Sunday, January 29, 2012

Shafia just one family of many that would kill, for what? Rana Husseini is a Jordanian journalist who has long challenged the culture of killing.

AM980 News Talk Sports Jury Finds Defendants Guilty Of First Degree Murder In Shafia Case Local News

   "It took only 15 hours for a Kingston jury to find three members of an Afghanistan-born Montreal family guilty of killing three daughters and a co-wife in a so-called honour killing".  - AM980, The Canadian Press.

There is a lot of press about this since it hits close to home and is the sheer reality of some jahilliyya practices - this isn't ignorance, this is killing innocent women and children. A real conspiracy. In the name of what?

  “I'm very upset about the fact that this was played out as “honour killing” and somewhat exotic and strange, instead of the fact that this is femicide, which is the killing of girls and women because men, our patriarchy, thinks that that is OK" - Alia Hogben, Canadian Council of Muslim Women.
Anger, sadness permeate Muslim community | Canada | News | London Free Press

The larger issue still stands taller than those preventing the attitude of subjugating girls and women to man-made 'do this or die' mentality by their own fathers and brothers and extended family. This happens all over the world - not just in the name of culture/religion/non religion. It is rage, deliberate and calculated revenge, avenging the will to live one's own life, is death.

Violence against women and the culture of killing to preserve that which is void of sincerity. I had the honour to interview a woman who has challenged so-called honour killings - risking her life - becoming the first journalist (read: the first person) to bring media attention in cultures that stay silent on this issue:

Rana Husseini: Her website - I interviewed her via conference with my Wonen's Studies group in 2002. -Jen


    "As a Jordanian woman journalist writing for The Jordan Times, Husseini focused on social issues with a special emphasis on violence against women, as well as the brutal crimes that are committed against Jordanian women in the name of family honor".

   "Her coverage of and dedication to ending this unjustified practice against women helped raise national awareness on a topic that is traditionally considered taboo. Until The Jordan Times began reporting on so-called crimes of honour, the local press shied away from addressing the issue. The government responded by introducing legal changes that suggest tougher punishments for perpetrators of such crimes".

This is one of the women in the world who would wear running shoes - just in case.

What is my larger issue in all this? It is a power and control thing executed by the ignorant and insincere against women, against their will to create much needed change and success in their lives and in their families by being resilient against deferred cultural ignorance in the name of their perceived status quo. It would help to see more men belonging to these cultures to initiate change from within. - J.

Feb 4, 2011 - A fatwa (collective legal Islamic ruling) against honour killings

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