More light on the scandalous execution of a teenager in Iran, and the tepid-to-indifferent reaction from the British (and Western) press, from Alasdair Palmer in the increasingly indispensable Telegraph (thanks to Susan):
Atefeh Rajabi appears to have been a fairly normal 16-year-old: sulky, disobedient, and eager to have sex. In London, those attributes earn lectures from parents and teachers on the importance of acting responsibly and not being offensive. In the city of Neka in Iran, where Atefeh Rajabi comes from, they get you hauled up in front of a judge. Atefeh's typical teenage behaviour meant that she was charged and found guilty of "acts incompatible with chastity". The judge in the Islamic court ruled that the appropriate penalty was death. That's right: death. Her sentence was confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court.Two weeks ago, on August 15, the 16-year-old girl was hung from a crane in the main square of Neka, in full public view, in order to keep "society safe from acts against public morality".
Sharia law, the Islamic code which is supposed to govern punishments in Iran, states that unmarried people who have sex should be punished with 100 lashes. That was the chastisement meted out to the single man with whom Atefeh was accused of "committing acts incompatible with chastity".
Married women who have sexual relations with someone who is not their husband should, according to Sharia, be stoned to death - although Iran's chief justice, apparently revolted by the cruelty of pelting women with rocks, ruled two years ago that stonings should be abandoned.
Hanging is not prescribed for either category of transgressor. So what was the judge (one Haji Rezaie) doing sentencing an "unchaste" 16-year-old to hang? He said that she had a "sharp tongue" and had "undressed in court".
It seems that all she did was to take off her headscarf and insist that she was the victim of an older man's advances: but even if she had stripped naked and called the judge a fat ignorant bastard, those actions would hardly merit death, even under Islamic law.
Nevertheless, the judge was so outraged that he decided he would personally put the noose round the child's neck.
That disgraceful and disgusting "punishment" has excited a great deal of condemnation in Iran among the reformists. As far as I can see, it has not produced any comment here. Amnesty International issued a statement expressing outrage at the execution (the tenth of a child in Iran since 1990) - but no British newspaper or television station has reported this....
What would be headline news if it happened in America (can you imagine the response if a 16-year-old girl was executed for having sex in Texas?) is, because it happens in an Islamic state, apparently too banal to count.
That attitude guarantees that more children will suffer Atefeh's fate. Of course, it suits our Government - which is pushing for greater trade links with our new-found ally, Iran - just fine if people think that criticism of Islamic judges is inappropriate because standards are different. But respecting Islam does not require accepting the judicial murder of 16-year-olds (or indeed anyone, of any age) for having sex. That's wrong wherever it happens. We need a Government, and a press, that says so.
not surprising that this story is not well covered nor the act widely condemned. much of the media and civil rights organizations have chosen sides and abandoned reason. an example of this is in evidence when one considers how the civil rights attorneys rush to protect the protestors in new york from law enforcement investigating them for voter intimidation in that they are confrontational with republican delegates here. i guess the implication is that republicans have no civil rights -- just like little girls in iran
COMMENTARY
August 28, 2004
HPSIG Link to OP-ED:
http://www.hspig.org/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1343
Ron Wright, Moderator
HPSIG Forums Site
_______
Please see the post over at Winds of Change:
http://windsofchange.net/archives/005429.php#27874
[...]
Blogging is an emerging new medium which communicates news and information transparently across international borders. Bloggers are not constrained or subjected to the political influences of the editorial and media boardrooms. Bloggers you have the power with your keyboards to turn the tide in this War Islamfascism. You are now the source of the news of the day. If we fail to draw the line in the sand, it may be our own daughters who are hanged next!
[...]
These are the real stories the American People need to hear to make informed decisions in the presidential election. Let's force the media to ask relevant questions on real issues of this Century of the presdential candidates and not refight wars of the past.
The women of the world can have a very important role in winning this War On Islamofascism. It's time to take this mainstream and bypass the media that is not reporting these atrocities.
Let's take this to Oprah Winfrey and other female opinion setters and demand action!
[...]
Links provided to, "The Oprah Show," "Request a 'Harpo Hookup,'" and "O, The Oprah Magazine."
Ron Wright, Moderator
HSPIG Forums Site
www.hspig.org
This is a perfect example of the arbitrary and brutal nature of this theocratic dictatorship. Absolutely appalling.
Make no mistake, leaving this child's body to twist in the wind is also meant to let everyone know what questioning authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran will get you - DEATH.
Closer to home we have a Muslim Hero Ayaan Hirsi Ali
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=11232
Director of 'insulting' Islamic film gets protection
30 August 2004
AMSTERDAM — Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was given police protection on Monday following the screening of a controversial and "insulting" film about the abuse suffered by women in Islamic societies.
The writer of the film, Liberal VVD politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, is already under police protection following earlier threats to her life.
Van Gogh said despite the shocking content of the film — which casts an accusing eye on the treatment of women in the Islamic faith — no threats were made against him, news agency ANP reported.
The English-language film Submission features four abused women in see through clothing who tell of their mistreatment by male members of their families. They say the abuse they suffer is sanctioned by the Koran. The women's' breasts are visible and anti-women texts from the Koran are written on their bodies.
The 10-minute film was broadcast for the first time on the VPRO programme Zomergasten on Monday night.
The idea for the film originated with Hirsi Ali, who has been strident in her criticism of the way in which the Koran sanctions physical violence against women. The MP has previously been forced into hiding after receiving death threats and is accompanied everywhere by armed bodyguards.
The film is a fierce condemnation of the abuses of women in the Islamic faith, allegedly incited by verses in the Koran. Hirsi Ali said she wanted to demonstrate that the Koran itself advocates the beating of women and other abuses.
The outspoken Somali-born Dutch MP also said in the VPRO programme that she did not want to provoke anyone. Instead, she wished to stimulate thought and discussion.
The chairman of the Islam and Citizenship foundation, M. Sini., said he respected the right of the filmmakers to express their opinion, but he also said the film was an offensive provocation that was insulting for Muslims.
"You must place the equality of men and women up for discussion, but not in this manner," he said.
Amsterdam University academic, Thijl Sunier — who has done research on the Muslim community — also claimed that Hirsi Ali had missed her target.
The academic said most Muslims will react in a resigned manner to the film, asserting that the discussion about the position of women has been taking place among the Dutch Islamic community for years.
"It is pure nonsense to suggest that a majority of Muslims don't want that discussion," Sunier said.
[Copyright Expatica News 2004]
It is not racist to bring this discussion into the arena of debate, Lets see a Muslim justify themselves for these kinds of behaviour
What? No insightful comments yet from our witty friend Reza on the hanging of the 16 year old Iranian girl.
Latest of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's film Tue 31 Aug 2004
5:11am (UK)
Muslims Outraged by Brutal Forced Marriage Film
Dutch Muslims have expressed outrage at a film broadcast on national television that tells the fictional story of a Muslim woman forced into a violent marriage, raped by a relative and brutally punished for adultery. One Muslim group has called it “extremely insulting.”
Submission, an English-language film broadcast on Sunday, was scripted by a right-wing politician who years ago renounced the Islamic faith of her birth and now refers to herself as an “ex-Muslim.”
The place of Muslim immigrants in Dutch society has long been a contentious issue in the Netherlands, where many right-wing politicians have pushed for tougher immigration laws and say Muslims already settled in the country must make a greater effort to assimilate.
Like her right-wing colleagues, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of the Dutch parliament, has repeatedly outraged fellow Muslims by criticising Islamic customs and the failure of Muslim families to adopt Dutch ways.
But Hirsi Ali, originally from Somalia, said the 11-minute film was not intended to be provocative. Rather, it was an attempt to reach “intelligent Muslim women” and to expose the abuse of women, she said.
Several Muslim groups and newspapers criticised it as a shallow provocation that lacked insight. The women’s group Al Nisa yesterday called it “extremely insulting” and said Hirsi Ali had shown “ignorance and insensitivity” in handling the issue of domestic violence.
The film tells the fictional story of a young Muslim woman forced into an arranged marriage with a man who beats her. She is ordered to keep silent about being raped by her uncle to protect his honour. She is later punished for having an adulterous relationship with a man she falls in love with at a market.
The body of the actress on which Hirsi Ali painted Islamic texts for the filming, is shown with inflamed lacerations to the sound of a cracking whip. The woman kneels on a prayer rug and speaks to Allah. Her last words are a wish for her own death.
“It is not intended as a provocation,” Hirsi Ali said during a three-hour interview accompanying the first airing of the film on Sunday night. “You see the woman praying. She symbolises a lot of women to me – women who were an inspiration to me.”
The unidentified actress, whose full face is never seen on the film, appears in the movie in a translucent caftan-like gown and a veil, which Hirsi Ali said was meant “to reveal what is behind the robe.”
Throughout the film, her naked body is clearly visible through the robe – in itself an insult in Islamic culture.
The symbolism, she said, “is not intended for the viewers, but for woman in Iran, Somalia and Saudi Arabia who live under the Shariah (Islamic law).”
Ceylan Weber of the Al Nisa Foundation for Muslim Women said domestic violence is a reality in the Islamic world, but that Hirsi Ali’s “irrational, insensitive approach will only drive the issue further underground.
“She has absolutely no clue about the complexity of domestic violence,” said Weber, who has worked for years with abused women.
Ayyub Mohamed Ajoeb of the Muslim Information Centre said the film “is yet another attempt at provocation by ... Hirsi Ali, the most frustrated politician in our country. She creates a culture of fear around the Islam by trying to portray it as a backward culture.”
Hirsi Ali fled to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage 11 years ago when she was 23. She studied political science at a Dutch university and was elected to parliament last year for the free-market Liberal Party. Her telegenic looks and outspokenness made her a media star.
Since then, she has inflamed Muslim opinion in the Netherlands by calling Islam “backward” and saying the prophet Mohammed, when measured by today’s Western standards, would be considered “a tyrant.” She says her intention is to liberate Muslim women.
Jozias van Aartsen, the leader of Hirsi Ali’s right-leaning Liberal Party, said in a statement after the program that Hirsi Ali’s views were welcome in the party.
“Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a woman with a message,” Van Aartsen said. “She has found a new medium for her message – images.”
Latest News:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm
Miss Ali seems to be getting the limelight
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=11236
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_980416,00430005.htm
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-08/31/article04.shtml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/31/wneth31.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/08/31/ixnewstop.html