Daughter raped by brothers, murdered by mother
'Thousands of women have been killed in the name of honor'
Posted: November 18, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
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.
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| User: "Gerald" |
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| Title: Re: This is the mentality that we are up against |
18 Nov 2003 04:30:19 PM |
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In article <20031118094606.12054.00000355@mb-m26.aol.com>, TonyZ2001 says...
Daughter raped by brothers, murdered by mother
'Thousands of women have been killed in the name of honor'
Posted: November 18, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
The fruits of Islam have now come to the Christian nations. Our strange
politicians have a responsibility to prevent Muslims from coming into the US but
they are blind to the danger of these corrupt cultures. The Muslims have a high
growth rate while Christians do good to sustain themselves. Again, Mohammad is
the False Prophet. Allah is another name for Satan, or Lucifer if you will.
Don't count on W to have awareness, all he could think of when we were under
attack was scurrying to Louisiana and then to Nebraska. After that his command
decisions were to get the Bib Ladens and members of the Saud out of the US
before the FBI could question them. Some leadership.
Gerald
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| User: "Leigh_Bee" |
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| Title: Re: This is the mentality that we are up against |
19 Nov 2003 04:49:05 AM |
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Gerald <Gerald_member@newsguy.com> wrote in message news:<bpe6hr01qna@drn.newsguy.com>...
In article <20031118094606.12054.00000355@mb-m26.aol.com>, TonyZ2001 says...
Daughter raped by brothers, murdered by mother
'Thousands of women have been killed in the name of honor'
Posted: November 18, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
The fruits of Islam have now come to the Christian nations. Our strange
politicians have a responsibility to prevent Muslims from coming into the US but
they are blind to the danger of these corrupt cultures. The Muslims have a high
growth rate while Christians do good to sustain themselves. Again, Mohammad is
the False Prophet. Allah is another name for Satan, or Lucifer if you will.
Don't count on W to have awareness, all he could think of when we were under
attack was scurrying to Louisiana and then to Nebraska. After that his command
decisions were to get the Bib Ladens and members of the Saud out of the US
before the FBI could question them. Some leadership.
Gerald
Brother thou art blind to mass ignorance, these things have remained
the same for at least 1200 years, they have not been able to pull
themselves out of the mire, due to a rather strong oppression from
above [read ruling elite] and that is why things stay the same.
As to the others, well we have to have folk we can do business with
now, can't we?
LB
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