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I got better.
Sharia Alert from the Kingdom of the Two Holy Places: "Saudis to execute a woman for witchcraft," by Donna Abu-Nasr for Associated Press (thanks to Louis):
BEIRUT, Lebanon - A leading human rights group appealed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Thursday to stop the execution of a woman accused of witchcraft and performing supernatural acts.The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the kingdom's religious police who arrested and interrogated Fawza Falih, and the judges who tried her in the northern town of Quraiyat never gave her the opportunity to prove her innocence in the face of "absurd charges that have no basis in law."
Falih's case underscores shortcomings in Saudi Arabia's Islamic legal system in which rules of evidence are shaky, lawyers are not always present and sentences often depend on the whim of judges.
The most frequent victims are women, who already suffer severe restrictions on daily life in Saudi Arabia: They cannot drive, appear before a judge without a male representative, or travel abroad without a male guardian's permission.
Witchcraft is considered an offense against Islam in the conservative kingdom.
And of course it is that very thing!
Posted by Robert at February 14, 2008 9:10 AM
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I happen to have a copy of the court record pertaining to this case.
Saudi judge: There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.
Peasant 1: Are there? Oh well, tell us.
Saudi judge: Tell me. What do you do with witches?
Peasant 1: Burn them.
Saudi judge: And what do you burn, apart from witches?
Peasant 1: More witches.
Peasant 2: Wood.
Saudi judge: Good. Now, why do witches burn?
Peasant 3: ...because they're made of... wood?
Saudi judge: Good. So how do you tell whether she is made of wood?
Peasant 1: Build a bridge out of her.
Saudi judge: But can you not also build bridges out of stone?
Peasant 1: Oh yeah.
Saudi judge: Does wood sink in water?
Peasant 1: No, no, it floats!... It floats! Throw her into the pond!
Saudi judge: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 1: Bread.
Peasant 2: Apples.
Peasant 3: Very small rocks.
Peasant 1: Cider.
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Peasant 3: Cherries.
Peasant 1: Mud.
Peasant 2: Churches.
Peasant 3: Lead! Lead!
Saudi prince: A Duck.
Saudi judge: ...Exactly. So, logically...
Peasant 1: If she weighed the same as a duck... she's made of wood.
Saudi judge: And therefore...
Peasant 2: ...A witch!
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at February 14, 2008 9:24 AM
Witchcraft. Honestly, the mind reels. How ignorant and superstitious these morons are.
Last words of the "witches" hanged in Salem, 1692:
Bridget Bishop
"I am no witch.
I am innocent.
I know nothing of it."
Susannah Martin
"I have no hand in witchcraft."
Elizabeth Howe
"If it was the last moment I was to live,
God knows I am innocent..."
In 316 years we have learned so much. What have muslims learned?
Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at February 14, 2008 9:26 AM
Our saboteur-squirrels strike again! Obviously some of the spells they've been releasing all over have got to this woman.
Posted by: ebonystone at February 14, 2008 9:26 AM
If she were really possessed of supernatural authority, she could bewitch her jailers, walk through the bars and out the building, and then teleport herself to Acapulco and precipitate the money for a weekend at a posh resort.
Case closed. Free the woman.
Posted by: Morgaan Sinclair at February 14, 2008 9:27 AM
Exactly so, Morgaan. The very fact of her arrest shows that she has, at most, very limited supernatural powers. The really powerful mages and sorcerors have used their powers to bewitch the judges and authorities, and so they remain free.
Posted by: ebonystone at February 14, 2008 9:54 AM
When are they going to expose the Zionist link to this witch and her coven?
Posted by: Dumbo at February 14, 2008 10:01 AM
The Saudi, really don't like witch craft, brings to mind about the two Indo maids that where beaten to death
Scroll down
http://illustratedpig.blogspot.com/2008/01/london-times-quoted-report-that.html
Posted by: shiva
at February 14, 2008 10:18 AM
Can't stop snapping my fingers to the Frankie beat! So glad I'm not within reach of a karaoke mike.
Posted by: Shy Guy at February 14, 2008 10:29 AM
C'mon, Hugh. Crank the Frank all day.
Posted by: undaunted at February 14, 2008 10:36 AM
The lefties in our country really need to pay attention. This is one of those weird things that many of them are into. This shows that islam is very much against all the things that they do with no repercussions in our country but are indeed against islam.
But, I don't hold too much in their waking up, wising up, or anything. They depend on others for their mantras, eg: I hate Bush, Bush lied - people died, right wing conspiracy, etc.
Posted by: R_not at February 14, 2008 10:37 AM
Undaunted,
Hey. I put that Frank up, not Hugh. And contrary to persistent rumor, I am still not Hugh.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
at February 14, 2008 10:38 AM
In shiva's link above, one of the abused Indonesian maids said that: "the 17-year-old son of her employer whipped her with his igal accusing her of practicing witchcraft."
The "igal" is a double cord Muslim men use to secure their headdress.
at February 14, 2008 10:41 AM
Hey, I've been cursed right here at JW. "evil_white_devil" cursed me a couple of years back.
Heh® hey wait maybe that's why I'm having all the trouble....
.
.
.
.nah.
at February 14, 2008 10:43 AM
The "igal" is a double cord Muslim men use to secure their headdress.
Posted by: cantor
We have always refered to the "igal" as the fan belt.
Posted by: interestinconundrum at February 14, 2008 10:52 AM
Thanks, Robert.
I found the link so you can get back to saving the world.
Posted by: undaunted at February 14, 2008 11:24 AM
Thanks, Robert.
I found the link so you can get back to saving the world.
Posted by: undaunted at February 14, 2008 11:24 AM
Witchcraft!
I don't think it is discussed that much in the Qur'an. I mean it's not like there is a sura that says "Suffer not the witch to live". Do you the Saudis have their religions mixed up? Or are they just equal opportunity oppressors?
If this doesn't prove that Islam is still stuck in the 7th century, I don't know what will.
Here's an idea! Broadcast old "Bewitched" reruns to the Middle East!
Posted by: tanstaafl at February 14, 2008 11:34 AM
what I find funny is that any member of the Wiccan faith will tell you that the old joke is you can change form, but not mass so assuming the average person weighs around 175 pounds that newt sounds more like a crocodile this just shows that Muslims in some parts of the world. In my opinion are still living in the pre-dark ages Era though I wonder what they did do with that poor crocodile
Posted by: doglover at February 14, 2008 11:42 AM
The rules of evidence are 'shaky' in a sharia witchcraft and unnatural acts trial?
That's hard to believe. The news services are always pioneering new ways to make medieval and dangerous sharia sound like a controversial red light camera.
Posted by: Beagle at February 14, 2008 11:44 AM
There is sound basis for executing witches in Islam - http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=12578&ln=eng&txt=witch
"Al-Quraafi said: Sihr (witchcraft) is real, and the person against whom it is done may die, or his nature or habits may be changed, even if he does not deal with it himself. This was the view of al-Shaafa’i and Ibn Hanbal…"
The fact that even the "educated" clerics, imams, and "scholars" belive in this is a mental weakness that can and must be exploited.
Posted by: Pelayo at February 14, 2008 11:48 AM
Okay. So, did she twinkle her nose? Did she have a black cat? How about a massive hair growing mole on the tip of her nose? Did she have a broom labeled "For Flying Only"? What about a black cauldron bubbling with all kinds of nasty stuff? Was she reciting: "Double, double toil and trouble...."
Posted by: Kevin at February 14, 2008 12:17 PM
"Here's an idea! Broadcast old "Bewitched" reruns to the Middle East!"
Or how about I Dream of Jinniyeh.
Posted by: cantor at February 14, 2008 1:44 PM
Saudi Arabia's been putting people to death for "witchcraft" or "sorcery" for years (as documented by human rights groups) and likely since its creation in the early 20th century.
Muslims have likely always been punishing "sorcery" with death, as it likely stems directly from Sharia law.
From a Human Rights Watch report for 2000:
"Capital punishment was applied for crimes including murder, rape, armed robbery, drug smuggling, sodomy, and sorcery. In most cases, the condemned were decapitated in public squares after being blindfolded, handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, and tranquilized."
"By late September 2000, at least 104 Saudis and foreigners had been beheaded, exceeding in nine months the total of 103 that Amnesty International recorded in 1999."
This is a country with approximately the population and size of Texas -- they are beheading approximately 3 people every week (= 12 per month). Compare that to Texas: 232 people executed in 18 years -- works out to an average of 1 to 2 per month. Saudi Arabia has been executing roughly over 10 times more people than has Texas. To this quantitative disparity, of course, should be factored in the qualitative disparity -- the abysmally corrupt justice system of Saudi Arabia (as alluded to in the article above) + the fanatically unjust definitions of the putative "crimes".
Posted by: cantor at February 14, 2008 2:03 PM
She turned me into a newt!
A newt?
You mean like the erstwhile Speaker of the House?
C'mon, Hugh. Crank the Frank all day.
For use who like music more recent than Frank, there's this.
Posted by: Bigfoot at February 14, 2008 2:07 PM
And contrary to persistent rumor, I am still not Hugh.Cordially
Robert Spencer
Makes perfect sense.
BTW, are you two fans of U2?
Posted by: Shy Guy at February 14, 2008 2:16 PM
Robert,
thanks for Frank:)
Why bother with Buble when you can have the real deal?
Any good Dean Martin songs appropriate to this thread? "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" perhaps?
The title works, but not the lyrics:(
How about "That's Amore" for the t-shirt thread? Just kidding.
Posted by: Gramfan at February 14, 2008 4:17 PM
"Muslims have likely always been punishing "sorcery" with death, as it likely stems directly from Sharia law."
Cantor - don't they punish everything with death?
Posted by: Gramfan at February 14, 2008 4:19 PM
Upon further review, this article didn't pull punches as much as I suggested. I'm shocked.
Yes, it's all death penalties. Barrel of monkeys I'm telling you.
Posted by: Beagle at February 14, 2008 5:48 PM
What a great classic clip of Frank! Man, only to get that broadcast on Arab TV - wouldn't that get their blood in a boil!
Anyway, yeah great idea! Let's broadcast Bewitched over there and watch them absolutely implode/explode.
Oh, and forget the moral lesson embedded in the plot, so common for shows from the 50s/60s.
(I don't have cable, but I still get watch great classics every week day, like "My Three Sons", "Happy Days", "Bonanza", and "Gunsmoke". Of course, all the moral lessons learned are quickly outdone by a double dose of "Family Guy"!! LOL.)
Posted by: boneshack at February 14, 2008 7:16 PM
You know, we could build the next generation of armed drones to resemble brooms...................I'm just thinkin'.
Posted by: tanstaafl at February 14, 2008 8:03 PM
Hi'ya kids! Hi'ya!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYZazW9Ja1k&feature=related
Posted by: Joe Schmoe USA at February 15, 2008 6:30 AM
Thanks for that wonderful Sinatra clip.
Inherent in posting this now over 40 year old classic is the implicit message of the culture, civilization and entertainment that we have an obligation to defend against those who view such pursuits as 'evil'.
Posted by: sebjoeko at February 15, 2008 1:49 PM
Islam: which witch is which?
Posted by: profitsbeard at February 17, 2008 2:06 AM
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