This process could lead to an instructive moment for Obama in the pitfalls of "dialogue" with parties who are all too eager to appear concerned, and say one thing, but do another or perhaps nothing at all, or do the right thing only after appalling delay and intense scrutiny. One hopes his staff and U.S. authorities follow through on securing the girls' return.
"Obama's secret rescue mission seeks to free US mom's kids from Palestinian 'captivity'," by Ginger Adams Otis for the New York Post, July 27:
Barack Obama carried out a secret assignment during his global tour last week.
While talking about the Middle East peace process in the West Bank Wednesday, the presumptive Democratic nominee slipped a note to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
The private message: Help an anguished Chicago mother get her daughters back.
Obama detailed the plight of Colleen Bargouthi, 36. She says that for the last year, her four daughters have been held in the Palestinian territories, made to wear headdresses and schooled in Islam by their Muslim father, Yasser Shibli.
Obama asked Fayyad's help in Colleen's fight to get her girls home after their Palestinian dad blocked them from returning from what was to be a six-week family trip to his hometown of Ramallah on the West Bank.
"According to Colleen, [her husband] hit her, kept her as a virtual prisoner in her in-laws' home and menaced her with guns," the note reads.
The husband promised he "would return the girls if she went home and found a job and a place for the family.
"Yasser Shibli Bargouthi has since told Colleen that her daughters will never be allowed to leave to return to their mother. I would ask that the minister of justice look into this case."
Obama also asked the US consul general in Jerusalem, Jacob Welles, to investigate and work with Fayyad.
Colleen had taken her case to the Chicago media and met with Obama's camp. But she was unaware of his efforts until contacted by The Post.
An Obama staffer called Colleen Thursday saying that Fayyad had vowed to look into the situation.
"I can't believe it. I am so amazed and pleased," she said.
Colleen could never have imagined the turn of events her life has taken. She was Colleen Davis when she met Yasser, a grocery-store manager, in 1993 through a friend while she worked as a waitress at Midway Airport.
He was a Muslim and she a Baptist, but he told her it was not an issue. She made her religious beliefs clear to his clan and got their blessing before the two married in a Christian ceremony 15 years ago.
Six months later, they traveled to Ramallah and she was welcomed into the family. "I always told him that I was a Christian and would remain one, and that any children we had would be raised Christian," she says.
The couple settled in a Chicago suburb with her son, Ricky, from a previous marriage and had four daughters, Emily, 11, Hannah, 8, Amanda, 6 and Sarah, 5.
Colleen was a stay-at-home mom and her husband became manager of a cellphone store.
The couple bought a house in 1999 but sold it when they couldn't make the payments.
Her husband rarely spoke about his religion and never went to mosque services, she said. Their children attended Cedar Lake Community Christian school. [...]
The couple returned to Ramallah for a family visit and were there on Sept. 11, 2001. They were unable to return home for months and Colleen gave birth there to her fourth child, Amanda.
She told her husband she never wanted to return to the Palestinian territories. But in a nightmare ordeal, he packed up his wife and the five kids for a third trip to Ramallah in June 2007.
"He really wanted to go, and I trusted him, and assumed we'd all come back from this trip, as we had the others," she said.
Almost immediately, tensions arose between the formerly happily married pair.
"He said right away that he didn't want to go home again," Colleen said.
He enrolled all five children in a private American school and signed them up for Islamic religion classes.
"I protested, but it didn't matter . . . When I refused to put headdresses on my daughters, the school said they would fail. Eventually, I pulled them out," Colleen said.
"He felt it was better for the girls to be raised in an Islamic society and not in America."
He demanded that she convert to Islam and grew angry over her refusal, and began to get abusive....
Read it all.
"He demanded that she convert to Islam and grew angry over her refusal, and began to get abusive."
typical Muslim married to infidel syndrome..
"He reportedly told her, "F- - - Washington, f- - - Obama and f- - - you."
typical Islamic pre honor killing syndrome..
Old rule: Never Marry a Muslim...
There is no way that the Hamas Prime Minister of the Palestinian territories is going to take the girls from their father, unless Obama keeps following up on it, and keeps making a big, public issue of it.
I pray that Obama's eyes are opened to the fact that in islam, the main thing is to steal, kill, and destroy. And then I hope he'll remember the Bible verse in which Jesus said that that's what the devil does.
In other words, muslims are actually serving the devil!
After reading the article in the New York Post, it seems that Fayyad may actually be doing something -- the husband sure is ticked off since Obama got involved.
And it is ALSO possible that the Hamas Prime Minister does get the release of the girls, in order to make Obama look good to the American public.
Don't count that possibility out.
Only reason I have some sympathy for Colleen is that she made it clear that she and her children would be Christians. Still, she should have known better than trust a Mohammedan.
He was a Muslim and she a Baptist, but he told her it was not an issue. She made her religious beliefs clear to his clan and got their blessing before the two married in a Christian ceremony 15 years ago.
____________________
This man lied to her, and stole her children, as well as abusing them. Forcing Sharia upon them.
This is the legacy of Islam. This IS Islam.
Agree with above post:
NEVER marry a Muslim. NEVER take a Muslim at face value.
Read the Koran - Read the Hadith.
Along with the Constitution; I would make the Koran and Hadith mandatory reading for our government officials. They need to wake up!
Not Without My Daughter(s), Part Two.
Why, oh, why do American women keep replaying this scenario?
No sense of self-preservation, I guess.
The woman lives near me. Here's the original article from the local newspaper, printed before he left: http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1067282,072208kids.article
Attention ladies:
Don't. Marry. Moslems.
Caveat Nuptor ("Let the person who marries beware")
Based on "caveat emptor"
Latin for "let the buyer beware." The basic premise that the buyer buys at his/her own risk and therefore should examine and test a product himself/herself for obvious defects and imperfections.
Depending on the intelligence of the person, the mere fact that the other person is a Muslim should constitute a "defect" in the product, and marriage (let alone any relationship) would be out of the question.
Caveat emptor still applies even if the purchase is "as is" or when a defect is obvious upon reasonable inspection before purchase.
As it should; why should a stupid person be rewarded or protected for his or her stupidity?
Since implied warranties (assumed quality of goods) and consumer protections have come upon the legal landscape, the seller is held to a higher standard of disclosure than "buyer beware" and has responsibility for defects which could not be noted by casual inspection (particularly since modern devices cannot be tested except by use and many products are pre-packaged).
Again, this would apply for marriage only as long as we think we can trust Muslims. Can we? On what basis? Otherwise, I say, if you're stupid enough to marry a Muslim, don't expect help when it turns out to be hell, because your stupidity is part of the problem we have now trying to wake up the West.
Evidently this woman never read the koran. Or "Not Without My Daughter".
If Obama manages to rescue these girls, his supporters will be salivating. Super Hero Obama!
"Only reason I have some sympathy for Colleen..."
...is her usefulness as an object lesson for future "Colleens". WAKE UP!!! Don't do it. You'll never get your children back unless they themselves escape, or unless Obama has promised them something bad for your country and/or Israel in return. Or unless the THANK-GOD-FOR-THE-ISRAELI's rescue them (unlikely under Olmert).
"[He] told her [their religious differences] was not an issue."
HE told HER???? Why didn't SHE know? Why didn't someone in her FAMILY know? WAKE UP!!!! For God's sake, ladies, what does the term "unequally yoked" mean to you? How can you claim your faith is important to you as a Christian, then enter into a Biblical marriage to an unbeliever? (Rhetorical question -- YOU CAN'T!!)
ADVICE FOR THE DAY: IF you are absolutely so carnal and craven that you'll ignore your faith so as to be with your Muslim lover, then DON'T MARRY HIM. Practice BIRTH CONTROL. Give any children you have YOUR LAST NAME. Do NOT list his name on the birth certificate. DON'T VISIT his home country. DON'T GET THE CHILDREN PASSPORTS (if you do, keep them in the possession of a family member, and don't travel abroad with him). DO NOT ALLOW paternity testing. DENY paternity no matter what the DNA shows. WHEN (not if) he starts the "have to be raised Muslim", LEAVE, RUN, HIDE. Know the AMBER alert number by memory. File charges of KIDNAPPING at the first hint they are gone.
American wife getting rights from Muslim husband...............why do I keep hearing the theme from "Mission Impossible?
Besides the book and film of 'Not Without My Daughter', which should be required showing,
EVERY junior high school non-Muslim girl in the kafir lands should be shown Ayaan Hirsi Ali's film 'Submission', and told exactly what sharia law does to women (whether Muslim or non-Muslim), and how Muslim men are taught to view non-Muslim women.
Along with 'Submission', kafir girls should also read - and study - at least one, if not more, of the following: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 'The Caged Virgin', Nonie Darwish, 'Now They Call Me Infidel', Wafa Sultan, 'When God is a Monster', and Phyllis Chesler, 'My Afghan Captivity'.
And the following books flagged by Ms Chesler on 20 June 2008 should be in every high school library
http://pajamasmedia.com/phyllischesler/2008/06/20/american-woman-arab-man-tales-of-horror-in-the-harem/
A woman who calls herself 'Cassandra' has published two books:
"Escape from an Arab Marriage: Horror Stories of Women Who Fled From Abusive Muslims Husbands" (2006) and "Thirty Three Secrets Arab Men Never Tell American Women" (2008). {Probably should be retitled, '33 Secrets Muslim Men Never Tell Kafir Women'...dda}.
Chesler's review is worth reproducing here:
"In the first book, she ['Cassandra'] tells the stories of many American women who married Arab Muslim men and what happened to them.
'The stories are gripping, terrifying, highly dramatic–and depressingly similar.
'At first, the men are utterly charming, generous, solicitous of their American girlfriend’s every need.
'After they are married to American citizens and can claim their own citizenship, they revert to form:
'Almost overnight, they become cruel, condescending, physically abusive, suspicious, insanely controlling, unfaithful, deceptive, and highly secretive.
'Look, she is not writing about the happy marriages; as her title suggests, she is writing about “abusive Muslim Husbands.” The need to balance everything out, to allow every point of view, will prove our undoing.
'These are men who do not support their wives but expect their wives to support themselves, the household, and the children, even while they are pregnant or ill.
'And then, things always take a turn for the worse. This behavior accurately describes the family life of double honor murderer, Yasir Said, of Dallas, Texas. I have written about this case for PJM many times. See HERE and HERE for example.
"Here’s what’s worse. These spoiled and pampered sons kidnap their American children, which forces their American wives to live in dangerous and unfriendly Muslim countries and households, (often with first or subsequent wives), and that’s if they’re lucky.
' Just as often, the American mothers may simply never see their children again.
'The American government, Embassies, and Consulates do not help such American citizen-hostages to return home.
'Once an American woman marries a foreign national, she and her children are no longer entitled to any American citizenship rights.
'I know this is true because some of this also happened to me. Read HERE and HERE.
"Custody of the children automatically belongs to the father and to his family.
"And the Arab and Muslim families routinely abuse the children just as they abuse their own children–only more so, because these are American children whose mothers are (unacceptably) Christian.
"And yes, Christians are hated and persecuted in Muslim countries. This is the truth, unpalatable as it might be.
"In addition, according to Cassandra, recently, some members of Al Qaeda and of other terrorist groups have specifically come to America to gain American citizenship through marriage, create terror cells, brainwash their own American citizen children into jihad and recruit other Americans to Islamist jihad.
"Adam Gadahn of Oregon was apparently recruited this way by Hisham Diab, Sarrah Olsen’s Saudi husband.
"Olsen started calling the FBI in 1992, after her terrorist husband hosted the blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman (who is now in jail for having plotted against the World Trade Center), and Khalil Deck, who was arrested in Jordan while planning to blow up the U.S. Embassy.
"The FBI did not take Olsen’s information seriously."...
Cautionary Tales for Kafir Girls.
Now if Israel still held sway over Ramallah they would have gotten the children out and sent them back to the US.
It is time for Israel to kick the Muslims off of Jewish land once and for all time.
A FRIEND of mine almost had the same problem but fortunetly when her now ex got abusive and reverted
to islam to from saposably becoming a Christian
when he married her, after getting Canadian citizenship and then getting her pregnant 2 times he demanded that his daughter be raised as a muslim
fortunetly her father had taped his demands over the ph. and played them and read some info on children with muslim fathers and christen motherers and the dangers faced by the children if the fathers got custody. during the custody hearing a few years back he wanted to take the girl now 12 years old to see her grand parents or so he claimed , he was told NO you can bring your parents her . they showed up with a cousin who claimed under sharia law he had a right to take his arranged wife (her child)back to sowdi to marry . and because she had passed her first moon time she should be wearing a burka
the grandparents and the cousin got violent and ended up being deported to show how little respect
he has for infidel law her son is savely disabled and the jerk claims my childhood FRIEND must have slept with someone else and despite dna tests showing the boy is his he has never paid one dime of child support he has tried 3 more time to try and get her to let her girl vist sowdi but her dad has read the sowdi laws on the rights of peaple of the book and woman under sharia law in the kingdom and told the courts on her behalf that he should only have supervised visits here in canada and they agreed so never trust a muslim father with his Christian children especially girls over the age of 9
He was a Muslim and she a Baptist, but he told her it was not an issue. She made her religious beliefs clear to his clan and got their blessing before the two married in a Christian ceremony 15 years ago.
Shari'a law permits Muslim men to marry infidel women, but infidel men may not marry Muslimas. The children of Muslim men and infidel women must, in any event, be raised as Muslims. For this reason, a Christian marriage ceremony may have been tolerated by the husband and his family, as any children resulting would become part of the ummah anyway. This inconvenient fact, I am sure, was kept from this naive American woman by her Muslim husband and his family prior to the marriage. I believe this type of withholding of information would an example of kitman.
INF,
This is the kind of statement that needs to be printed in every newspaper, broadcast on radio, and plastered on highway billboards!
Heck, let's even print up stickers to put over those stupid adverts on the NYC subway trains (if that particular campaign does happen.)
A sign of sanity in the Great Frozen Tundra?
First of all I am very sad that this may happen to anyone, primarily for the girls, then for their mother.
Having said that, the sense of feigned religion on all sides is astounding. She is "Christian"? "Baptist"? Yes, it is unlikely she had knowledge of Islam or the movement of events up to the current day since 1994. However, she had a "Christian" marriage ceremony?
Did they ever ask the husband what he believed in or check themselves? It's obviously unChristian and anathema to marry someone who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ and part of some faith tradition. But I'll give them leeway, then, out of a general sense of magnanimity: It wasn't as if he were Hindu, someone who doesn't care about others religions. The man was from a background that thinks Christians are liars, corrupters, deceivers! How then did they tolerate this in the marriage?
I abhor deception in religion, but even more, self-deception. While I pronounce no judgments on her as a person, I adamantly establish that nothing she did was christian here. If she had done that, or better thought about it (or the family), she would have at least been forewarned (read: family vacations to Ramallah?). And that could have meant forearmed. Everyone dropped the ball here. I hope the pressure can bring them back and maybe this lady can be a voice to the reality of women married to muslim men.
Interestingly, the consensus on jurists of marrying non-muslims IN non-muslim lands is a resounding NO, but being aware of this and being male he probably knew that a) he could get away with it without bother and b) he had in his mind the whole time that eventually he would make ... a run for the border ... back to dar-al-islam.
May we all be granted mercies and a genuine fight against evil and self deception.
I admire your post, but must suggest correction on that point. It is acceptible for Muslim males to marry non-Muslims (from "People of the Book", 5:5), but not for Muslim females to marry non-Muslim males (2:221). Some authorities would consider that Muslim men marrying POB should only occur if Islam is dominant in the region. Caliph Umar prevented some from marrying women from People of the Book.
http://www.understanding-islam.com/rs/s-053.htm
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=2267&CATE=10
http://www.islamawareness.net/Marriage/fatwa_04.html
"...being aware of this and being male he probably knew that" he could get dual citizenship if he got married, especially if he had "anchor" babies to get rid of any sham marriage charge, and that he would not have to pay the traditional dowry to get married if marrying an American girl (actually, her family probably paid for the wedding, per tradition). The dicey part is deciding how and when to transport the kids to an Islamic country to escape American courts' attempts at custody and religious upbringing enforcement after the marriage sours. Notice how often the mother accompanies, in a state of reconciliation, and how damaging this is to international kidnapping prosecution and extradition.
He enrolled all five children in a private American school and signed them up for Islamic religion classes.
"I protested, but it didn't matter . . . When I refused to put headdresses on my daughters, the school said they would fail. Eventually, I pulled them out," Colleen said.
From the article above.
--------------------------------------------
That a private American school in Ramallah enforces sharia and fails girls who don't wear hijab is absolutely outrageous.
We need to know the name of this school and publicize its abuse of children. It need to be defunded.
I recall some mention of a collection of questions to ask the presidential candidates. A followup query about this situation would seem a good question for the-one-who-is-worshipped. Or even for McCain.
Separately, the NY Post article mentions that the father acquired, for the daughters, "Palestinian passports". Does the so-called "Palestinian Authority" actually issue passports? What actual countries recognize them? US?
He demanded that she convert to Islam and grew angry over her refusal, and began to get abusive.
Another of these who misunderstand Islam, here is no compulsion in religion in the religion of peace.
Colleen speaks to them once a day by speaker phone as he listens and cuts off the conversation if she brings up topics he considers taboo.
she's repulsed by the family's talk of arranged marriages for the girls to cousins.
Probably not much of a chance that Salam Fayyad will or can do anything about that, doesn’t Obama get it that according to Sharia and Islam it is the father that has the custody of the children and that he is obliged to raise them as Muslims. Doesn’t Obama “respect” multiculturalism?
She might ask Dr Williams for some Christian support, oh I did forget that he think Sharia is inevitable.
I'm sure Colleen (and all "Colleens" in the past and of the future) didn't think this kind of thing could possibly happen to her. Her man wasn't like that, you see.
Western naivete.