Posted on 10/23/2006 2:35:38 PM PDT by HitmanLV
I used to look at veiled women as quiet, oppressed creatures -- until I was captured by the Taliban. In September 2001, just 15 days after the terrorist attacks on the United States, I snuck into Afghanistan, clad in a head-to-toe blue burqa, intending to write a newspaper account of life under the repressive regime. Instead, I was discovered, arrested and detained for 10 days. I spat and swore at my captors; they called me a "bad" woman but let me go after I promised to read the Koran and study Islam. (Frankly, I'm not sure who was happier when I was freed -- they or I.)
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
From her wikipedia article:
In particular surrounding her apparent support for suicide bombings, which she calls "martyrdom operations." She says, "I hate the term 'suicide bombers' it's an offensive term which was invented by the West to ridicule what many people regard as 'martyrdom operations' and you have to look at each one in context.
****
Sick. Then sicker. Creepy, even for someone writing in the Post.
Yvonne Ridley is a member of George Galloway’s RESPECT party, and has written numerous essays defending Islamic terrorism. She described those murdered in last year’s terrorist attacks in Jordan as “collaborators.” She wrote, “I think I’d rather put up with a brother like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi any day than have a traitor or sell-out for a father, son or grandfather.” She described Shamil Basaev, the mastermind of the massacre of Russian school children at Beslan, as “a Shaheed,” or martyr. She was fired by Al Jazeera because she was too extreme even for them.
This is mainstream media at its absolute worst, promoting the propaganda of radical Islamists without even a hint of context. If they’re going to publish this crap, at the very least they should tell us who is writing it. What the hell is wrong with the Washington Post?
The Post’s ombudsman is Deborah Howell, and she can be reached at 202-334-7582 or at ombudsman@washpost.com. Contact the Washington Post and let them know what you think about this outrage.
I guess in her case Clothes make the woman
TT
Yet this loon posits that it should command deference and respect.
Uh huh, just until the wind blows, an ankle shows, and the stones begin to fly.
I believe that deep down, all women, regardless of their ability to be independent, want to be protected. They want a man (husband) to protect them, defend them, and care deeply for them. IMO, women who choose to wear the veil do it in order to make themselves vulnerable and, therefore, require protection. It is a twisted way to accomplish what most women want.
I won't spend time refuting every little lie and distortion in this article, let me just point this out:
Under Islam, I am respected. It tells me that I have a right to an education and that it is my duty to seek out knowledge, regardless of whether I am single or married. Nowhere in the framework of Islam are we told that women must wash, clean or cook for men. As for how Muslim men are allowed to beat their wives -- it's simply not true. Critics of Islam will quote random Koranic verses or hadith, but usually out of context. If a man does raise a finger against his wife, he is not allowed to leave a mark on her body, which is the Koran's way of saying, "Don't beat your wife, stupid."
Where was she when the Taliban raped and killed little girls for going to school and trying to learn? They even murdered the female teachers.
She talks about National Domestic Violence Hotline survey in America. Doesn't she know that it would be impossible to have a National Domestic Violence Hotline in the Arab word, let alone a survey? I don't think this woman is ignorant of these facts since she's a westerner, but perhaps she has ulterior motives for promoting Islam.
Freedom of expression, which she enjoys in Britain, is a Western value - something the Islamic world doesn't recognize. Their codes of behavioral conduct come from the Koran, and their assertions of right and wrong is relative - no matter what the situation, males usually have the advantage.
A final note:
I was a Western feminist for many years, but I've discovered that Muslim feminists are more radical than their secular counterparts. We hate those ghastly beauty pageants, and tried to stop laughing in 2003 when judges of the Miss Earth competition hailed the emergence of a bikini-clad Miss Afghanistan, Vida Samadzai, as a giant leap for women's liberation. They even gave Samadzai a special award for "representing the victory of women's rights."
If she's so happy with her new found religion, which totally repudiates this type of behavior, what is she (and her Muslim feminist friends) doing watching bikini-clad beauty pageants? I guess her declaration of “we hate those ghastly beauty pageants” was an honest slip that reveals these women's repressions and frustrations.
One positive aspect of Islam:
It helps us to "spot the looney".
With much respect, Mrs. Ivan...
People who post bogus posts are scum. I know you were trying to do some "investigative reporting," but people who post that way on FR are cancer.
I am sorry...but posting bogus posts is disrespectful of all of us online (everywhere!).
From the "Ask Ali" column;
Q: What do you tell a Muslim wife with two black eyes?
A: Nothing. You've told her twice already.
I think that says it all.
"A careful reading of the Koran shows that just about everything that Western feminists fought for in the 1970s was available to Muslim women 1,400 years ago. Women in Islam are considered equal to men in spirituality, education and worth, and a woman's gift for childbirth and child-rearing is regarded as a positive attribute."
Wow. Just wow.
Bill
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