Islamaphobia strikes again…
November 24th, 2006 | by Craig R. Harmon |Al-Turki, a linguistics doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado at Boulder, now faces up to life in prison at his sentencing Aug. 31.Authorities say for four years Al-Turki kept the 24-year-old Indonesian woman as a slave in the family home, forcing her to cook and clean and take care of the family and their five children with little pay. Prosecutors say Al-Turki eventually intimidated the woman into sex acts that culminated in her rape in late 2004.
The defense said many of the allegations were simply misconstrued cultural differences, or what attorney John Richilano called “cynical Islamaphobia.”
Yeh…somebody misconstrued cultural differences here but it wasn’t the jury.
Apparently, the Saudi Royals have a hard time comprehending how a man who keeps a sex slave in his home can be convicted of what the convicted man calls “basic Muslim behaviors”. We just don’t understand, you see, and so we convict perfectly innocent Muslims for kidnap, human bondage, rape and so forth. It’s our fault, you see.
Well, anyway, not everyone agrees.
11 Responses to “Islamaphobia strikes again…”
By Jersey McJones on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Well, Craig, how did you feel about the rescue of Kuwait in the Gulf War?
JMJ
By Craig R. Harmon on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
What’s the relevance of your question to whether kidnap, enslavement and rape is criminal behavior or common Muslim cultural practice? I don’t see the point of your question.
By Jersey McJones on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
I have a friend who married an Indian girl many years ago. She had a bunch of sisters - not economically good news for an agrarian family from Goa. The sisters wound up in different places around the world. She came to America and married my friend and made out okay. One of here sisters wound up in Kuwait. There she was kept as a sex slave until she managed to escape to Brazil with her sisters’ monetary and logistical assistance. Kuwait is infamous for this. Yound Indian and Filipino gorls are kept as servants and slaves in the many harems of Kuwait, and some of the other kingdoms that were helped along the way by Britain and America to act as stabile little Switzerlands in the Middle East. They broker and mediate political and business deals, oil supplies, etc. Meanwhile, they retain their old aristocratic habits like keeping slaves and calling them “wives.” This was illegal in Saddam’s Iraq, by the way.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, and other of these little Kingdoms owe their existance to Britain, America and France. Were it not for us, these monarchies would have been crushed years ago by student revolutionaries, military juntas and clerical militias, as in Iran, Iraq, and other countries. Now, granted, these other goevrnments don’t offer much in the way of confidence in their overall human rights agendas, but at least sex slavery is outlawed in those places. It also goes to show that such practices are not “basic Muslim behaviors,” but rather the behavior borne of the unearned, unchecked power of monarchic rulers.
That’s all.
JMJ
By Jersey McJones on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Oh, and these barbaric traditions far predate Islam…
JMJ
By Craig R. Harmon on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Obviously, from my treatment of this in the post, such behavior disgusts me. It is bad enough when practiced in their own cultures. We certainly don’t need to condone it in ours and the more firmly we make it clear, through litigation, that practices such as this will not be tolerated, the better. If Muslims who wish to practice this and other behaviors that we find abhorrent don’t like that we don’t allow them to practice their customs here, they are certainly free to leave.
In many Western countries where Muslims have become large minorities, they have asked to be allowed to try cases, particularly family law cases, within their own communities according to Sharia law. This must never happen here. We must not allow it. The law here in America needs to be the same for everyone, cases need to be tried according to secular law and be applied consistently. We cannot allow Muslim enclaves insulated from the wider society to become mini Islamic states within our secular society. Muslims who come here must accept our concepts of freedom and rights of women and so forth.
This behavior in places like Kuwait and elsewhere I consider wrong. I don’t like us propping up the House of Saud and others but I don’t see any immediate alternative. We need the oil and will for some time yet and we cannot afford having the Saudis and others turning down the tap on oil production.
How did I feel about thumping Saddam after his land grab? I felt just fine about it. Saddam needed a thumping and he earned it. Do I need to agree with every cultural practice carried on in these Islamic states in order to agree with giving Saddam a thumping that he richly deserved? I don’t think so. I think I can deplore the way women are treated in Islamic states AND think that Saddam deserved a good thumping. I am of the opinion that we should have finished the thumping back in ‘91 rather than just running him out of Kuwait.
I do agree that what this man did was not behavior that is basic to all Islam. That is to say, I don’t think that all Muslims think that what this man did was just fine and dandy and wonder what the problem is. I also recognize that it is basic Muslim behavior in many Islamic cultures. I can’t, unfortunately, correct all Islamic cultures. I can applaud when our own culture stands up for people’s rights and convicts these behaviors when people try to pull them here in our country. And I can belittle the Saudis when they wonder how we can convict a man who acts in our society the way this man has acted.
By Craig R. Harmon on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Also, I recognize that these practices predate Islam. Too bad so much of Islamic practices still mirror ancient practices that demean people rather than free and empower them.
By Jersey McJones on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Oh, I’m with you that the behavior should be vigorously prosecuted where possible. I disagree with you that we have to depend on propping up disgusting monarchies for oil. That’s selling your soul to the Devil for greed. As for Kuwait, we should have left it to the Iraqis. Firstly, because we obviously suckered him into the conflict. Secondly, because we owed him big time after the Iran/Iraq war fiasco. Thirdly, because the Kuwaitis deserved it.
As for Islam doing little to help Islamic peoples reach up out of their past, you could say exactly the same thing about all Monotheism. And don’t forget, Islam has lifted many peoples as well, just as Christianity and Judaism have.
JMJ
By Craig R. Harmon on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Well we disagree on a lot of things but most of them are pretty remote from the post, on which we seem to agree to a large degree. I think I’ll leave it at that. I’ve gotten a migraine and the whole thought process gets pretty cloudy during them.
Take it easy.
By Jersey McJones on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Migraines, huh? Hm. Have you tried a little greeny? I find it makes aches worse but some people say it’s great for migraines (I never had one, I think. I mean, I think I’d know it if I did.). I miss greeny. Been a while. What about sinuses? I know sinus structure problems can cause a lot of misery. Try those nasal strips. As an snorer/singer I find them invaluable. They might help. Don’t get me wrong though. I’m still an asshole, dammit!.
JMJ
By Craig R. Harmon on Nov 26, 2006 | Reply
A little greeny? Is that code for marijuana or what?
I’ve seen doctors and neurologists. I’ve had brain scans and tests. Nobody knows
the trouble I’ve seenwhat causes them but that’s not terribly unusual, as I understand it.By Jersey McJones on Nov 26, 2006 | Reply
Yeah, migraines are a mysteryup there with the common cold but a helluva lot more painful. I’ve heard it described as sever back pain of the brwin. I can relate to that. But even I’m luck. I’ve got it in the upper back. I heard the lower back is much worse than the upper. Yeah, pot. Have you tried that when get migraines? Yeah, I’m sure you have. I suppose you’d try anything to get rid of them. Hey, how about accupuncture? They say that stuff’s a real miracle worker.
JMJ