Cold, Premeditated, Ritual Murder. The Honor Killing of Aasiya Z. Hassan. Part Two February 19, 2009

Chesler Chronicles » Cold, Premeditated, Ritual Murder. The Honor Killing of Aasiya Z. Hassan. Part Two

Phyllis Chesler has some searching questions regarding the murder of Aasiya Z. Hassan. This was no ordinary murder. She was beheaded by her husband. The question that is raised here is: was it an honour killing or just domestic violence? It does not matter to me what it is called because domestic violence that ends in death is as much an evil as honour killing. The difference though is that honour killing is a practice amongst cultures where the majority belong to Islam. This is why we make the link to Islam when we read and then talk about honour killings. Yet, there is always that cultural component to take into consideration. In this case Aisiya Hassan and her husband Mohammed came from Pakistan. Hassan is a well respected banker within the Muslim community in Buffalo.

This raises the question about honour killings, which is something that is often denied as being unIslamic. Just like in the USA, and the UK, Australia has had its share of honour killings, and the victim has almost always been a young girl who has brought “dishonour” about her family becuase she wanted to have an Australian boyfriend. The killer is usually the father, or another relative such as a brother, and the girl is usually brutally stabbed to death.

I do not believe that we understand the nature of honour killings. We do not fully appreciate the nature of Muslim society. We do not understand that the men own the wife, daughter or sister. This is why these crimes in Muslim lands are not criminalized. Some Muslims claim that honour killings are against Islam but that is also not true.

If anyone believes that this is not Islamic then think about the statistics that have come to light – that 90% of women in Pakistan are routinely beaten both in childhood and as wives and mothers. Also take into consideration that there are mullahs who have openly stated that it is ok to beat the wife or daughter, and remember that some of the most horrific crimes that are perpetrated these days are ones involving girls from Pakistan or other Muslim lands who have wanted to be freed from the violence.

I have a question for all of the feminists who want to reclaim the night, and who rail about domestic violence: why is it that not one voice is raised to help these women, who are our sisters when they are being treated like animals? Why is there not one voice being raised against honour killings?

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What happens when Gitmo detainees are released February 6, 2009

Last October, a young Yemeni-American and Muslim teenager by the name of Susan Elbaneh who had returned to Yemen for her arranged marriage was killed during a blast at the USA embassy in Sana, Yemen. This rather beautiful young woman and her husband were amongst the victims of an attack on the USA embassy that was led by a former Gitmo inmate.

This story has received very little attention from the MSM, and what is worse, is that journalists who are pro-closing of Guantanamo Bay without consideration as to what will happen to the present detainees have glossed over the fact that this girl is a Muslim who was killed in the attack – ditto for the civilians who were waiting to enter the gates of the embassy when the attack took place.

What is really intriguing about the story is that this girl’s family are involved in Jihad. Her father and an uncle were charged with supply material support to jihadists and her cousin is a man on the run from the USA because of his jihad activities. It seems that having family members who are involved is no guarantee that jihad will not strike in the family.

A more serious thing to consider though, is the role of Yemen in the ultra-right wing jihad attacks all over the world. Yemen might be a very poor country but it has spawned a large number of Jihadis. Some of Yemen’s jihadis have spent time in Gitmo, were rehabilitated and sent to Saudi Arabia for re-education, and from there they escaped and returned to their further activities. In attempting to deny this fact (that former Gitmo detainees have returned to the field) at least one journalist has attempted to cover up the story about the death of Susan Elbaneh. Yemen has also spawned a number of extremely hardline mufti (do not dare call these people clerics) such as Abu Bakr Bashir in Indonesia. From what I understand Al Qaeda got its beginnings in Yemen.

CAIR gloats over HLF mistrial but the celebration may be premature October 25, 2007

 

Jihad Watch: CAIR gloats over HLF mistrial, but the celebration may be premature
The HLF verdict ended up as a mistrial because of jurors changing their minds after the initial verdict was made (were they paid off or threatened?). CAIR and those who were placed on trial are celebrating what they see as a victory, but as Jihad Watch observes, the victory celebration might be a little bit premature:

CAIR gloats over HLF mistrial, but the celebration may be premature

“War is deception” is, of course, a quote from Muhammad himself. “Motion For Retrial,” from Investor’s Business Daily (thanks to Doc Washburn):

Trail Of Terror: The Council on American-Islamic Relations is cheering a mistrial in a major terror case as a “stunning defeat” for the U.S. government. But the celebration may be premature.

Federal prosecutors say they’ll retry the case against leaders of the Holy Land Foundation, the nation’s largest Muslim charity, which they accused of funneling more than $12 million to Hamas terrorists.

CAIR, an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, also cheered a similar outcome in a federal case against Muslim activist Sami al-Arian in Florida. As in the Holy Land case, jurors deadlocked on several terror counts. But prosecutors threatened a retrial and al-Arian later pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

He was defended by the same lawyer defending one of the accused Holy Land leaders, Ghassan Elashi, who happens to also be a founding member of CAIR.

Barring plea bargains, the U.S. will narrow its charges and refile them — hopefully with a new judge. U.S. District Judge Joe Fish barred key evidence helping prosecutors prove willful intent to support terror on the part of defendants.

For example, he threw out a dozen documents seized by the Israeli government in raids of Hamas fronts that would have tied the Dallas-based charity closer to the terror group. Fish also allowed defendants to intimidate jurors.

Not long after the trial opened, after a morning of testimony by government witnesses, a visibly angry Elashi shouted and pointed as jurors exited the courtroom for lunch. The judge scolded him for the outburst — which included a rant about “a Zionist conspiracy” — but decided not to kick him out of the courtroom.

[...]

No doubt they’ll streamline their evidence, highlighting the more powerful exhibits, including:

• FBI wiretaps of a meeting in Philadelphia between Holy Land and Hamas big shots in which Holy Land’s director is overheard scheming to disguise payments to Hamas as charity, noting that “war is deception.”

• Testimony from FBI agents that Holy Land flew Hamas clerics to the U.S. to help raise funds at mosques.

• Videos of a Holy Land defendant pretending to kill an Israeli during a Hamas fundraising skit held at one mosque.

• Key chains, videos and posters praising suicide bombers found inside the Hamas front “committees” that Holy Land helped bankroll.

The defendants also kept two sets of records at their Dallas offices — one in English, the other in Arabic — which they destroyed during the FBI’s probe.

Lawyers for the accused expect us to believe that all this suspicious activity was merely an attempt to help needy Palestinians with “vaccinations” and “rice.” Civil juries haven’t fallen for the subterfuge.

[...]

The evidence is clear. Now it’s up to the PC-plagued Justice Department to present it to jurors in a way that doesn’t make their eyes glaze over. Retry the case. Only this time, don’t try their patience.

How people seeking to tell the truth are treated on campus October 23, 2007

Speaker Nonie Darwish Says Female Students Are ?Hamas Trained?

Robert Stacy McCain blogging at The Washington Time?s Fishwrap sends this update on Nonie Darwish.

Nonie Darwish is an Arab-American writer and public speaker. She is the author of the book Now they Call Me Infidel; Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror. Nonie’s message is not about disloyalty but love for her culture of origin. She blames Arab leadership and the media for the endless rage and violence of the Arab street.
Phyllis Chesler describes how Nonie Darwish was treated by the the crowd at Wellesley College last week during her talk at Pajamas Media:

Last week, on October 18, 2007, our hero Darwish spoke at the all-female Wellesley College as the guest of Hillel on campus. She was not treated as a hero; then again, maybe she was, maybe her treatment is precisely how heroes are greeted on American campuses today.
About 80-100 students came. Far more Muslim than Jewish students came and ?so many? of the Muslim girls were wearing head-scarves.
According to Darwish, the female students in head-scarves did the following: As she spoke, they made exaggerated, ?mean girl? faces at her. They rolled their eyes, practiced ?disbelieving? facial expressions?did everything but stick out their tongues. And they continued to talk to each other in loud whispers while Darwish spoke: ?How can she tell such lies!? ?I was never, ever indoctrinated against Jews!? ?Can you believe what she is saying?? ?We do not call Jews pigs and apes, how can she lie about her own people??
In addition to the ?mean girl? faces and the continual loud whispering, one by one, at least four to five head-scarved girls, got up to leave the room during Darwish?s speech. This meant that each girl took two minutes to move to the end of her row, physically causing the other students to get up or twist aside, causing the entire room to look at the departing student, not at their invited guest?and then each girl did precisely the same thing when she returned two minutes later, presumably from a bathroom break.
They quadruple-teamed Darwish and did not stop until Darwish ended her lecture. Twenty to thirty minutes of soft-core, well-choreographed, goon squad behavior. ?They are Hamas-trained? says Darwish.
?And all the while,? Darwish says, ?the Jewish students cringed and cowered, so afraid that they might have hurt Muslim feelings. (Or rather, that the Muslims might physically hurt them afterwards. According to Darwish, one Jewish student told her that ?she ?was locking her door. I am scared.?)
She is probably right to be. During the Question and Answer period, many of the head-scarved students expressed calculated, injured outrage. ?How dare (Hillel) bring this woman to our campus? How dare she insult Islam, tell lies about Islam? etc. ?We are free under Islam, how can she deny this??
?Darwish concludes: ?Muslim girls like these are like gangsters. They know more about their rights in America than the Jewish girls do. The Muslim girls all have a chip on their shoulders.?
And then she is silent. Softly, she says: ?We are fighting an avalanche. We are too few. I am frightened by my culture of origin. I am scared of my own people.?

Nonie Darwish is speaking tonight at UC Berkeley. Andrew Marcus is filming the event and blogger Megan Sego from California Patriot Blog is in attendance.
This is cross-posted at Incorrect U.

Denmark grants asylum to Eritrean Christian. October 23, 2007

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Asylum for Eritrean gospel singer
She does not belong to one of the 4 recognized religious groups, but she belongs to the Evangelical Rema church. Helen Berhane is a Gospel singer and she was arrested in 2004 because she belongs to what is termed in Eritrea as an underground and illegal Church. After a lot of pressure was put on the Eritrean government to obtain her release, Helen Berhane escaped to Khartoum in the Sudan.
What is extraordinary about this story is that Helen Berhane and her daughter Eva applied for asylum in the UK in January, but after 7 months of waiting no decision had been made. Yet, it took the Danish officials one month to accept that Helen and Eva were genuine refugees.
After reading about the torture that Helen and thousands like her experienced in yet another Muslim country where there is such “tolerance” for Christians, one has to wonder what is wrong with the British officials. Helen has to use a wheel chair because of her injuries. This is totally scandalous and against all human rights. Here is some more of the story as posted by the BBCL

An Eritrean Christian gospel singer who was tortured and detained without charge for two years in her homeland has been granted asylum in Denmark.

Helen Berhane was imprisoned inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith.

Freed in December 2006, she took refuge in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, before being granted asylum.

Ms Berhane uses a wheelchair because of severe injuries to her legs and feet sustained in prison beatings.

More than 90% of Eritreans belong to one of four recognised religions – Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Churches and Islam.

All other religions were outlawed by a government decree passed in May 2001, though Jehovah’s Witnesses had been denied their rights as Eritrean citizens as early as 1994.

Helen Berhane is a member of the unregistered Rema Church and had just released a cassette of gospel music when she was arrested in the Eritrean capital on 13 May 2004.

She was one of an estimated 2,000 members of illegal evangelical church groups in Eritrea who have been arrested in recent years, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

Arbitrary detention

After an international campaign, she was released in December 2006 and fled with her sister to Sudan, fearing she could be killed to cover up what had happened to her at the Mai Serwa prison camp near Asmara.

Among the tortures she endured was the infamous “helicopter” position, in which the prisoner is placed face down with arms and legs tied behind the back.

Her account of the cruel and inhumane treatment she suffered is echoed by the testimony of hundreds of others persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Prisoners say they are routinely subjected to extremes of heat and cold, denied water and sanitation, according to testimony collected from exiles by Release Eritrea, an organisation that campaigns for the rights of religious minorities.

Ms Berhane’s daughter, Eva, who joined her in Khartoum, accompanied her to Copenhagen where the two were greeted by campaigners and well-wishers on Friday.

Dr Berhane Asmelash, Director of Release Eritrea, said: “We are relieved that Helen and Eva are finally safe and would like to thank everyone who has supported them.”

“We hope that Helen will now have the peace and space to recover her health and rebuild her life.”

Initially Helen Berhane applied to the United Kingdom for asylum and was interviewed by immigration officials at the British High Commission in Khartoum in January 2007.

Seven months later, with no decision on her case by the British, Ms Berhane sought help from Denmark which took one month to determine that she was a genuine asylum seeker.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: “We are thrilled that Helen has now finally found refuge for herself and her daughter after so many years of suffering.”

“We cannot forget, however, that 2000 other Christians still languish in Eritrean detention centres simply for holding on to their faith,” Mr Thomas said.

More information on the riots in Amsterdam October 21, 2007

 

With thanks to Gateway Pundit:

 

AMSTERDAM ? The man, who was shot by a police officer at the police station of the Amsterdam district Slotervaart and died shortly afterwards on Sunday, was in contact with members of the Hofstad terrorist organisation in 2005. It was Bilal Bajaka, a man of Moroccan descent living in Amsterdam. Chief public prosecutor Leo de Wit said this at a press conference on Monday.
The police and the General Intelligence and Security Service, AIVD had had consultations about Bilal B?s contacts with the Hofstad group, according to De Wit. “Several members of the Hofstad group were detained on 14 October 2005, two years ago yesterday. Bilal was heard as a witness and was scrutinised by the police. In October 2005, the public prosecutor discussed the possibility to ‘disturb’ Bilal B. but eventually it was decided that there was no reason for this at that moment.”
Bilal B. had been appearing in the police data bank since 1998. In that year he was involved in a serious violent offence. He attacked and wounded a person with a screwdriver. During the following years he has been involved in property offences. He belonged to the so-called hard core youths of Slotervaart and ended up in a prison cell on various occasions. From October 2003 he was serving a 15-month-prison sentence for a property offence. In the spring of 2007 it appeared that he had psychological problems.
Police chief Bernard Welten said at the press conference that the medical operations on the two injured police officers had been successful. The female police sergeant who had fired the shot, was stabbed in the chest and twice in the back. A pulmonary artery was hit and her lung was perforated. The bleeding was stopped and the perforation sealed. “Hence the operation can be said to be successful,” Welten said. “Her condition is satisfactory.”
Her male colleague was stabbed five times and had several cuts in his face and shoulders. An artery in his head was hit and was stitched. The stabbing of his throat was deep and the wind pipe was hit. “This colleague too is doing well given the circumstances,” Welten said..
B. appeared at the police station at around noon on Sunday and almost immediately jumped across the reception desk. He began stabbing away at the police officer on duty who was behind the desk. He stabbed her in the chest. She jumped up and tried to escape but the man ran after her and stabbed her twice again. A male colleague who rushed to help her was stabbed in the throat and shoulder, whereupon the female police officer got her gun and fired at the man. He succumbed to his wounds shortly afterwards.

Charles Johnson has more on the rioting that followed the brutal attack.
Klein Verzet is reporting more from Amsterdam.

Outside the police station things were hot. (Telegraaf)
Klein Verzet links Bilal to Theo van Gogh’s killer:

Local burgomaster Ahmed Marcouch said he sympathized with the jihadists family because they had to wait for nearly two years before their son could be treated for his ‘psychological’ problems. And newspaper Telegraaf now reports that while Bilal was in jail in 2003, Mohammed Bouyeri came and visited him. Mohammed Bouyeri was the jihadist who was in 2004 on a suicide mission slaughtering Theo van Gogh (although to his regret he did not got shot dead by the police).

Later, a news crew was attacked by youths while filming the trashed and torched cars from the rioting.
And, then of course, there is this:

It seems that Bilal has shouted in Arabic when he attacked the police officers. This could very well be something like “Allah Akbar”, but that’s something the Dutch authorities don’t want the public to know.

Cars burnt after Amsterdam death October 21, 2007

The BBC News has a follow up report on the riots in Amsterdam. It is interesting to note that they specify that it is a very small group of Moroccan youths who are behind the trouble. The 22 year old who was killed after stabbing two police officers at a police station had been treated for psychiatric problems. The BBC also reports that this particular man had been questioned over his links to extremist Islamists who were linked to the murder of Theo Van Gogh.

It really does beg the question as to whether the riots themselves were planned in advance, and it should be made clear that those involved in this particular case are very much a minority in Holland. Nevertheless, they are behaving in the same way as the extremists in both Brussells and Paris in previous years, and the fact that the riot has taken place after the close of Ramadan remains significant.

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