The Jerusalem Post published a story, with pictures, of an honor killing of a 16-year-old girl that supposedly took place in Gaza. Then the story disappeared without explanation.
It turns out that the killings were real, but took place in Iraq, among the Yezidis, a strange neoplatonist, syncretic sect--and these same Yezidis were the targets of a horrendous massacre not too long ago.
I almost posted about the story, taking the reporter, Khaled Abu Toameh, presumably some sort of Arab, to be reliable. Eager to find horror in Gaza, the JP goofed big time. They ought to own up to it.
Meanwhile, very real "honor killings" of girls do happen all over the Middle East, and the killers almost invariably go unpunished.
HT: Roger Simon
UPDATE: To its credit, the JPost has owned up to the mistake, blaming a pro-Fatah propagandist.
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2 comments:
This appears to be the murder of the 17-year-old Kurdish girl, Du'a Khalil, in April 2007. It was captured on someone's mobile telephone. Since, at the time, it received such widespread publicity and condemnation, I'm a little surprised anyone who works in the media could've been duped into thinking it is a more recent murder from another venue.
And thank you for pointing out that these crimes continue to occur, some believe in increasing numbers. Some countries, such as Jordan and Syria, have penal code articles on the books that treat these murders as misdemeanors and the perpetrators with great leniency. In Jordan, for example, the average sentence is six months.
Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
"Reclaiming Honor in Jordan"
Honor killings are another terrible atrocity that fundamentalist thinking encourages.
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