Jordanian Woman Attacks Harassers

AP ^ | September 22, 2002 | AP

[Tancred]

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - All that was missing was the Wonder Woman costume.

Witnesses say a Jordanian woman ripped off her enveloping black cloak and veil — to reveal a traditional long dress that was nearly as enveloping — and punched and kicked into submission three young men who had been verbally harassing her.

The official Petra News Agency reported Sunday that shopkeepers and passers-by believe the unidentified woman must have had martial arts training. In Friday's incident on the main street in Zarqa 13 miles north Amman, the three men were too shocked to react at first and ended up knocked to the ground, screaming in pain. They then scrambled up and fled.

The woman quoted the title of a song made famous by the late Egyptian star Umm Kalthoum — "patience has its limits" — before continuing on her way as a crowd cheered her.

Petra quoted witnesses as saying the three men had regularly directed obscenities at the woman as she walked in the area. It was not clear if they harassed other women as well.

[glc1173@aol.com]

Too bad she didn't have a Browning Hi-Power loaded with Speer Gold Dot.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Keep an eye out for this woman becoming a victim of an 'honor' crime.

[dennisw]

The 3 "men" were left on the ground screaming...Must have gotten kicked in the privates. By a burqa babe no less!

Hahahah.

[Clara Lou]

A Browning would be overkill, don't you think?? I'd say she was perfectly equipped to handle the situation and couldn't have done better. The young men are humiliated, and she's not under arrest for murder.

[Lil'freeper]

The young men are humiliated, and she's not under arrest for murder.

You can be stoned for far less than murder if you're a woman living under sharia. Her face was seen by men not of her family. That will merit some kind of punishment.

[Cicero]

The article says she's "unidentified." Let's hope the people who saw this are sympathetic enough to keep it that way officially.

To us, this story sounds both heroic and funny. But to an Arab, it would be threatening to everything they hold dear--including keeping women strictly in their place. Still, if the Arabs sympathized with Scherherazade, maybe they will sympathize with this young lady.

[Cultural Jihad]

You can be stoned for far less than murder if you're a woman living under sharia. Her face was seen by men not of her family. That will merit some kind of punishment.

Queen Rania wears no veil, and I doubt that the Kingdom of Jordan has sharia law.

[The FRugitive]

That will merit some kind of punishment.

I don't think so. Jordan is a very "liberal" arab country as it were.

[Alouette]

Jordan is a very "liberal" arab country as it were.

They only have three "honor killing" a week, instead of three every day.

[Lil'freeper]

Respectfully, your theory doesn't hold water.

Beatings and honor killings take place in the HOME- it does not matter what country that home happens to be in or what the laws of the land happen to be. If she was in an "enveloping black cloak and veil", obviously she was part of a household that observed islamic law. It is observed by muslims here in the US. Just a few weeks ago, there was an honor killing in New Jersey (In fact, I bumped that story to you on your atrocities thread). The man's family sheltered him from law enforcement because in their eyes he did nothing wrong!

People devoted to religion will find a way to practice it. This woman snapped and will likely get slapped. Veils are very useful for covering up bruises.

[The FRugitive]

I think your right, however, I think the gov't is less tollerant of that sort of thing in Jordan, at least officially to some degree, then in places like Saudi Arabia.

[The FRugitive]

I'm of Palestinian (Christian) ancestry and have lots of relatives in Jordan, particularly in Amman and my family owns bars and what not. So that's why I'm thinking it's not as oppresive as other Muslim nations.

But you're right a family could probably get away with oppressing their own.

[Lil'freeper]

All that being said, I would love to see Petra someday.

[The FRugitive]

Petra?

[Lil'freeper]

Petra! It's in Jordan.

[The FRugitive]

Oh, hehe. I'm not familiar with Petra, looks interesting.

When I was six years old (I'm 28 now) we went on a vacation in the middle east. We went to Amman, Jereuselem, Bethlehem (that's my family's home town, at the time I had family still living there) and also Lebanon where my mother is from.

I remember visiting the birth place of Jesus and also we saw Masada. I also remember vividly swimming in the dead sea.