Editor's Letter
To each sponsor,
volunteer and
guest...
thanks to you,
Honor By Killing?
T
hey are based on codes of morality and behavior
reinforced by fundamentalist precepts. They jolt
what's acceptable or right in the West.
And grisly as they are, they are seldom prosecuted.
What are they? Honor killings of Muslim females by Muslim
extremists — a practice civilized Muslims shun and condemn.
The killings total at least 5,000 a year
in Pakistan alone; worldwide numbers
are routinely underestimated. Most
estimates are little more than guesses,
says one of the leading experts on the
epidemic of honor killings.
"They differ from plain and psycho-
pathic homicides, killings, crimes of
passion, revenge killings and domestic
violence says Phyllis Chesler, a well-
Robert Sklar
credentialed New York author, psycho-
Editor
therapist and women's religious rights
and human rights activist. She has
taught at City University of New York, Haifa University and
Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan.
Her May 23 essay "Honor Killings" in the spring issue of
Daniel Pipes' Philadelphia-based Middle East Quarterly is a
compelling reminder of how honor derives from the cold-
blooded murder of Muslim women behaving in Western or
modern ways.
"Most honor killings are not classified as such:' writes
Chesler, who has lived in such worlds-apart places as Kabul
and Jerusalem.
In the Muslim world, convictions for such murders draw
relatively light sentences. In the West, many people, including
police, still balk at the label "honor killing:'
"In the West:' Chesler writes, "both Islamist
and feminist groups, including domestic vio-
lence activists, continue to insist that honor
killings are a form of Western-style domestic
violence or femicide [the killing of women]."
But, she insists, "They are not!"
SpringElation
was a huge
be intended as lessons for other female immigrants who are
expected to lead subordinate and segregated lives amid the
temptations and privileges of freedom:' Chesler writes.
That's especially true in Europe where large Muslim ghettos
have followed the Muslim population explosion over the past
20 years.
The "logic" — kill a few "wayward" females to keep the rest
in lockstep.
Radical Perpetrators
It is in the crucible of Islamism, the radicalized briar patch of
Islam, where what Chelser calls "the level of primal, sadistic
or barbaric savagery shown in honor killings toward a female
family member" takes on the elements of the Western murder
associated with serial killers against prostitutes or randomly
selected women.
What do intemperate interpretations of the Koran suggest?
That spurs of deadly aggression toward females include gen-
der separation; the devaluation of girls and women; normal-
ized child abuse including arranged child marriages of both
boys and girls; sexual repression; misogyny; and the demands
made by increased violent ideology of jihad.
Writes Chesler: "Honor killings are, in a sense, a form of
domestic terrorism, meant to ensure that Muslim women
wear the Islamic veil, have Muslim babies and mingle only
with other Muslims:'
Striking Back
Chesler gives reasoned recommendations for confronting honor
killings in the West. She calls on immigration, law enforce-
ment and religious leaders to spark education, prevention and
prosecution efforts in individual nations. She seeks shelters
for battered Muslim females and urges special
training so staff recognizes and understands
the nuances and lures of honor killing. She pro-
poses the equivalent of a federal witness protec-
tion program for intended targets and extended
safe surrogate family networks to replace exist-
ing corrupt family networks. She urges govern-
ment warnings for Muslim, Sikh and Hindu
Western Taboo
In the West and the East, according to Chesler,
immigrants and citizens. She says honor killers
Muslim females under extremist control are killed
and collaborators must be prosecuted and par-
for honor when they refuse to wear the hijab or
ticipating families must be rebuked.
opt to wear it improperly, when they express a
She's right: Islamist gender apartheid is a
Writer-Psyc hotherapist
desire to attend college, have careers or live inde-
human rights violation and cannot be justified
Phyllis Ches ler
pendently, when they have non-Muslim friends,
in the name of cultural relativism, tolerance,
including boyfriends, and when they choose their
anti-racism, diversity or political correctness.
own husbands, refuse to marry their first cousins or want to
Setting the stage for preventive action, Chesler writes: "As
leave an abusive spouse.
long as Islamist groups continue to deny, minimize or obfus-
"This Westernization trend also exists in Muslim countries,
cate the problem, and government and police officials accept
but to a lesser extent:' Chesler writes. Charges of unacceptable
their inaccurate versions of reality, women will continue to be
"Westernization" accounted for 44 percent of honor killings
killed for honor in the West?'
in the Muslim world as contrasted with 71 percent in Europe
Let there be no doubt: Westerners and civilized people
and 91 percent in North America.
everywhere must stand together to repel honor killings and
Western influence can literally be the kiss of death.
keep them from infesting civilized society.
"Tempted by Western ideas, desiring to assimilate and hop-
As Chesler puts it, "The battle for women's rights is central
ing to escape lives of subordination:' Chesler writes, "those
to the battle for Europe and for Western values."
girls and women who exercise their option to be Western are
killed — at early ages and in particularly gruesome ways."
0 •
The impact: Muslim females learn quickly what could hap-
Ci Are you aware of the practice of honor killings?
to
pen to them if they act on the temptation to do more than
I— 0
serve their fathers and brothers as domestic servants, marry
Z Z How can America help counter the frequency?
0 0
their first cousin and breed lots of children.
a. a-
"The deaths of females already living in the West also may
❑
success!
Your support
will impact
hundreds of
children with
disabilities and
their families
0
C
rum
• MINN
Eract_. 5arrierc.
30TH ANNUAL FUNDRAISER
S'a ✓ e the
pde
WEN
SIDE
STORY
40/z/ / 00
e FISHER
THEATRE
June 3 • 2 010
5