The phrase “letter-writing campaigns to Rifqa publicized on blogs that malign Islam” is doubtless a reference to Pamela Geller’s initiative to have Christmas cards sent to Rifqa — but complaining about “blogs that malign Islam” sells a lot better than saying straight out, as they did before, that they’re trying to seize this poor girl’s Christmas cards.
Nonetheless, the initiative is just as insidious — and, not coincidentally, in alignment with Sharia provisions calling for the isolation of female apostates from Islam. After all, this is still a marginally free country, isn’t it? Why should Rifqa not be allowed to receive communications from people who have been encouraged to write to her on “blogs that malign Islam”? And remember that by “maligning Islam” in this context, what is meant is telling the truth about Islam’s doctrines of violence and supremacism. But even if people writing to Rifqa really are maligning Islam, is that now illegal in the U.S.? Maligning Christianity is not illegal. Maligning Judaism is not illegal. Would Rifqa be allowed to receive letters that malign those religions? Is the person screening her mail going to hold up letters that she thinks malign Islam? On what grounds?
Pamela has trenchant and important observations on this here.
“Guardian to review Rifqa’s mail: Attorneys in dependency case reach common ground on a few matters,” by Meredith “Hijab” Heagney for the Columbus Dispatch, December 25 (thanks to Pamela):
Attorneys for Fathima Rifqa Bary and her parents haven’t agreed on much, but they have settled a couple of small matters in the case of the 17-year-old runaway.
They have agreed that all mail to Rifqa from people who aren’t relatives will be reviewed by her guardian ad litem, the attorney appointed by the court to represent her interests, to “ensure that no inappropriate messages are forwarded to Ms. Bary.”
They also have agreed that Rifqa cannot have any contact with Blake Lorenz, Beverly Lorenz or Brian Williams until her counselor determines whether it would be in her best interest.
The Lorenzes are pastors in Florida whom Rifqa stayed with when she ran away. Authorities have said that Williams, an evangelical in his 20s who baptized Rifqa, drove her to the Greyhound bus station in Columbus when she ran away from home in July.
Rifqa, a New Albany High School student, said she left her Northeast Side home because her father, Mohamed Bary, threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity. Mr. Bary denies the accusation, and authorities in Ohio and Florida have found that she was not in danger.
A dependency case to determine where Rifqa should live is making its way through Franklin County Juvenile Court, where the attorneys frequently file motions on minute details of Rifqa’s life and activities.
For instance, Omar Tarazi, the attorney for Mr. Bary and his wife, Aysha, had asked that third-party messages to Rifqa be reviewed by Franklin County Children Services, which has custody of the girl. He was concerned about letter-writing campaigns to Rifqa publicized on blogs that malign Islam.
That resulted in the agreement to have her guardian look at them. The magistrate’s order says “incoming mail” but does not specify whether that includes e-mail.
The two sides also have argued over whether Rifqa’s counselor should be a woman. Rifqa’s attorneys, Kort Gatterdam and Angela Lloyd, have accused the Barys of forcing Rifqa to submit to Islam by making her see a male counselor, because she was raised in a male-dominated home.
Tarazi disputed that, saying Gatterdam and Lloyd file documents “containing baseless assertions that would be characterized as nothing more than religious and cultural bigotry.”…
Unlikely at best. Rifqa’s attorneys have steadfastly ignored the apostasy issue — and substantially weakened their case by doing so.