I have. As an American woman, I think it would be better to die than to be treated the way that many Muslim women are treated.
I just finished a book in one day, entitled Forbidden Love. It was written by Norma Khouri. She wrote this book about her best friend of 22 years who was murdered because she fell in love with a Catholic man. Her family called it an "honor killing." I call it cold blooded and cowardly murder. Her father stabbed her 12 times as she slept. The woman's name was Dalia. She was still a virgin when she died, but her father called her a whore and when they buried her, she wasn't even placed in a coffin and he wouldn't even give her the dignity of a tombstone. He wouldn't allow her name to be mentioned in his house again. Does that sound like the love a father has for a daughter? I don't think so. What causes such contempt for women in the Middle East? Why do they hate women so?
So called honor killings still take place to this day in the Middle East for the most trivial of reasons. The offending woman may be murdered for taking too long with the laundry or because she was raped. Yes, the woman is always blamed if she is raped and her family is duty bound to kill her to preserve their "honor". The following is some information that I obtained after I read the book.
Honor killings occur for a variety of offenses, including allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, refusing an arranged marriage, attempting to obtain a divorce, or simply talking with a man. If a woman brings shame to the family, her male relatives are bound by duty and culture to kill her. "A woman shamed is like rotting flesh," a Palestinian merchant tells me. "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."
This, among many other things, make me feel so grateful to be an America woman. We have basic freedoms that we take for granted every day. How sad and how hopeless it must be to live as the Muslim woman has to live, in constant fear, in constant oppresion.
2006-09-11
07:03:13
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21 answers
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asked by
Princess 29 71
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