dangerous aspect of this case is to simply say it's domestic violence,' ...." Jasser said. (FOXNews)
Aasiya's Decapitation and Honor Killing: Let's Not Talk About it
Not everybody sees eye-to-eye with Chesler and Jasser.

"...Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, a producer and host for Bridges TV who worked alongside the Hassans, said 'now is not the time' to debate the cultural and religious context of the murder that appears to be an honor killing inspired by Aasiya Hassan's desire to divorce her husband.

" 'There will be time for that later,'.... 'I will only say to those who leap to the conclusion that this kind of thing is intrinsic to Islam, ask yourselves if you think that drunkenness is intrinsic to Irish Catholics, or cheating in business is to Jews?' " (FOXNews)

Hats off to Hirschfield: invoking Irish Catholics and Jews is a good rhetoric.

On the other hand, although Chesler said " 'Islamist advocacy groups continue to obfuscate the problem, and government and police officials accept their inaccurate versions of reality, women will continue to be killed for honor in the West....' " "Islamist advocacy groups" and "Islam" aren't, I hope, the same thing.

And it's a little hard for me to believe that M. Zuhdi Jasser thinks that honor killing "is intrinsic to Islam" - even if he is from Wisconsin.

I think it's about time for 'Muslim community leaders' to start worrying less about their bruised sensibilities, and more about Muslimas' lives - and how their denials make Islam look.

Islam, Muslims, and Honor Killing: Deciding What to Defend

Muslim women are being killed by Muslim men: because the men are in a snit about something. Back in the old country, the men were expected to act that way.

American law and custom says this isn't right. Quite a few Muslims who don't live in America agree: including Pakistan's Islamic Party, which said that honor killing is not right according to Islam.

Honor killing probably has more to do with a Middle Eastern culture that was ancient when Abraham had children, than what The Prophet taught a few thousand years later. On the other hand, a comment on an earlier post claimed that "orthodox Islam" "doesn't condone 'honor killing', but it does decriminalize the act of parents killing their children" - and has citations to back up the claim. On the other hand, the comment is from that prolific writer, Anonymous.

Generalizing is Dumb - So is Denial

I don't think it's right - or sensible - to assume that, because a few cultures where almost everyone is a Muslim practice honor killing, all Muslims accept honor killing. Much less that Islam itself says 'if your wife makes you feel bad, kill her.'

On the other hand, between a rising body count, and demands that "honor killing" not be mentioned, "honor killing" does seem to be an embarrassment that some Muslims desperately want people to ignore. That doesn't, in my opinion, make the 'Muslim community' look good. And, keeping honor killing a little community secret probably won't help save lives.

The way I see it, when it comes to "honor killing" and the Muslim community's apparently sensitive feelings, this would be a good time for 'open minded' people to take a deep breath, and think very carefully about exactly what they are defending.

Related posts: News and views: Views and background: Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Muzzammil Hassan's Beheaded Wife No Honor Killing - Move Along

Honor killing, killing a close relative (generally a woman), to maintain the honor of your family, wasn't a common practice in North America. Until people from the Middle East started moving in.

I'm delighted that people from all over the world recognize Canada and the United States as desirable places to live, and move in. My ancestors did the same thing, a few generations back, diluting America's DAR and WASP element: and helping the country grow.

Not All Muslims Kill Their Women

The vast majority of Middle Eastern families in America tolerate embarrassing wives and sisters, rather than kill them.

However, "Sandela Kanwal, Aqsa Parvez, and Sarah and Amina Yaser Said would probably be alive today, if their male relatives hadn't handled embarrassment the way they did in the old country.

It's a bit hard to ignore the fact that a small minority of Middle Eastern Muslims in North America don't realize that local laws and customs frown on men killing their women: even if the men are embarrassed.

It's even harder to ignore the way that the 'Muslim community' and 'Islamic leaders' seem to get defensive as soon as this little cultural quirk is brought up. Even though it's been argued that honor killing is more a Middle Eastern cultural thing, than an Islamic teaching.

I don't think that traditional news media's efforts to placate hypersensitive Muslims is helping. At all.

Editor's Quandary: How to Handle a Prominent Muslim, Founder of Islamic Network; and a Beheaded Wife

After news of Muzzammil Hassan's incredible headless wife spread around the world, The New York Times published a story on this curious upstate New York occurrence.

The 'Gray Lady' took a bold approach, stating: "...The gruesome death of Ms. Hassan prompted outrage from Muslim leaders after suggestions that it had been some kind of 'honor killing' based on religious or cultural beliefs.

"Dr. Sawsan Tabbaa, a Muslim community leader who teaches orthodontia at the State University at Buffalo, said, 'This is not an honor killing, no way.'

"Dr. Tabbaa added, 'It has nothing to do with his faith.'..."

No Honor Killing Here: Move Along

Those three paragraphs from America's 'newspaper of record,' sets, I think, the tone for most coverage of this event.
  1. It is not an honor killing
  2. Muslim leaders are outraged at the very idea
  3. Options
    1. Move along, move along: nothing to see here
      1. Pay no attention to another prematurely-dead Muslima
    2. Call for end to domestic violence
Options III A and III B seem mutually exclusive, but I think a skilled writer, with a select audience, could combine them.

After the Times: Polite Reticence and (Sort of) Bold Challenge

After The New York Times cast light upon the journalistic high road, CNN related the events in Orchard Park to interested readers, and a stern rebuke appeared in the United Kingdom's Guardian.

CNN didn't use the phrase, "honor killing," at all. Their article was a low-key, tasteful, recounting of the known facts of the event. The closest CNN came to embarrassing sensitive persons was the use of the word "beheading" in the headline.

Someone writing for the UK's Guardian made what I think is a daring statement: that Muslims and Islamic leaders might want to take a look at what they're doing and saying.

But, the Guardian's article made clear, we mustn't say "honor killing."

There is No Honor Killing: Just Domestic Violence

Wajahat Ali, writing in the United Kingdom's Guardian News and Media Limited's guardian.co.uk, chose Option 3B: which I think may become the preferred view of Bridges TV's little public relations problem.

Wajahat Ali's headline and lead sentence does make sense:

"A wake-up call for the community"

"The murder of a Pakistani-American woman forces us to confront uncomfortable truths about the prevalence of domestic violence"

So far, so good. In fact, Orchard Park police were called to the Hassan household to deal with domestic violence: the last time, on February 6, 2009. That was the day Aasiya Zubair Hassan filed for divorce.

The first paragraph makes some good points:

"The brutal beheading of Aasiya Hassan, a Muslim Pakistani-American mother of four, will finally force a community to confront and remedy the overwhelming – but frequently ignored and intentionally hidden – demon of domestic violence that has persecuted its silenced women for far too long...."

Then, there's the third paragraph:

"...Contrary to some spurious reporting, this was not an "honour killing", a barbaric practice that has its own unique motivations and historical culture, rather it personifies the all too common phenomenon of domestic abuse. Asma Firfirey, the sister of the deceased, stated Aasiya suffered last year from injuries that required nearly $3,000 of medical bills – allegedly the result of spousal abuse...."

Let's see if I understand this.
  • A Pakistani-American cuts off his wife's head
    • Soon after she shames him by filing for divorce
  • He leaves the body and head at his business for people to see
  • and it's not an honor killing
That assertion may make a few Muslims feel better, but I don't think it helps rehabilitate the image that outfits like Al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia's religious police, Sudan's government, and the Taliban have given Islam and Muslims.

Insisting that Aasiya's beheading be described with a generic term which can mean anything from a slap to a lethal beating, can easily be taken as an effort to trivialize a serious cultural and legal issue. The author may not have had that in mind, but his 'it's not an honor killing' sounds like some of the crazy legal defenses of past decades. ('I didn't rob anybody: I just took their money.')

Even so, I recommend reading the rest of Wajahat Ali's article. he has something to say to Muslim/Islamic leaders that must, in my opinion, be said.

And heard.

And acted on: very soon.

Defying the Times: Journalists Unchained

A Buffalo News article published today, long after The New York Times set the standard for reporting on Orchard Park's beheaded Muslima, included this paragraph:

"...Advocates for women — some of them Muslims — have called for the community to acknowledge religious and cultural traditions that stigmatize divorce and heighten the danger of violence in divorce cases...."

I'm impressed at this divergence from the 'Muslims outraged by ignorant outsiders' standard. But, the Buffalo paper prudently followed that bit of rebellion with a more traditional:

"...Meanwhile, the Imams Council of Greater Western New York on Tuesday issued a statement calling it 'unfair to vilify the Islamic faith or Muslims' in the homicide...."

'Vilifying the Islamic Faith or Muslims?' No - Trying to Save Lives - Yes

One blogger can't do much, but I have to try.

There's no doubt that "domestic violence" isn't limited to one culture or one religious group. But, it does look like a few people with roots in the Middle East have regard domestic violence as a culturally-acceptable way of dealing with having a snit.

I'm pretty sure that many Muslims don't think that flogging or killing their women is a good idea.

And, I think that Islamic/Muslim/Middle Eastern religious and community leaders could do wonders for the image of Islam and Muslims if they'd make:
  • Fewer claims that honor killings aren't happening
  • A greater effort to spread the word that embarrassing relatives can't be killed in the new country
It's an idea that's worth trying: and not all that far from what Wajahat Ali advocates.

(Continued in: "Honor Killing, Muzzammil Hassan and Aasiya, Protecting Feelings,and Common Sense" (February 20, 2009))

Related posts: News and views:
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

It Looks Like an Honor Killing: Islamic Network's Founder and American Law

A couple of educated Americans came to an unstartling conclusion: Aasiya Hassan's beheading looks like an honor killing. By some standards, Muzzammil Hassan had every reason and right to kill his wife: she was going to divorce him.

The two Americans are Dr. Phyllis Chesler, professor of psychology at the Richmond College of the City University of New York; and M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (he's from Wisconsin).

Short version: details, including the quite gruesome beheading and display of body parts, make Aasiya's murder look like an honor killing.

Defending Islam, or Defending Honor Killing?

I don't think that ignoring an issue and hoping it'll go away is a good idea. Muslim women are being killed by Muslim men, because the men are in a snit about something. And, back in the old country, the men are expected to act that way.

This isn't right. Not according to American law. And, according to quite a few Muslims, including Pakistan's Islamic Party, it's not right according to Islam.

Honor killing, along with some other weird customs and ideas that show up in places like Sudan and Saudi Arabia, seems to have more to do with a Middle Eastern culture that was ancient when Abraham had children, than what The Prophet taught a few thousand years later.

I'm sure that the idea of "honor killing" is an embarrassment to some Muslims. (I've written about this before.) But, it doesn't seem to be quite as directly related to Islam as some 'whiter-than-thou' American bigots and the occasional misguided Muslim might think.

Remember what Pakistan's Islamic Party said: 'Honor killing is against Islam.'

Jumping to Conclusions is Dumb: No Matter Which Way You Go

I don't think it's right - or sensible - to assume that, because a few cultures where almost everyone is a Muslim practice honor killing, all Muslims accept honor killing. Much less that Islam itself says 'if your wife makes you feel bad, kill her.'

I also think that some 'sophisticated' Americans, in their zeal to defend another 'oppressed minority,' should take a deep breath before speaking, and think very carefully about exactly what they are defending.

Related posts: Views and background:
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

CAIR, Yaser Said, and the FBI: Don't Say "Honor Killing"

The Dallas, Texas, CAIR director was right about one thing. Muslims don't have a monopoly on jealous husbands and crazy fathers.

" 'As far as we're concerned, until the motive is proven in a court of law, this is [just] a homicide,' Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Dallas, told FOXNews.com.

"He said he worries that terms like 'honor killing' may stigmatize the Islamic community. 'We (Muslims) don't have the market on jealous husbands ... or domestic violence,' Carroll said."

Who Said it was an Honor Killing: A Reality Check

It wasn't the FBI that called Yaser Abdul Said's murder of his two daughters an honor killing. It was the girls' great-aunt.

"The girls' great-aunt, Gail Gartrell, says the girls' father killed them both because he felt they disgraced the family by dating non-Muslims and acting too Western, and she called the girls' murders an honor killing from the start."

But it's the FBI's fault for calling the murder of Sarah and Amina Yaser Said an honor killing. After almost a year of investigating the case.

Because it might make Muslims look bad. Excuse me. Not Muslims. It might make "the Islamic community" look bad.

I'd have been a trifle more sympathetic with the CAIR director, if the FBI had made an accusation with flimsy evidence, like the comic-opera cases of Richard Jewel and Steven Hatfill.

In the case of Sarah and Amina, it was the better part of a year before the FBI would concede that their great-aunt was right.

And now, they're criticized for stigmatizing the Islamic community.

Honor Killings: Yes, They're Real

Like it or not, a number of Islamic countries have an ancient tradition of honor killing. I think that honor killing is more of a cultural thing, than part of Islam.

Pakistan's Islamic Party went a step further. They say that honor killing is against Islam.

The problem is that quite a few people don't make fine distinctions between cultural traditions and Islamic teachings.

Some of them are people who come from places where a father is expected to kill his kids if they don't act the way their great-great-great-grandparents did, or make him look bad some other way,

And some are their new, non-Muslim, neighbors.

The United Nations seems to think that honor killings are real, and a problem, too.

"The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women are killed worldwide every year in honor killings — mostly in the Middle East, where many countries still have laws that protect men who murder female relatives they believe have engaged in inappropriate activity. A U.N. report includes chilling examples of such cases."
(FOXNews (October 14, 2008))

Given the United Nation's quite non-Islamophobic behavior ("United Nations Treats Islam More Equally Than Other Religions" (October 3, 2008)), I'd say if a United Nations agency claims honor killings are a problem, they just might be.

Just a Homicide, Domestic Violence, and Honor Killing

I think that there's a difference between:
  1. Someone who shoots a convenience store clerk during a robbery
    • He (it's usually a man) doesn't have anything against the victim, personally
  2. An out-of-control guy who kills his kids or his wife because he feels like it
    • He (rarely, she) attacks that particular victim because of a personal relationship
  3. A man who believes that he's supposed to kill members of his family when they don't act the way people do in the old country
    • He attacks that particular victim because of a personal relationship
      • And because he believes it is his duty - as well as being personally convenient
The differences become particularly important, when #3's old neighbors would have supported his action, and many of his new ones don't.

Some Muslims Don't Like to Hear "Honor Killing" - and I Can't Blame Them

I sympathize, in a way, with Muslims who don't like to hear the phrase "honor killing." It's a bit of an embarrassment right now. Islam, the religion, is very closely associated with the Middle East. In fact the king of that quintessentially Middle Eastern country, Saudi Arabia, likes to be called "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques," which connects the House of Saud and Saudi Arabia quite closely with Islam: and vice versa.

So, it's easy to assume that the Saudi way is the Islamic way. And the Saudi way of dealing with the world is rather, well, a tad out of touch with the post-18th century world:
  • A Saudi cleric said that women should use only one eye at a time
  • The Chairman of the Saudi Supreme Judicial Council declared open season on network owners whose networks are "immoral"
    • He's also an Islamic cleric
    • That judgment was a fatwa, issued in his role as a cleric
And that's just some of what hit international news in the last month.

Between Al Qaeda in Iraq having established beheading as a typically Islamic practice, and Saudi cleric/judges saying that it's okay to kill network owners, Islam has some rather serious public relations problems.

And honor killing is one of them.

Ignore Honor Killings: Maybe They'll Go Away

It sounds like a nice idea: Don't talk about honor killings. When a Muslim father kills his daughters because they weren't being Islamic enough, point out that non-Muslim fathers kill their daughters, too.

I don't think this is a good idea.

The CAIR director said, "We (Muslims) don't have the market on jealous husbands ... or domestic violence," which is true enough. But, although honor killing is, in a way, a form of domestic violence, having the weight of tradition and contemporary societal support makes it different.

Think about it this way. Say that a husband in Kansas City killed his wife. After some investigation, law enforcement called it a case of domestic violence. Then the director of HAIR (Husbands Against Incendiary Rhetoric - an imaginary advocacy group I just made up) in Kansas City said that they shouldn't call it domestic violence, because that might stigmatize the husband community.

HAIR has a point, sort of. Some people think that all men, husbands in particular, abuse women. But that's no reason to avoid calling a case of domestic violence, "domestic violence."

I think that the Islamic Party of Pakistan has the right idea: Say that honor killings happen, and say that they're against Islam.

Related posts: In the news: Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
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Sunday, September 7, 2008

Honor Killing is Against Islam, Islamic Party Members Say

In a way, the War on Terror may be doing Islam some good.

With so much outside attention focused on the Islamic world, cherished traditions like honor killings get international attention. And that gives Muslims a wonderful opportunity to re-evaluate what practices and beliefs are actually part of Islam, and what come from a culture that was ancient when Abraham was born.

More specifically, Islam as practiced in the Middle East is experiencing culture shock. With some recent exceptions, Indonesia has been an example of how Islam works in a country which is keeping up with the rest of the world.

Pakistan's brand of "Islam" got in the international news twice this month:
  • "Pakistan orders inquiry into killing of five women"
    • Three young women in Pakistan's Balochistan province decided to marry men they chose, instead of their families' assigned husbands
      • They were hauled out, shot - or tortured - or maybe both, and then buried alive
      • Two older women who tried to protect the youngsters were buried with them
    • When word leaked out, Pakistani members of parliament had fits (The Australian wrote that there were "angry scenes in parliament over accusations of an official cover-up.")
    • It gets better
      • Senator Israr Ullah Zehri, Member of Parliament, told his colleagues that
        "these are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them" (The Australian)
      • Members of Pakistan's religious Jamaat-e-Islami party had something to say, too - But not what you might expect
      • Reacting to Senator Zehri's 'they're our women, we can kill them if we want' remark, they said "We condemn this barbaric act. This is against Islam, against humanity and against civilised culture." (The Australian)
    • "Married at 9, slain by parents at 17"
      • Saira Nusrat Bibi was married to a 45-year-old man when she was 9
      • She didn't like the situation, and went through Pakistani courts to get the marriage annulled
      • She won
        • When she came out of court in the Punjabi city of Sahiwal, a group of men surrounded her
        • And shot her
        • While police watched
Three of the women killed by Umrani tribesmen in Balochistan have been named: Fauzia Bibi, 18; Fauzia's aunt, Jannat Bibi, 38; and the mother of another girl, Fatima Bibi, 45.

I don't envy Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari. Even without the uproar caused by Senator Zehi and the tribesmen (sounds like a rock group, doesn't it?), he'd have a challenging first term.

On the other hand, it's good to know that members of an Islamic political party in Pakistan have decided that getting caught killing their women isn't good publicity. In fact, it's possible that they have decided that honor killing actually isn't quite what the Prophet had in mind.

There's something like a thousand years of catching up to do, but the first steps have been taken.

In the news: Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.
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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Sandeela Kanwal, Chaudhry Rashid: Honor Killing? Maybe, Maybe Not

What we've got is a dead woman, a weeping father, and a really ugly situation.

Sandeela Kanwal is Dead

Here's what's in the public record, so far.
  • Sandeela Kanwal, daughter of Chaudhry Rashid, was taken from America to Pakistan
  • In Pakistan, on March 14, 2002, she was married to Majid Latif in an arranged marriage
    • Arranged marriages are fairly common in many cultures - including Rashid's
  • Back in America, Sandeela Kanwal lived with Majid Latif for several years
  • April 15 - presumably this year - the couple separatged
  • July 1, 2008, Sandeela Kanwal filed for divorce
  • Then she died
    • Abruptly
  • Investigators say that Chaudhry Rashid confessed to killing her
Something struck me as I read headlines and articles about this murder investigation. With the possible exceptions of a headline, and a claim by Rashid's lawyer, every significant statement I read could be quite true. Even the apparently contradictory ones:
  • "Investigators said Rashad confessed to strangling the 25-year-old woman."
    Clayton Co. Police Say Father Killed Daughter to Honor Family
    (MyFOX Atlanta (July 6, 2008))
  • "I have done nothing wrong." Chaudhry Rashid, in court, through an interpreter.
    "I'm innocent, says man held in daughter's death"
    (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 8, 2008))
  • "But police say Rashid, 54, used a bungee cord to strangle Sandeela Kanwal, 25, early Sunday morning in the family's Utah Drive home in Jonesboro."
    "I'm innocent, says man held in daughter's death"
    (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 8, 2008))
  • " 'I don't know anything about an arranged marriage," Long [Rashid's lawyer] said. 'I am not positive that is a factor in this case.'
    "However, Long said she could not elaborate and would need time to talk to the family in depth. She also asked for privacy and declined to discuss Kanwal's funeral arrangements."
    "I'm innocent, says man held in daughter's death"
    (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 8, 2008))

"I've Done Nothing Wrong" Doesn't Mean "I'm Innocent"

The newspaper headline reads, "I'm innocent, says man held in daughter's death" - but what Rashid's interpreter said was "I have done nothing wrong." There could be a translation error, but that's a pretty simple idea. And, in English, there's a difference between "I'm innocent" and "I have done nothing wrong."

American law includes the idea of justifiable homicide. Not for awkward circumstances like the one Mr. Rashid faced, but we do accept the idea that sometimes it's okay to kill someone else: as in cases of self-defense.

So, Mr. Rashid's confession (perhaps 'statement' might be a better term) that he killed his daughter, the police assertion that he strangled her, and Mr. Rashid's "I have done nothing wrong" during his tearful court appearance, could all be true. Assuming that he killed her for a culturally-mandated reason.

That assumption could even explain his tears in court. He said he was mourning his daughter - which could be quite true - particularly if he'd been 'forced' to kill her, in order to follow his culture's code of ethics.

I think that Rashid's lawyer is prudent in dismissing the arranged marriage, and I rather doubt that we'll hear much about America's intolerance of non-western values in court. Playing on a jury's sympathies probably wouldn't be as effective in this case, as it was in the Menendez Brothers' first trial.

Do I Think This is an Honor Killing?

I don't know. But that's a distinct possibility:
  • An arranged marriage that doesn't seem to have gotten off to a good start
  • A young woman who learned enough about American culture to know that there are alternatives
  • An old coot, about my age, who may very well have that mental ossification that makes adjusting to new realities difficult
Yeah: I'd say that 'honor killing' is a real possibility.

On the other hand, Mr. Rashid may just be a guy with anger management issues, a dead daughter, and a lawyer who may be able to get him sprung. As long as the defense doesn't bring up the 'cultural' thing, and concentrates on a father's tears, I'd say Mr. Rashid has a shot at a reduced sentence, at least.

Finally, about Islam and honor killings. In Indonesia, a country that's more Islamic that America is Christian, in terms of percentages, and which has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, there are almost no 'honor killings. I've written about this before.

More, in the news:
  • "Dad charged with murdering reluctant bride"
    CNN (July 9, 2008)
  • "Father charged over 'honour killing' "
    Herald Sun (AU) (July 9, 2008)
    (This article has some additional information about the marriage's circumstances.)
  • "Chgo Trib's 'Honor Killing' Report Omits Islam Connection"
    NewsBusters.org (July 8, 2008)
    (This is a quite biased report, which I think has a point:
    • "OK, I am wondering here if the hanging of a black Southerner by the KKK in the American south would be reported by the Chicago Tribune in the same kind of vague language of 'cultural' murder as a recent Muslim murder in Georgia was treated? More likely, of course, the story would be immediately pegged to the racist, white motives that actually led to the murder. In essence that is how the Chicago Tribune mishandled their reporting of another so-called Islamic 'honor killing' that occurred in Georgia this week. They wrote about the 'culturally rigid Pakistani' immigrants and said that 'honor killings' occur with 'other South Asians' without ever once mentioning that this is more often than not a Muslin practice. Instead of pegging this murder to Muslim 'culture' the Tribune makes it a vague and nondescript 'culture' so that the reader is unaware of the connection with Islam...."

About the NewsBusters.org op ed

I doubt that there are many American readers who would not associate an honor killing with Islam - but I do believe that there is a distinct reticence - a sort of prudery - on the part of some news services to openly discuss the connection.

And, I believe that, by leaving Islamic/Middle Eastern/Asian cultural and religious issues out of reports, this prudery makes room for gossip and rumor - some of it rather wild.

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.
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Monday, July 7, 2008

Looks Like Another 'Honor Killing' - This Time in Georgia

"Clayton Co. Police Say Father Killed Daughter to Honor Family"
MyFOX Atlanta (July 6, 2008)

The headline tells most of the story.

Chaudhry Rashad, a Pakistani-American living in Clayton County, Georgia, says that he killed his daughter, 25, because her divorce would have dishonored the family.

As it is, the murder of Sandela Kanwal has brought no great honor to his family. Or, to Islam. And yes, this appears to be a traditional Islamic family - clothing, the whole nine yards.

'Honor killings' are closely associated with Islam, but may be more a Middle Eastern cultural value, than an Islamic religious belief. (I've written about this before.)

A few observations:
  • Multicultural concerns notwithstanding, this is getting to be a real problem. Western legal systems tend to be very intolerant of murder, even when it is conducted by non-westerners for cultural reasons.
  • Islam may not be the root of this issue. Indonesia, with a huge Muslim population, doesn't have this sort of 'honor killing' problem.
I can understand a father being upset with a daughter's choices. I have three daughters, and a son. They've made choices that I wouldn't have. But, even if one of those choices was something I couldn't approve of, killing one of them is not an option.

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.
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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Aqsa Parves, Muslim Teen: No Scarf, No Life

Aqsa Parvez, 16, of Mississauga, Ontario: "ever-cheerful;" "afraid of her parents;" "strangled."


(from FOXNews, used w/o permission)
Aqsa Parvez, dead: "It is a teenager issue."

The Pakistani-Canadian Parvez family now has three members directly affected by this murder: Aqsa, 16, the victim; Muhammad, her father, 57, who's charged with strangling her; Waqas Parvez, 27, also charged with first-degree murder.

There are a number of explanations for Aqsa's murder:
  • Police: no comment
  • Joseph Ciraco, Muhammad's lawyer: it's not just cultural issues
  • Aqsa's friends: her father wanted her to wear a Muslim scarf, she didn't, so he killed her
I'm being a bit unfair in my summary of what the police and Aqsa's friends have said.
  • The police don't want to mess up the case they hand over to the prosecuting authorities, and they're still investigating who was involved, how, and why.
  • As for Aqsa's friends, I boiled down what they said, as reported: leaving a very blunt core.
  • The Canadian Islamic Congress: "I don't want the public to think that this is really an Islamic issue or an immigrant issue...
    It is a teenager issue."
    (I'm not making this up.)
The Council on American-Islamic Relations's Canadian spokesman made a carefully ambiguous statement: after Asqa was murdered, imams at Canadian mosques took a look at issues brought up in the media. "It forced the Islamic community to look at itself in terms of what children face and what parents here in Canada face," he said.

I'm almost exactly the same age as Muhammad Parvez: and I've endured three teenage daughters. The third is still in the house. Teenage daughters will test the mettle of the strongest man. Not physically, but where it really hurts: in our minds.

But, exasperating as a teenage daughter whose views don't match one's own can be, there's no excuse for strangling her. None. Not for someone with my value system. As a devout Catholic, I do understand the stresses that come with trying to live according to a way of life and a philosophy which is not the best match with a contemporary culture of Barbies, live-in girlfriends, and thongs.

What's missing in my value system is the idea of honor killing. I do not believe that I have the duty to kill a member of my family (it always seems to be a woman) who doesn't do what I think she should, or what my imam says she should.

Curiously, the word "honor killing" didn't show up in any of the handful of articles I found on this news item. Perhaps it doesn't apply in this case. Or, as I suspect, the news media is being polite, and not bringing up an unpleasant issue.

I may be wrong, but I think that, if the Aqsa's name had been, say, Jane, her family's name Anderson, and her father a rabid fundamentalist, the religious angle ("cultural" angle?) would have been covered. Thoroughly.

In the news: I wrote a post on this story, last year: "Canadian Teen Killed by Muslim Father - Over Scarf: Maybe - And This Isn't News?" (December 12, 2007)

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.
Update (June 28, 2008)
I've been made aware of these links, in today's comments. Thanks!
  • "AND THIS IS HOW A CANADIAN DISHONOR KILLING IS BEING REPORTED"
    Red Room (June 27, 2008)
    • "Maybe there's yet hope for us all!
    • "There was a dishonor killing in suburban Toronto in December 2007. A 16-year-old school girl named Aqsa Parvez was strangled to death by her father, Muhammad. Her "crime"? Acting too Western. In the weeks preceding her death, Aqsa had argued with her family over several issues...."
  • "STOP HONORCIDE!"
    • About the Stop Honorcide campaign, started Mother's Day 2008, by Muslims Against Sharia.
    • "The goal of the campaign is to prosecute honorcides to the fullest extent of the law.
    • "We want honorcide to be classified as a hate crime and we advocate for every existing hate crime legislation to be amended to include honorcide."
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Sarah and Amina Said: Murdered Teens' Father Still Missing

Two weeks ago, Sarah and Amina Yaser Said were shot and left for dead in their father's taxi. A capital murder warrant has been issued for Yaser Abdul Said, 50. He's still missing. A reasonable assumption is that he's back in Egypt, his homeland.

It's possible that this wasn't an honor killing. But, when two Muslim girls, whose father didn't like their relationship with infidels, turn up not-quite-dead, it's hard not to think of that quaint Middle Eastern/Islamic custom.

Yaser's wife, Patricia, and their son, plan to stay out of sight until he's caught. There's a $10,000 reward for the arrest and indictment of Said. There's more detail at MyFox Dallas Fort Worth: "Police Release Disturbing 911 Call from Dying Teen"

So What?

The Muslim community on the north side of Dallas didn't condone this double murder. They, their Christian neighbors, and apparently just about everyone else in the area, joined to mourn Sarah and Amina.

It would be prudent to remember that the War on Terror is a war on terrorists: not on our neighbors who are Muslims.

Previous posts on this situation: Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
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Sunday, January 6, 2008

Father Kills Daughters, Disappears: Surprisingly Little Hysteria

The Dallas Morning News reported on the funerals of Sarah and Amina Yaser Said today.

They're the sisters, age 17 and 18, who were found shot to death in their father's taxi. Those three, the young women's mother, and their brother, are Muslims.

News reports have carefully avoided the term "honor killing," except when reporting the reaction of a third party.

The blogosphere has been admirably restrained, too, with a few exceptions (more on this at "Father Kills Daughters, Disappears: Watch This Story" (January 4, 2008).)

This lack of Muslim-bashing is pretty remarkable, considering how 'Islamophobic' Americans are sometimes imagined to be. It's particularly remarkable, since in this case it's easy to see a Muslim father killing his westernized daughters as being an honor killing.

Maybe it helped, at least on the state level, that there had been an attempted filicide earlier this month: "San Antonio man shoots his two daughters, kills himself." Salvador Paralta apparently was upset because the girls' mother was leaving him.

Meanwhile, back in the Dallas area, funerals for the murdered teens were decidedly interfaith: "The funeral at the Rahma Funeral Home on Spring Valley Road highlighted the two vastly different cultures the girls had come from. Mingling among women wearing hajibs covering their hair and loose-fitting flowing clothing were teenagers and adults in Western clothing.

"Robert Crisp, a Catholic priest, led a Baptist service, which was followed by a service at a Richardson mosque."

Islamophobia doesn't seem to be an issue on the north side of Dallas, Texas.

From the bits and pieces of hearsay and rumor that are coming out in the news, my guess is that it's at least even odds that Sarah and Amina Yaser Said were killed by their father, Yaser Abdel Said, and that his motive only slightly connected with his Islamic beliefs.

So What?

You'll find jerks everywhere.

But not everyone is a jerk.

And Muslims don't have a monopoly on having a few members of their community who are able to commit horrible crimes.

Most of what's happening on the north side of Dallas, Texas, seems to show that the people who live there, Muslim, Christian, whatever, are decent sorts who want to support each other.

I think that communities like this are common in America. And, that American laws and customs which allow people to worship, or not worship, as they please help make such communities possible. I think it's easier to love your neighbor, if some authority isn't forcing you to worship the same way your neighbor does.
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Friday, January 4, 2008

Father Kills Daughters, Disappears: Watch This Story

Yaser Abdel Said, of Lewisville, Texas, shot his teenage daughters, Sarah and Amina, on Wednesday of this week. Then he disappeared.

It's hard not to think, 'honor killing,' when two bright Muslim girls who wore western clothing show up shot to death, in their father's taxi. But it's early days: and very few facts have been released about the case.

Apparently, the most that a police spokesman said about a motive for the double murder was that "there have been some 'domestic issues' with the family, but he did not elaborate." A secretary of the Lewisville High School who had taken classes with both sisters said that they were very bright, wore "American" clothes like other teens, and didnt have much to say about their family. "I didn't know they were Muslims until she told me they were Egyptian and Muslim," she said. Mr. Said is from Egypt, and moved to Lewisville around the 1980s.

Some bloggers have already labeled the double murder an honor killing and/or a case involving pedophilia: "Brother of Slain Lewisville Girls Tries to Dispel Honor Killing Theory" and "Another Islamic 'Honor Killer' On The Loose?," for example. At least in the second example, there's a question mark at the end.

The dead teens' older brother, Islam Said, told WFAA television, "I never thought this would happen," and, about his father: "Tell him to turn himself in." He also said that his sisters' murders were not honor killings: "It's something else. Religion has nothing to do with it."

He may be right. The killings could be anything from an honor killing, to a misguided attempt to cover up sexual misconduct, or a drug deal gone bad, or the result of somebody getting the wrong meds.

The fact is, we don't know the facts. All we know is that
  • Two young women are dead
  • A family is hurting
  • The suspected killer is on the run
Speculation on motive is just that: speculation.

So What?

The Said sisters' killings, and the reaction of some to the way they died, tells me two things:
  1. People are going to make assumptions that fit their beliefs
  2. Muslims are associated with honor killings right now
Even if news media carefully avoids mentioning the 'h-k' phrase, the idea that their father thought he had a right and duty to clean up his family will surface. Making assumptions based on previous experience is a human trait. But it is possible to change people's experiences.

This would be an excellent opportunity for an Islamic group in America to get involved with this tragedy: and show examples of American Muslims who are not killing members of their own families, or plotting to blow up shopping malls. I don't mean to sound flippant or sarcastic about this. Public perception is important, and right now Islam has what could at best be called a public relations problem in America.
Online memorials to Sarah and Amina are at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7824062165 and www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7321382086.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Canadian Teen Killed by Muslim Father - Over Scarf: Maybe - And This Isn't News?

Here's what we know:
  • Aqsa Parvez's father called authorities on Monday.
  • He said that he had killed her.
  • When police arrived, the 16-year-old was still alive, so they rushed her to a hospital
  • Then she died.
Her friends say that her father killed her because she wouldn't wear a hijab, or traditional head scarf. The police are, quite properly, not discussing what Aqsa's father had in mind when he murdered his daughter.

The Canadian Islamic Congress made an interesting statement: "I don't want the public to think that this is really an Islamic issue or an immigrant issue," is how the CIC's Mohamed Elmasry put it. "It is a teenager issue."

"Teenage issue." I don't think that Mr. Elmasry was trying to say that filicide is a normal part of the teenage experience in Canada, but I could be wrong.

The phrase "honor killing" didn't show up in either "news" online source I found for this incident. Although a comment on the 'news-blog' did bring up the point. I think, and hope, that this is another case of Islamic values and cultural values getting confused. (See "Is the War on Terror a War on Islam? Not Quite.")

I only found this item on two national-scale, news sources. And one of those was a blog:USA Today blog and Fox News, so it may not be important. Or, maybe this is another incident that doesn't fall under the 'all the news we want to print' standards.

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Sudan Defends Islam Against Blasphemous Teddy Bear

Sudan got around to charging Gilliam Gibbons. She's the British school teacher who blasphemed the prophet you-know-who, by - get this - letting a boy in her class suggest the name "Mohammed," which is his name.

Oops. By using you-know-who's name, I probably committed blasphemy, too. At least by Sudanese standards. Forget it. I don't live in Sudan, thank God. It's easier to write out "Mohammed,"1 than dance around it.

A few more details about Gibbons' "offense" came up in "The New York Post" today.
  • Sudan authorities say that she's guilty of inciting religious hatred. If she's found guilty (and how unlikely is that?), she'll most likely get 40 lashes. Unless Sudan follows Saudi Arabia's lead, and adds extra lashes.
  • The name "Mohammed" was suggested by one of the class - a boy in her class named Mohammed.
    • It seems that giving the name "Mohammed" to a teddy bear is blasphemous, but giving it to a boy isn't: Unless young "Mohammed" is going to have lashed and/or stoned and/or beheaded parents soon.
  • Gibbons is being charged under article 125 of the Sudanese legal code
    • This is significant, since it shows that Sudan uses a written legal code - this bizarre accusation isn't being made up out of thin air by some Sudanese official who forgot to take his medication
  • Besides lashes, Gibbons may be facing six months jail time and a fine
  • This imbroglio started when some of her pupil's parents complained about the teddy Mohammed.
  • The British government is involved. Their officials are talking with Sudanese officials. (Let's hope no British officials are accused of blasphemy.)
The Sudanese government claims that being attacked for doing something that Muslims don't like is an isolated incident. Given all the people who have been hurt and killed, from the 1972 Munich Olympics to 9/11 and the present, that's a little hard to believe.

At least the recent attacks have been over genuinely spiritual values, like the naming of teddy bears.

The Teddy Bear Conspiracy

Sudanese clerics have earned more of my respect, by clearly stating what's going on. Here's the situation, from their point of view:
  • Naming that teddy bear "Mohammed" is part of a larger Western "plot" against Islam.
  • Naming the teddy bear was intentional blasphemy.
    • "What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam."
      "It is part of the campaign of the so-called war against terrorism and the intense media campaign against Islam."
      From a statement by the Sudanese Assembly of the Ulemas. (Ulemas: "the body of professional theologians who are regarded as the authority on religious law.")
  • The Muslim Council of Britain urged the Sudanese government to intervene. (Which side the Muslim Council of Britain is taking isn't clear in "The New York Post" article.)
In a way the Sudanese Assembly of the Ulemas has a point. Western news media seems to have gotten over its reluctance to report atrocities committed by non-western societies, and that isn't making Islam look good. The fairly steady trickle of reports on lashings, stonings, and beheadings, in Islamic nations doesn't paint a flattering picture.

On the other hand, the recurring theme of women being lashed and stoned for peccadilloes suggests that contemporary Islam might be a tolerant and nurturing home for people who follow the practices and philosophy of the late Marquis de Sade.

Religion - or Culture?

It's easy to say that Islam is the common thread connecting burqas, beheadings, and honor killings. Particularly since the Muslims who commit these atrocities say that they're doing what Mohammed told them to, and are following the will of Allah.

There's something else that most of these expressions of sadistic jurisprudence have in common. They happen in "Islamic" countries in the Middle East and northern Africa.

The largest Islamic country in the world, in terms of numbers of Muslims, is Indonesia. That country's home to a little upwards of 200,000,000 Muslims. Even percentage-wise, Indonesia is more Islamic than America is Christian: 86% Muslim for Indonesia; 78% Christian for America, including Mormons.

Indonesia, a very Islamic country, isn't flogging women for not wearing a burqa, or beheading people for being insufficiently Islamic. In fact, the Bali nightclub bombing, back in 2002, is just one incident in continuing fight Indonesia has with Islamic groups like Jemaah Islamiyah, and Al Qaeda affiliates that want Indonesia to be an Islamic state like northern Sudan or Afghanistan under the Taliban.

There's no question, I think, that something is terribly wrong with places like Saudi Arabia and northern Sudan.

Living in Fast-Forward, Culture Shock, and All That

I don't think that the problem is necessarily Islam. Look at the map, and look at the relatively uniform culture of the countries in northern Africa and the Middle East. The impression I get is that these are places where men were living comfortably in a mosaic of tribes, living their lives in much the same way that their ancestors had since the time of Abraham.

Then, a few centuries ago, European colonial powers dragged them into the
  • Age of nation-states
  • Age of Reason
  • Age of Enlightenment
  • Industrial Revolution
  • Cold War
  • Space Race
  • Information Revolution
To people still accustomed to burqas and Sharia, a world of Barbies and sports cars must be terrifying. It's no wonder that they go a little crazy, trying to adjust.

Non-Muslims might consider the possibility that the insanely intolerant, violent, behavior of "Islamic" countries doesn't stem from Islam. The traditional cultures of many of these places were old-fashioned when Rome ruled the Mediterranean, and hadn't been forced to deal with outside ideas until the last few generations.
1 Why not "Muhammed," or one of the other Latinized spellings? I'm using an Associated Press stylebook, and that resource says that "Mohammed" is the way that the Prophet of Islam's name is spelled in English. It's one of a number of commonly-used efforts to bring that name into a language that uses the Latin alphabet.

(Thanks to "The Sudanese Name Game" for steering me to "The New York Post" article, and to "American Islamic Congress Slams Sudanese Government over Teddy Bear Case, Demands British Teacher Be Freed Immediately")

Posts on "British Teacher Home from Sudan: Gillian Gibbons, Muslim Clerics, and a Teddy Bear named Mohammed"

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror. Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
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Monday, October 29, 2007

"Cowboy Diplomacy" and
"Live Long and Prosper"

"Cowboy diplomacy" galloped into the news again. One candidate assured the throng that they would see no more cowboy diplomacy, should that candidate be voted into the oval office.

Now, a disclaimer of sorts.

"Another War-on-Terror Blog" is not a political blog. However, since the War on Terror and politics do sometimes collide, I can't avoid the topic entirely.

I make no claim to be unbiased. I don't believe that America is the cause of the global crisis of the month. I do enjoy living in a society where I'm not expected to put my wife under a burqa, or kill my children if they besmirch the family honor.

That said, here's the meat of this post.

I think that individuals matter. Particularly individuals who are in a position to make decisions.

"Cowboy diplomacy" has been used to describe the dangerous, big, rough way that President Bush has conducted international affairs. The Texas-raised president isn't even a lawyer. Unlike most of the better sort in Washington, this Texan went to Harvard: Harvard Business School.

Since words and phrases have specific meanings, I decided to look up just what "cowboy diplomacy" meant.

The "Cowboy diplomacy" article in Wikipedia is one of those with references: and an "orphaned" one, with "few or no other articles" linking to it.

According to Wikipedia, cowboy diplomacy is "a term used by critics to describe the resolution of international conflicts through brash risk-taking, intimidation, military deployment, or a combination of such tactics."

The term's current incarnation is as a quote from the wit and wisdom of Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D. Specifically, in the "Unification, Part II" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, an American television series.

Back in the real world, American President Bush has caused much alarm and despondency - and anger - at his failure to follow time-honored standards of leadership. Instead of
  • Directing diplomats to discuss the arrangement of tables at meetings (anybody remember Vietnam?)
  • Forming study committees to investigate how to engage in dialog with all members of the international community regarding the complex issues
  • Carefully considering the opinions of leaders in the international community: particularly the French
Instead, the current president has taken what many believe is a reckless approach.
  • Making brash remarks like
  • Unilaterally going it alone in attacking terror-supporting nations (the "uni" in unilaterally" must not mean "one" - a couple dozen nations have been involved in the 'coalition of the willing' at one point or another)
  • Stubbornly refusing to let the seasoned wisdom of the international community - particularly France - determine American policy
I can see how the president seems to be a dangerous man.

On the other hand, I think that the conventional wisdom of avoiding armed conflict at all costs, or at least deferring it until someone else's watch, is dangerous, too.

America is a little over a year away from presidential elections. I expect to hear the phrase "cowboy diplomacy," coupled with an assurance that, should this or that candidate be elected, there will be no more such direct action.

There's a time and a place for seemingly endless rounds of meetings, resolutions, and declarations.

I also think that there is a place for taking action. And, I would prefer that the action take place before another 9/11 slips past law enforcement and the diplomatic corps.

Finally presidents practicing "cowboy diplomacy" predate the starship Enterprise by at least a generation. "The sources of international brutality, wherever they exist, must be absolutely and finally broken down. . . . We are going to win the war, and we are going to win the peace that follows." (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, December 9, 1941)

(see "Watch for Weird Words: Election's Coming Up!")

Related posts, on Individuals and the War on Terror.
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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.