November 9, 2009 – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

R.E.A.L. Outreach to Public at CNN Washington DC on Extremist “Honor Killings”

On November 9, 2009, a week after the death of 20 year old Arizona woman Noor Almaleki, as a result of a “honor killing” by her father, Responsible for Equality And Liberty’s (R.E.A.L.) Jeffrey and Karen Imm held a public awareness outreach on the issue of extremist ideological violence as the basis for honor killings in front of CNN’s Washington DC Headquarters.

R.E.A.L.'s Public Awareness Outreach at CNN Washington DC Offices (820 First St. N.E., Washington, DC 20002)

We passed out fliers about the “honor killing” of Noor Almaleki stating that “ideological violence against women is terrorism,” and we spoke about the issue to the lunch time crowd in the plaza area around CNN’s DC offices. It was evident that many were completely unaware of her story. We urged the public to demand that CNN reports the entire story about the “honor killing” of Noor Almaleki – not the censored version that has thus far been reported by CNN.

In the case of the “honor killing” of Noor Almaleki, the family repeatedly told members of the Arizona press that the reason her father killed her was because of the Noor’s unwillingness to conform to her father’s extremist views, what they called “traditional Muslim values.”

While this was reported by the Arizona Republic and CBS-5, CNN has repeatedly ignored these reports, instead stating this was only due to the father and daughter’s differences over “Iraqi values.” (Note: the Alamalekis have been in America since the mid 1990s.)

We showed example on posters of the differences between the Arizona press and CNN reporting. We urged CNN to tell the rest of the story – so that the public can be informed and address this ideological threat to women’s freedoms before another American woman is killed for failing to submit to extremist views.

We urged our fellow Americans to remember that our shared freedoms for equality and liberty are the “truths that we hold self-evident,” and that no ideology of supremacism has the right to deny their universal human rights to our fellow Americans and our fellow human beings. We pointed out how Noor Almaleki’s friends were afraid to talk about why her father murdered her for fear that the same thing would happen to them. We made it clear that ideological violence to intimidate, to oppress, to deny freedoms — is nothing less than terrorism.

We urged the public to reject supremacist ideologies that seek to deny our human rights, and seek to terrorize women into submission. We also pointed out that while some wish to view such religious extremist violence against women as “isolated incidents,” they are in fact, all connected by this anti-freedom ideology.

We stated that just as we recognized racial violence and oppression in the 1960s (and even today) were not merely “isolated incidents,” but were all part of a larger ideological threat of racial supremacism — so today we must also report on and recognize the larger ideological threats to humanity today when it comes to extremist threats against freedom.

We said that we came to CNN’s Washington DC office to be a voice for those like Noor Almaleki who no longer have a voice to speak, and also to be a voice for people who are afraid or are being prevented from speaking.

We asked people to remember that these victims of “honor killings” are not just statistics, but are human beings.

Pointing to our poster with Noor Almaleki’s face, we urged the public to remember that all of these victims of ideological violence were special and unique individuals who were loved. Moreover, we stated that our human rights are not simply about vague ideas, but our human rights are the foundation of the lives of Noor Almaleki and so many others. We pointed out that our human rights have a face, an identity, and lives that are precious. We urged the public and the media not to forget the face of human rights, as these faces of human rights are also our faces as well, and those of our families, our neighbors, and our friends. We urged the public never to forget the faces of human rights, and our responsibility to each other to defend equality and liberty.

Karen Imm spoke about other American victims of extremist “honor killings,” who are other women who could not speak for themselves today. Karen and Jeffrey spoke about extremist “honor killings” of Amina and Sarah Said in Dallas, of Sandeela Kanwal in Georgia, in of Methal Dayem in Cleveland, in Tina Isa in Indianapolis, and of suspected “honor killing” of Aasiya Zubair Hassan in Buffalo.

Amina and Sarah Said - Victims of "Honor Killings" in Texas

Sandeela Kanwa - Victim of "Honor Killing" in Georgia

Methal Dayem - Victim of "Honor Killing" in Cleveland, Ohio

Tina Isa - Victim of "Honor Killing" in Indianapolis

Aasiya Zubair Hassan - Suspected Victim of "Honor Killing" in Buffalo, NY

All of these American victims of extremist “honor killings” or threats of such ideological violence are the result of our nation’s and our media’s unwillingness to address the religious extremist ideological basis behind such violence, instead of viewing such terrorism against women as merely “isolated incidents.”

Jeffrey Imm also spoke of those who report that they have been threatened with harm, such as Rifqa Bary, in Columbus.

Rifqa Bary, 17 - reports say she is threatened with death by her family in Ohio for converting from Islam to Christianity

He asked the public if our media and our nation continues to ignore such terrorist threats and violence against women, who will be next?

Jeffrey Imm asked “How many more have to die before we decide to be responsible for our fundamental human rights and freedoms, and before we decide to be responsible for equality and liberty of women in America and around the world?”

Other Reports:

Why Religious Extremist Honor Killings Represent Ideological Violence Against Women

Facebook Page: “R.I.P Noor Faleh Almaleki”

Arizona: Terrorism Against Women — Noor Almaleki Just Wanted To Be Normal

Arizona — Noor Almaleki “Honor Killing”: Hassan Almaleki Arraignment Delayed, On Suicide Watch

Arizona — Noor Almaleki Honor Killing: Father To Be Arraigned, Face New Charges

Arizona: Woman in Suspected “Honor Killing” Dies — 20 Year Old Noor Almaleki

Arizona — Noor Almaleki Case: Arizona Jails Father in ‘Honor Killing’ Try

Arizona: Noor Almaleki Case — Father in “Honor Killing” Attempt Captured in UK — Extradited Back to US

Arizona — Noor Almaleki case: Family Says Noor Almaleki “Failed to Live by Traditional Muslim Values” — Woman in Critical Condition in Alleged “Honor Killing” Attempt

Arizona: Noor Almaleki’s Lifestyle may have put woman in hospital

Arizona: Father runs down daughter in Peoria parking lot — Noor Faleh Almaleki attacked for being “too westernized”

=====================

Rifqa Bary Support Web Site

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

R.E.A.L. Blog Reports on Extremist Oppression and Violence Against Women

R.E.A.L. — Save Women Now

R.E.A.L. Petition on Extremist Violence and Oppression of Women

World Gender Gap Worst in Islamic Nations — Survey Shows Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Egypt, Turkey at Bottom of List

U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 and Gender Imbalance in Human Trafficking

R.E.A.L. Blog Reports on Extremism

Why Honor Killings Represent Ideological Violence Against Women

In Arizona, a week ago today, 20 year old woman Noor Almaleki died.

Some have reported that her murder by her father was another instance of unfortunate domestic violence. But the fact is that her murder was another instance of an ideological violence against women that we must challenge as a threat to our universal human rights here and around the world.

: 20 Year Old Noor Almaleki – Died on November 2, 2009 – A Victim of An Ideological Violence Against Women

Such acts of violence against women based on an ideology are more than “isolated incidents.” Such ideological violence is a human rights challenge that defies our universal human rights. Many seek to dismiss an ideological femicide to oppress women by explaining away such violence based on ignorance, cultural backwardness, or “tribal traditions.” Moreover, others point to the fact that “honor killings” are also performed by other identity groups around the world, which is absolutely true.

But in the case of the murder of Noor Almaleki on November 2, the family repeatedly told members of the Arizona press that the reason why her father murdered her had to do with his religious extremist views on what they called “traditional Muslim values.” This was the reason explained for her father’s willingness to murder her.

While the Arizona Republic and CBS-5 specifically and repeatedly quote both Noor Almaleki’s family and brother as explaining her death based on her failure “to live by traditional Muslim values,” CNN has repeatedly ignored these reports and reports her death due to “Iraqi values.” It ignores such reports by Arizona media, even when the Almalekis moved to the United States 15 years ago.

We ask CNN to review this story and report all of the facts so that the public can be informed, and so that others can challenge the Almaleki family’s allegations that “traditional Muslim values” prohibit freedom for women, including Noor Almaleki.

Extremist-rationalized “honor killings” are different than other domestic violence and violence against women, and until the basis for such ideological violence against women is recognized and discussed, we cannot prevent such violence from continuing and spreading. We must call for the mainstream media to start connecting the dots and doing the research on the ideological basis behind such violence and report this to the American people.

There is a distinct and global misogynist extremist challenge to women that we repeatedly see from those who rationalize such misogyny with an extremist ideology towards human rights. We cannot continue to ignore the ideological basis behind such extremist violence. Over and over, the perpetrators and those involved with such violence make reference specifically to extremist views towards human rights.

Noor Almaleki is not the first such ideological “honor killing” in the United States. There have been others in Dallas, in Georgia, in Cleveland, in Indianapolis, and one suspected in Buffalo. There are others who report that they have been threatened with harm, such as Rifqa Bary, in Columbus. Such ideological violence against girls and women in the United States is the tip of the iceberg of thousands of such women murdered with such ideological rationalization around the world as we have reported.

Such ideological “honor killings” are just one more link in a larger extremist rationalized ideological chain that seeks to oppress women around the world, not only to deny them equality, but to intimidate and subjugate them to being less than human – not entitled to human rights at all, but only granted privileges to serve those who would oppress them. We see this not only in the ideological “honor killings,” but also in the recent Global Gender Gap index which illustrates the hundreds of millions of women in predominantly Islamic countries that live under oppression today – many of the same countries that are the worst offenders of human trafficking. At our blog, we have endless reports of one abuse after another and another based on an ideological oppression of women rationalized by extremism.

Such ideological “honor killings” are not crimes of passion or crimes of tribal tradition. They are acts of ideological violence intended to remind women of their position of servitude and submission to those extremists who believe they are women’s “masters.” As we call for the improvement for human rights for all women around the world, as Americans we must also demand that the truth be told about those who seek to promote ideological hate and oppression against women in our country today. We must continue to demand that our media report on this issue to inform our citizens and to put pressure on our government to take action – to demand that such ideological violence against women ends.

When we see other ideological violence intended to provoke fear and intimidate others, we have a name for it: “terrorism.” We won’t see such ideological violence and oppression against women addressed by counterterrorism organizations – that focus on who, what, where, and when – but have decided to leave the issue of why regarding ideological violence occurs… to someone else.

That someone else is us. That is our challenge in being Responsible for Equality And Liberty – to speak for those who can’t speak any more and to speak for the oppressed who live in fear to speak out for their universal human rights — including those in America today. Noor Almaleki’s friends feared speaking to reporters for fear of what would happen to them. That is the terrorism against women – too common around the world – that continues to find its way to America. This is the same terrorism against women that our news media refuses to effectively report on. The is the same terrorism against women that our government refuses to act on. We must demand that our media recognize such terrorism against women for what it is and to recognize and defy those extremist ideologies that seek our silence.