Honor and Connections – Getting Away with Murder, Literally!

Posted on April 29, 2008
Filed Under Arabs, Freedom, Honor killing, Human Rights, International, Iraq, Justice, Middle East, Religion, United Nations, education, honor killings, islam, violence, women | 2 Comments

No matter how hard you try to bring democracy to a country that never knew it, to a people so enmeshed in their culture of “honor killings” that it is no more than a routine act, to a society where justice is dispensed according to whom you know, one begins to wonder if its at all doable, if its at all worth it:

From the Britsh site mirror.co.uk (H/T: Debbie Schlussel)

An Iraqi who murdered his teenage daughter for falling in love with a British soldier will not face charges.

Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, had grown close to a blond infantryman known only as Paul in Basra. When her father Ali Abdel-Qader found out, he went berserk, beating her and stamping on her throat in an “honour killing”.

But astonishingly Ali – who has Basra government and police links – was released after being held for two hours. Sgt Ali Jabbar said: “Not much can be done when we have an honour killing. You are in a Muslim society.”

Rand met Paul through her voluntary work and knew him for five months. Her best friend Zeinab, 19, said Rand told her Paul, who she last saw in January, called her Princess and vowed to take her to London.

She added: “I had to remind Rand she was a Muslim and her family was never going to accept her marrying a Christian, British soldier. Her mind was very far from reality, but closer to an impossible dream.”

I perfectly understand a father being upset at a daughter marrying outside of the faith she was brought up in. My problem is, however, that the cold blooded murder of his own flesh and blood only got him a two hour lock up. “Not much can be done when we have an honour killing. You are in a Muslim society.” Yes, gentle reader, not much can be done when you are dealing with a culture where women are merely worthless chattel to be used, abused and disposed off by their fathers, their husbands, brothers, uncles or male cousins.. Iraq, as a society, enjoys a higher percentage of educated people, less illiteracy than its immediate Muslim neighbors. It is all too obvious – however – that university degrees are not enough to eradicate medieval barbarism or the simple fact of life that women are to be lorded over.

If this is an example of how far Iraq has advanced since the toppling of Saddam, I must sadly agree with Debbie that the coalition forces haven’t accomplished as much as we thought we did. Not because we didn’t try, but because of the ingrained culture of violence that seems to be an integral part of Muslim “honor”. As I’ve noted often before and as I quoted from a 2002 UN Development Programme Report, a society that fails to give equal rights, equal opportunities to half of its members can never rise to its full potential, can never fully shake itself out of its backwardness and poverty. Keeping women down not only hurts the women, it hurts society as whole! Yes, gentle reader, it even hurts the long term prosperity of men.

The sooner “honor killings” are understood to be the despicable, cowardly murders they really are, the sooner Muslim males realize that murdering someone weaker is neither honorable nor a sign of manhood, the sooner this world will know peace, the sooner Muslim society will prosper.

Chaim

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Comments

2 Responses to “Honor and Connections – Getting Away with Murder, Literally!”

James Biga from Colorado, United States on April 29th, 2008 3:32 am

Tragically the present status of the occupation in Iraq was determined before the first shot was fired. People have come to the false conclusion that the enemy can be defeated without being defeated. When the invading army is met with minimal resistence because the enemy has fled, how can this be considered victory? Aircraft and long range missiles are for cover purposes and softening up certain positions. That is all. A war can not be won this way. In order to win a war it still has to be done the old fashioned way, man to man. The enemy must be routed and made to believe that their only way to survive is to bow to the desires of the overwhelming force. This never happened in Iraq. The enemy was allowed to flee and blend in with the society. We allowed them to keep their customs and ideologies. We allowed them to institute a constitution that is against all the things that freedom loving people hold dear. This did not happen as a result of the toppling of Saddam. This was the decided approach prior to the military forces putting one boot on Iraqi sand.
kenju from North Carolina, United States on April 29th, 2008 12:48 pm

In my mind, that man is the same as the man who imprisioned his daughter for years and had children with her. They are both slime. Michele sent me.