Posted by
C-Hayes on Sunday, June 01, 2008 3:30:58 PM
I've been uninspired for 2 months now about posting. The same tired stories are being hashed and rehashed in the media: Obama's pastor, gay marriage in California, rising gas prices.
Even Rachel Ray's scarf in a Dunkin Donuts ad made front-page news this week.
Sure, these stories are all newsworthy, I suppose, to some degree.
But, as the title of this post explains, THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS GOING ON...
...and, of course, you have to go to the blogs to find out what these things are.
Leila Hussein was the mother of a 17-year-old girl who was brutally beaten and killed by her father for "dishonoring the family name" by "talking to the enemy" - namely, a British soldier. Leila fled from her husband but only survived a few weeks before being gunned down herself - a murder the police are saying is "unrelated" to her daughter's death.
Uh-huh.
Pamela speaks:
"Where is feminist outrage? Where are the damn womens groups, the leftards, the commies, the socialists, all the full-of-shitniks? Why wasn't this women protected? She was being threatened daily."
"Hussein lived her last few weeks in terror. Moving constantly from safe house to safe house, she dared to stay no longer than four days at each. It was the price she was forced to pay after denouncing and divorcing her husband - the man she witnessed suffocate, stamp on, then stab their young daughter Rand in a brutal 'honour' killing for which he has shown no remorse.
"...Her death, on 17 May, is the shocking denouement to a tragedy which had its origins in an innocent friendship between her student daughter, Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, and a blond, 22-year-old British soldier known only as Paul.
"The two had met while Rand, an English student at Basra University, was working as a volunteer helping displaced families and he was distributing water. Although their friendship appears to have involved just brief, snatched conversations over four months, Rand had confided her romantic feelings for Paul to her best friend, Zeinab, 19.
"She died, still a virgin, four months after she had last seen him when her father, Abdel-Qader Ali, 46, discovered that she had been seen talking 'to the enemy' in public. She had brought shame on his honour, was his defence, and he had to cleanse his family name. Despite openly admitting the murder, he has received no punishment.
"...Even her sons Hassan, 23, and Haydar, 21, whom she claimed aided their father in their sister's killing, disowned her. Meanwhile, her husband, a former government employee, escaped any charges, and even told The Observer that police had congratulated him on what he had done.
"...Police said the incident was a sectarian attack and that there was nothing to link Leila's death to her family.
"...Leila's burial was arranged within hours of her death by the husband of one of her cousins and Mariam's father.
"The Observer visited Rand's father and two brothers at their Basra home, but they refused to talk beyond Hassan proclaiming his father's innocence. When asked if he would be visiting his mother's grave, he shrugged: 'Maybe in the future.'
"Leila was an orphan, raised by an uncle who died in the Shia uprising against Saddam Hussein in the early 1990s. Hamida Alaa, 68, a friend of the uncle, said: 'The poor woman was killed and now her name and history is buried with her. No one wants to speak about it. She is just one more woman killed in our country who has already been forgotten by the local society.'
In the last days of her life, Leila was suffering from the pressure of having gone against her husband. 'She was sleeping with the help of sedatives,' said Mariam. 'She would wake up at night with terrible nightmares, even dreaming of being suffocated as her daughter was. She had been threatened so many times and that's why she was so scared. Her indignation over Rand's death is what led her to her own coffin. Their history ends here. BUT LEILA WAS A HERO. A woman who was strong enough to say no to Iraqi men's bad attitudes. Sadly most Iraqi women do not have the same strength and they will stay in their homes.'"
Fantastic coverage as always by Pamela Geller. I would add the additional outrage that this story isn't plastered all over the cable networks, featured on all right-wing blogs, headlined by international newspapers, and publicized by human rights organizations.
Spread the word on this story. Pray for justice. And wake up to the reality that THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS GOING ON...
Higher gas prices? Please...