notJames 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Daughter raped by brothers, murdered by mother (Bold emphasis mine) A Palestinian girl who was raped and impregnated by her two brothers was later murdered by her own mother – even though her daughter was the crime's innocent victim – in another of the disturbingly common, if vastly underreported, instances of "honor killings." The mother will be sentenced in two weeks, but a harsh penalty is not expected. According to a Knight Ridder report, court records show that Rofayda Qaoud was raped by her brothers, Fahdi, 22, and Ali, 20, in a bedroom they shared in the family's three-room house in the town of Abu Qash in the West Bank. When her mother found she had become pregnant, she insisted her daughter commit suicide, and even bought the unwed teen a razor so she could slash her own wrists. When the daughter refused, Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud took matters into her own hands and murdered Rofayda to restore her family's "honor." Entering her sleeping daughter's bedroom last Jan. 27 with a plastic bag, razor and wooden stick, reports Knight Ridder, the mother told her daughter: "Tonight you die, Rofayda." Wrapping the bag around the teen's head, Qaoud cut her daughter's wrists, while ignoring her cries of "No, mother, no!" Qaoud then struck her daughter in the head with the stick to finish off the job, said the report. Every year, dozens and probably hundreds of brutal "honor killings" of Palestinian women and girls – most of whom are virtually blameless – go unreported, according to an anthropologist's recent study. In a story for World and I magazine, James Emery says women in the communities of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Israel and Jordan are killed by male kinsmen in an attempt to protect the reputations of their families. Emery says the women "are murdered in their homes, in open fields and occasionally in public, sometimes before crowds of cheering onlookers." Most occur among Muslims in poor, rural tribal areas or among uneducated urban dwellers, he says, although the practice is not explicitly condoned by the Islamic holy book, the Quran. In the feudal, patriarchal societies of the Middle East, writes Emery, "honor is based on what men feel is important, and reputation is everything." "Unfortunately," he says, "thousands of women have been killed in the name of honor because imagination and rumors are as important as actions and events." When a girl's chastity is in question, he says, her family feels the shame, even if she is raped or the rumors prove unsubstantiated. "A woman shamed is like rotting flesh," a Palestinian merchant told Emery. "If it is not cut away, it will consume the body. What I mean is the whole family will be tainted if she is not killed." Emery says the reasons for honor killings include allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, for refusing an arranged marriage or attempting to obtain a divorce, or simply for talking with a man. The murders normally are carried out by fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, cousins or sons. Among Palestinians, all sexual encounters, including rape and incest, are blamed on the woman. "The issue of consent is irrelevant when it comes to honor killings," says Marsha Freeman, director of the International Women's Rights Action Watch. "It has to do with the woman being defiled. It completely objectifies the woman as being about her sexuality and purity. It makes her not human." Under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, at least 25 "official" honor killings occur each year, says Emery, but the actual number of deaths is much higher. Because honor killings are accorded special status, murderers serve little or no jail time, the anthropologist notes. Some men convicted of premeditated murder serve as little as three months and are treated as celebrities by family and friends upon release. Emery has done extensive research in Palestinian communities and has lived and traveled overseas for a number of years. He is an expert witness on Asian and Arab culture in civil and criminal cases and a lecturer on Middle Eastern terrorism. He says the murder of females in the Middle East is an ancient tradition that began prior to the arrival of Islam in A.D. 622. Arabs sometimes buried infant daughters to avoid the possibility they would later bring shame to the family, Emery notes. In the case of Rofayda Qaoud, the mother will appear before a three-judge panel on Dec. 3. She says her husband, Abdul Rahim, urged her not to do it, and said the Quran forbids "honor" killings. The Knight Ridder account says Rofayda gave birth to a healthy boy last Dec. 23, who has been adopted by another Palestinian family. Honor killings committed in the heat of passion generally carry a light term – six months to one year in jail. Qaoud's premeditated act is likely be earn her a stiffer sentence – perhaps three to five years, said the report. Yet the fact that she was attempting to save her family's honor means she's not guilty of premeditated murder, which can get the death penalty. The two brothers are serving minimum 10-year jail sentences for raping their sister. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Boy will Arafat be pissed. Just one less suicide bomber for him to have... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nl5xsk1 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Not to ask a callous question after such a serious posting, but what the hell is a Knight Ridder report?!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Knight Ridder is a news service, much like the AP. Not as big... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
notJames 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 From the Knight Ridder website: Knight Ridder is a communications company engaged primarily in newspaper and Internet publishing. The second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, it owns 31 dailies and operates the Real Cities network of 83 regional Web sites. Contrary to popular belief, Knight Ridder is not an television adventure series from the early 1980s.* *Okay, I added that one. Seriously though, it's instances like this that make me ashamed of belonging to the human race. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Brought to you by the religion of peace... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 One question, but a serious one. How can you combat this kind of ingrained practice from Islamic societys, without making them think it is an attempt to wipe out there culture and religon? (Though in this case, personally, I wouldn't care if it pissed them off or not) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 The muslem leaders need to be more outspoken against attrocities like this. Whether on tv, or in print. Make it known to muslems this is against the Koran. The mullah's are highly respected, and can make a huge difference. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Times like these I'm glad I'm a Palestinian Christian. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 The muslem leaders need to be more outspoken against attrocities like this. Whether on tv, or in print. Make it known to muslems this is against the Koran. The mullah's are highly respected, and can make a huge difference. The leaders are all corrupt and vile too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Times like these I'm glad I'm a Palestinian Christian. Wait, wait, wait...let me get this straight...cerebus is a PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Tom 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 One question, but a serious one. How can you combat this kind of ingrained practice from Islamic societys... Napalm. Lots and lots of Napalm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Times like these I'm glad I'm a Palestinian Christian. Wait, wait, wait...let me get this straight...cerebus is a PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN!? Yup. Well, actually my mom (and, thus, myself) took my father's religion (Catholicism) but my mother's family is one of the few Syrian Orthodox Christians left in Palestine (her father's brother's family still lives in Bethlehem). My fiance's (also a Palestinian) family is Coptic Orthodox. Another reason I despise Arafat, thanks to his thugs the Christian population used to make up 60% of Bethlehem before 1993 but now its barely 30%. Here is a good article if you're curious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Emery says the reasons for honor killings include allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, for refusing an arranged marriage or attempting to obtain a divorce, or simply for talking with a man. The murders normally are carried out by fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, cousins or sons. It's amazing that they could even reproduce over time if they kill off so much of their female population Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Emery says the reasons for honor killings include allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, for refusing an arranged marriage or attempting to obtain a divorce, or simply for talking with a man. The murders normally are carried out by fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, cousins or sons. It's amazing that they could even reproduce over time if they kill off so much of their female population That's not even remotely funny. It just makes you look like a jackass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Emery says the reasons for honor killings include allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, for refusing an arranged marriage or attempting to obtain a divorce, or simply for talking with a man. The murders normally are carried out by fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, cousins or sons. It's amazing that they could even reproduce over time if they kill off so much of their female population That's not even remotely funny. It just makes you look like a jackass. Actually that was a rare serious moment from yours truly. Killing off your female population over minor things is not condusive to long term reproductivity But if you were offended, well, tough shit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Firestarter 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 It's amazing that they could even reproduce over time if they kill off so much of their female population That's not even remotely funny. It just makes you look like a jackass. How on earth does it make him look like a jackass? I think it's a fair question, and I think it could probably be answered by the fact that Moslem women tend to be forced to have at least half a dozen children on average. Since replacement rates tend to be 2.5ish for the most part, that lets male Moslems murder, rape, and torture the women as much as they like, while the population as a whole continues to grow far too quickly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 20, 2003 25 killings a year but "probably much more than that" does not a population reduction make. It's like me making jokes about black women producing like rabitts or some shit like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Firestarter 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 What about Moslems murdering their own infant daughters at birth, either because sons are more "honourable" or because they don't want to pay her dowry when she grows up? That's not uncommon either, and Moslem populations are skewed to the male side. Same with the Chinese. That's not racism, that's reality. Nor, to address your deliberately and crudely offensively-worded analogy, would it be racism to point out that black women tend to be on welfare more often than white women, and women on welfare tend to reproduce more in order to get more money from the government. Again, not racism - just reality. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Agreed CM, I just found Angleslayer's comment crude thats all. There are pleanty of reasons why this is significant (and as you point out not found just in Islamic countires but in China and I know it is not uncommon in India either) but he said something that made me pissed off so I told him that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Agreed CM, I just found Angleslayer's comment crude thats all. There are pleanty of reasons why this is significant (and as you point out not found just in Islamic countires but in China and I know it is not uncommon in India either) but he said something that made me pissed off so I told him that. I gave you a free pass the first time around since I figured my comment was not received as intended If it still doesn't sit well with you after I attempted to explain myself (and after CM helped clarify my remarks herself), then I can't say anything more (at least not without descending into flaming level, which I shall refrain from) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2003 Times like these I'm glad I'm a Palestinian Christian. Wait, wait, wait...let me get this straight...cerebus is a PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN!? Yup. Well, actually my mom (and, thus, myself) took my father's religion (Catholicism) but my mother's family is one of the few Syrian Orthodox Christians left in Palestine (her father's brother's family still lives in Bethlehem). My fiance's (also a Palestinian) family is Coptic Orthodox. Another reason I despise Arafat, thanks to his thugs the Christian population used to make up 60% of Bethlehem before 1993 but now its barely 30%. Here is a good article if you're curious. sighYou TOTALLY missed my sarcasm. It was a play on the popular "Wait, Game's gay!?!" thing that was a running joke. You've posted that you're a Palestinian Christian in like 3 threads now so I was making the obvious joke, which totally flew by you making both of us look dumb in the process. Spoil sport. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 20, 2003 No AS, I tend to avoid flaming myself (unless it means I can post silly pictures in the HD forum) but I am a tad sensative when it comes to shit like that...sorry if i jumped on you too quick. To address the issue at hand, however, I think it has more to do with culture than religion IMHO. Look at how often dowries in (Hindu) India are still very prominent (and worse in the more remote areas) and in China its no coincidence that the orphanges are filled with female babies. That said, I think, for the most part, it has to do with problems steming from having an organic society with a lot of emphasis on family and misogyny left over from a long dead age Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 20, 2003 You've posted that you're a Palestinian Christian in like 3 threads now so I was making the obvious joke, which totally flew by you making both of us look dumb in the process. Spoil sport. I did? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 21, 2003 I think he was talking about these. Both posts edited for brevity, not edited so I can take your words out of context -- after all, this isn't a certain news network that happens to be channel number 34 on my Comcast cable service. Oh, and JJ, I got your joke when you said it... Not all of the people in those countries are Muslim, many, like my grandparents who came from Palestine, are Christian… My mom is Palestinian and she's certainly not radicalized in any sense of the word because she was born and raised in the US not Bethlehem. Same with me. And just for the record, us Christian Arabs use the word "Allah" just as often as Arab Muslims do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted November 21, 2003 heh heh....as always I bow to the awesomness of kkk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anakin Flair 0 Report post Posted November 21, 2003 One question, but a serious one. How can you combat this kind of ingrained practice from Islamic societys, without making them think it is an attempt to wipe out there culture and religon? (Though in this case, personally, I wouldn't care if it pissed them off or not) ICBM's. Or we invade their country "for the good of the people." On a serious note, that is truly sick. Those people should be beaten severly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Internet Warfare 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2003 wow that was weird, I'm shocked peole like that still excist in the world. oh well, nothing we can do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
