New York: Moderate Muslim wife beheader says the beheading was justified because his wife was mean to him

Muzzammil Hasan: Islamic supremacist wuss. Note the typical Islamic supremacist shifting of blame and responsibility to the victim.

This was mentioned in this post, but this story highlights it, and it is worth highlighting this absurdity: "NY man accused of beheading claims he was battered," by Carolyn Thompson for The Associated Press, January 22

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The founder of an Islam-oriented television station who is accused of beheading his wife was abused by her for years, according to his lawyer, who said Friday he will pursue a defense combining that justification as well as psychiatric claims.

Defense attorneys' claims that Muzzammil Hassan was victimized by his wife drew a blunt response from District Attorney Frank Sedita after a hearing Friday.

"He chopped her head off," Sedita said. "He chopped her head off. That's all I have to say about Mr. Hassan's apparent defense that he was a battered spouse."...

"The spouse was the dominant figure in this relationship," attorney Frank Bogulski said outside the courtroom. "He was the victim. She was verbally abusive. She had humiliated him."

Nancy Sanders, a former news director at Bridges TV, was skeptical of the abuse claim, noting the stocky Hassan stood over 6 feet tall and "filled a doorway," while Aasiya was slender and several inches shorter.

"I never ever heard her disparage him in the workplace at all," Sanders said. "It just did not seem to be in her nature. She was very gentle."...

A comment at the Houston Chronicle's posting of this AP story sums up Hassan's defense: "I heard that even to the end the wife was abusing him. For example, the bones in her neck gave him some bad scratches while he was hacking her head off."

With thanks to JihadWatch

Gaza: 77% of women experience abuse

Qur'an 4:34: "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them."

No matter how apologists attempt to spin the beatings as a last resort (as if it would be acceptable then), the bottom line is that Allah says a man can hit the women under his control. These are the consequences of the letter and spirit of the law.

"Report: 77% of Gaza women face violence," by Rachel Kliger for The Media Line, December 29

The vast majority of women in Gaza face violence of varying types, a new survey has found.

The study, by the Gaza-based Palestinian Women's Information and Media Center, found that violence against women in Gaza has increased since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in the June 2007 coup and Israel subsequently imposed restrictions on the coastal enclave.

The study found that 77.1% of Gazan women have experienced violence of various sorts, with almost half experiencing violence of more than one type.

A quarter of the women said they do not feel safe in their own homes because of violence and more than a third said they were unable to fight back as they had more urgent priorities to deal with.

7% of the women surveyed said they had encountered verbal violence, 71% mental violence, 52% physical violence and more than 14% sexual violence.

"I think the levels [of violence] are higher than they were in the Gaza Strip in previous years and compared to other countries, the rates are certainly higher," Huda Hamouda, Director of the PWIC told The Media Line. "It's hard to imagine a family living in dignity when seven family members are living on less than three dollars a day."

"Many say they suffer from disrespect and deprecation," Hamouda said. "There's also domestic violence, which is committed by relatives such as the father, the brother or the husband."

Even this, Hamouda tries to pin on Israel. But it wasn't Israel who put verse 4:34 in the Qur'an; there are also similar statistics for domestic abuse elsewhere in the Muslim world. Did Israel do that, too?

With thanks to JihadWatch

Citizenship guide says no to 'barbaric' cultural practices

OTTAWA — A new citizenship guide for potential immigrants to Canada flatly declares that new Canadians cannot engage in "barbaric" cultural practices such as genital mutilation and "honour killings."

The new guide, released Thursday by Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, says in a section called "Equality of Women and Men" that such practices are illegal and severely punishable under Canada's criminal laws.

"Multiculturalism doesn't mean that anything goes. Multiculturalism means that we celebrate what's best about our backgrounds, but we do so on the basis of common Canadian values and respect for our laws," said Kenney.

"It's no secret that we've seen instances of culturally rooted abuse of women, so-called 'honour killings,' forced marriages, and spousal abuse, and even female genital mutilation. We want to make sure that people understand that multiculturalism doesn't create an excuse to engage in those barbaric cultural practices."

The updated guide, called Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, also puts greater emphasis on the obligations of citizenship, such as getting a job, as well as military history.

Kenney said it is a significant improvement from the 1997 Liberal version.

"When you become a citizen, you're not just getting a travel document into hotel Canada," said Kenney. "You are inheriting a set of responsibilities, of obligations, as a citizen. And we will expect you to fulfil certain responsibilities, as a citizen. And I think to a certain extent that wasn't sufficiently emphasized in the old guide."

Discover Canada also delves into Canada's historical — and sometimes controversial — past, through mention of the Hudson's Bay Company's trading rights, the War of 1812, the Rebellions of 1837-38, Confederation, Louis Riel's armed uprisings, the Quiet Revolution and Quebec sovereignty. The guide goes on to expound on the world wars, including an explanation of Remembrance Day and the poppy, all of which is prefaced at the beginning of the guide in a section called Defending Canada.

"There is no compulsory military service in Canada. However, serving in the regular Canadian Forces (navy, army, and air force) is a noble way to contribute to Canada and make an excellent career choice," reads the guide.

Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Montreal-based think-tank Association for Canadian Studies, says the new citizenship document represents a clear victory for the "well intentioned" proponents of Canada's military history, who have long argued that the country's pivotal participation in the two world wars should occupy a more central place in our national identity.

But he says a recent Canada-wide survey by ACS highlights the limits of touting Canada's achievements in the First World War and Second World War as a way to strengthen citizens' sense of belonging in a country with such diverse experiences of those epic conflicts.

Read more,,,,

Source: Canada.Com

Plea to police over female officers

Wafa Issa

The head of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children yesterday appealed to the police to ensure victims of domestic violence and human trafficking were dealt with by female officers.

Afra al Basti made the call to Dubai Police at a two-day workshop aimed at giving officers the skills to spot and help victims of abuse, both women and children.

She said it was vital to have female officers present when victims were interviewed and called on the force to have more policewomen in place to do so.

“To have female officers is essential in the context of domestic abuse and human trafficking, because these women need to talk about very sensitive issues,” said Ms al Basti.

She said many female victims would be further traumatised by having to reveal details of abuse to a male officer, and that the fear of having to do so could even discourage them from seeking help in the first place.

This, said Ms al Basti, was especially true in UAE society where “women are not used to recounting details of their lives to men”.

Having female officers handle cases of domestic violence and human trafficking would encourage victims to contact the police more readily, Ms al Basti said.

She added that the environment within police stations themselves needed to appear less threatening, so victims seeking help would not be put off.

Read more here,,,,

Source: The National

Gulf labour laws fail to halt abuse

By Charles Stratford

Every year thousands of women arrive in the Gulf to take up jobs as domestic workers.

The majority of them leave behind their families on a huge financial gamble to try to earn enough in remittances.

But behind closed doors, in the homes of their employers, some find themselves trapped in a cycle of horrific abuse.

Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford spoke to one housemaid, Mary, who suffered two years of abuse in the United Arab Emirates.

Two and a half years ago, Mary left her family in East Africa to work as a maid in a private house in the Middle East.

"The beatings started on the second day," she said. "No day passed without beatings. If she didn't beat me in the day she would beat me at night."

One day she was ordered to have sex with another maid. When she refused, her employer threatened her with more beatings.

"She said the law was in her favour. Not in mine," Mary said.

Simel Esim, a specialist in domestic worker abuse at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said the workers are simply not protected by labour laws.

"Domestic workers ... are excluded from unionising and organising around the globe," she said.

"[This] kind of economic infrastructure [in the Gulf] has created a huge inflow of labour migration that requires immediate and urgent attention.

"The sponsorship system ... The way it is set up, it is bound to fail.

"You are attaching a person's legal status, visa status and employment to one person as the employer and also the provider of housing, food and health care.

"It creates total dependency and total dependency means total vulnerability and opens the door wide for abuse and exploitation."

Mary left her country determined to earn money for her family. But two years later, she is horrified at the prospect of her family knowing about her suffering.

"How can I go back home with this body? My mother is sick," she said. "If she sees me like this she will die of shock. I am so ashamed to see my friends. Even now I feel shame."

Source: Al Jazeera (English)

Afghan women hiding for their lives

Nearly 90 percent of Afghan women suffer from domestic abuse, according to the U.N.

Shameen's brown eyes seem lost as she thinks about the one day she wants to forget, but it is all she can think about.

Still traumatized, she recounts the events that led her to a safe house in Kabul.

She was raped and nearly stabbed to death by her husband just seven days before we met her.

Her lips are quivering and her eyes full of fear.

"He forced himself on me," she said. "All I could do was scream."

She was married off 15 years ago when she was a teenager.

Throughout those years she was tortured and abused, suffering daily beatings with an electrical wire or the metal end of a hammer.

This was her normal life.

"He chased after me with a hammer. He said if I made any noise he would put holes through me," Shameen said.

Shameen and her husband could not conceive a child. And in Afghan society, it seems, the blame always falls on the woman.

After one severe beating, she ran from her home and to the police station. Her husband promised the police he would not attack her anymore, so she gave in and agreed to go back home with him.

Days later, Shameen's husband took her on a trip to visit her sister's grave -- a 15-year-old sister who was burned to death for displeasing her husband.

Shameen says her younger sister was 11 years old when she was forced to marry an older man. He would beat and abuse her until one day he killed her.

Read more at CNN

H/T: WomenAgainstSharia

Hollywood MIA on Abuse in Islam

By Gary Bauer

Hollywood rarely shies away from delving into politics, and it routinely rewards films that comport with its political worldview. It couldn’t get enough of Michael Moore’s screeds against guns and “Bush’s war,” and it warmed up nicely to Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth. This year, Hollywood celebrated Che, the sympathetic biopic about the Castro lieutenant, mass murderer and cult hero to leftwing radicals.

But Hollywood’s favorite political film this year was Milk, which chronicles the life of slain gay rights advocate Harvey Milk. For his portrayal of Milk, Sean Penn won the Best Actor award at this year’s Academy Awards. Taking the stage to accept his Oscar last weekend, Penn started in on a rant over the passage of Proposition 8, California’s marriage protection amendment. He said, in part:

“... I think it’s a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.”

Putting aside the ridiculousness of Sean Penn, a man who holidays with tyrants like Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro, advising others to “sit and reflect on their great shame,” there is a larger point. Given how often Hollywood sees fit to rail against this or that perceived political or social injustice, there is one area about which Hollywood has remained conspicuously silent: the brutality of radical Islam.

Not only has the film industry consciously avoided using Muslim characters in its many films about war and terrorism, Hollywood has also been missing in action when it comes to speaking out against some Muslims’ unacceptable views on gays and women. Read more ...

Source: Human Events