On November 16, 2009, members of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center extended their activities from Florida to Ohio attacking Islam as attendees at an event led by others which was reportedly intended to address religious freedom in Columbus, Ohio, in the case of Rifqa Bary, who states that she has been threatened for converting from Islam to Christianity.
We object to Dove World Outreach Center’s tactics as counterproductive and objectionable to the cause of promoting human rights and religious freedom.
At the November 16 Columbus event, we have been told that attendees came from: “Wisconsin, Toronto, California… Michigan, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana.” Although we were not in attendance at the November 16 event, we recognize the challenges that any event organizers might in having a consistent message from diverse members of the public from different parts of the country.
R.E.A.L.'s Human Rights Approach to Public Outreach and Dialogue in Columbus - November 13
We support universal human rights, including freedom of religion, for all people – as well as supporting human dignity and respect as fundamental human rights as well. During our November 13 public outreach event, we talked to a number of local Columbus individuals who were Muslims who listened to our concerns on human rights issues and politely debated us on some points.
Our point was that all human beings deserve our universal human rights, regardless of their religion. We stated that no one has the right to deny freedom of religion or freedom of conscience to others. We pointed to the threats alleged by Columbus’ Rifqa Bary that she stated she was threatened for changing her religion from Islam to Christianity. We addressed the July 2009 Chicago event with 700 attendees supporting an anti-democracy extremists group (rationalizing anti-human rights views based on its interpretation of Islam) that passed out brochures defending the “death penalty” for those “traitors” who left Islam. We addressed the “honor killings” by religious extremists in Ohio, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, and Indiana that had been rationalized based on a religious extremist ideology. Finally, we pointed to the global problem illustrated by a recent Pew Global Poll in Pakistan that stated that 78 percent of Pakistanis “favor death for those who leave Islam.” Like the global scourge of so-called “honor killings,” such anti-freedom ideological views are against those who seek freedom of conscience and religion as universal human rights.
R.E.A.L. had such discussions with local Columbus area Muslims in a spirit of civility, dignity, and respect for human rights. This resulted in agreement and reflection on some of these human rights concerns. That is what public outreach on human rights issues is all about, reaching the public where we seek to affect change.
Regarding the campaign by the Dove World Outreach Center, it is also clear that two wrongs don’t make a right. Just as it is wrong for religious extremists to call for violence against those who seek freedom, it is also a challenge to human dignity and respect for protesters by wearing shirts stating “Islam is of the devil.” Working for human freedom and human rights begins with respect and dignity, and focusing on what you are for, not what you are against. This is why our organization is called “Responsible for Equality And Liberty.”
Our universal human rights begin with love. We can’t love our fellow human beings and deny their basic equality, liberty, and universal human rights. Moreover, we can’t hate our fellow human beings and claim to be fighting for human rights causes as well.
To those who state that the activities of the Dove World Outreach Center reflect “Christian” views, we note repeated protests of Dove World’s activities in Florida by Christians (and others), as reported in the Gainesville Sun, WCJB TV20 News, and by The Christian Post.
The Columbus Dispatch reported on the reaction by some at the Columbus November 16 rally to the members of the Dove World Outreach Center wearing the shirts “Islam is of the devil,” stating “Paige Bailey, who was at the rally, said she was troubled by that message. Rifqa wouldn’t like the focus to be on opposing Islam but rather on helping people come to Christianity, said Bailey, who met Rifqa through Christian groups at Ohio State University.”
From a human rights perspective, we believe that campaigns of outrage demonizing others is counterproductive in effecting change in human rights, because the point of a human rights campaign is to reach our fellow human beings. Moreover, according to the Christian Bible Romans 3:23, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The Dove World Outreach Center quotes the Christian Bible chapter of John on the front of their shirts that on the back states Dove’s message that “Islam is of the devil.” We recommend that they examine John 15:12: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
Whether it is outreach on religion or outreach on human rights, we believe that, ultimately, Love Wins.
On Friday, November 13, 2009, R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey and Karen Imm met with the public in Columbus, Ohio and students on the campus of Ohio State University (OSU) to address the issues of the growing threat to religious freedom in America and around the world, as represented by the Rifqa Bary case in Columbus, Ohio.
R.E.A.L.'s Jeffrey Imm in Columbus, OH - Public Awareness on Religious Freedom and Rifqa Bary Case
Our emphasis was on the inalienable human rights of religious freedom in defiance to those extremists who seek to reject freedom of conscience to those who leave Islam or choose another religion, as well as those extremists who have committed ideological violence and “honor killings” to oppress and intimidate other women.
We urged the Columbus public to act in Columbus and demand that the Columbus courts take Rifqa Bary’s alleged threats seriously, as too many Muslim women have died in America because their the growing threats to their religious and personal freedoms were not being taken seriously.
We spoke, engaged the public, and passed out fliers and materials at locations in downtown Columbus during morning and evening rush hour, and spent the lunch time and afternoon with Ohio State University students at their “Oval” on campus. We also spoke near the Ohio Statehouse. We visited the Columbus Dispatch, first informing them of our planned protests, then offering to provide the Dispatch with additional information on the story not yet published, and then finally protesting in front of the Columbus Dispatch offices.
During of engagement with the public and OSU students, we made them aware of the issues, and the next hearing for Rifqa Bary planned for December 22 in Columbus.
Engaging Columbus Public on Broad and High Streets on a Chilly, November Morning
R.E.A.L. at Ohio State University
R.E.A.L.'s Jeffrey Imm Discusses Threats to Religious Freedom in America With Ohio State Students and Why We Must Be Concerned About the Rifqa Bary CaseOhio State University - Getting Ready to Engage OSU StudentsWhy the Rifqa Bary Case MattersThe Threat to Religious Freedom and Threat of "Honor Killings" is Growing in AmericaIdeological Violence Against Women is TerrorismCall to Columbus Public to Defend Religious FreedomIn America - Extremist "Honor Killings" Against Women!Handing Out Fliers on Threat to Religious Freedom in AmericaUrging Columbus Dispatch to Address Religious Freedom Issues in the News!Coming Back Later to Give "The News" on Extremism Threats to Religious Freedom to the Columbus Dispatch Once Again...Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Supporters at Ohio Statehouse - Columbus, OH
“Reports of Muslim men abducting and forcibly marrying and converting Coptic Christian women and girls have filtered out of Egypt with increasing frequency over the past decade. The emerging patterns of force, fraud and coercion correspond to definitions of human trafficking used by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State., with the UN identifying it as a ‘crime against humanity’.1 These violations of fundamental human rights appear to be encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt – often rooted in Islamic traditions – that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. They appear to be further abetted by the tacit complicity of the government as evidenced by its lack of willingness to thoroughly investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse or to reinstate policies designed to protect Egyptians from coerced conversion by educating potential converts of the full implications of conversion.”
“Details of trafficking cases involving Copts often reach the West through desperately worried relatives of victims. When the Egyptian police fail to find and return (or often even search for) victims of abduction, forced marriage and conversion, some relatives summon the courage to release information and photos to Coptic human rights organizations in the diaspora.”
“The violent abuse of Coptic women and girls in connection with forced marriage and conversion is not altogether new. The Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, protested against this phenomenon in 1976, declaring: ‘There is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands.’2 But the issue has now reached boiling point within Egypt’s Coptic community.”
“As the prestigious Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly recently noted:
‘It is the question of the alleged conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men that elicits the greatest passions. In July [2009] alone three separate incidents received much publicity in the press. Pharmaceuticals student Rania Tawfik Asaad was ostensibly abducted in Giza and forced to marry a Muslim. Two other cases, those of Marian Bishai, Amira Morgan and Injy Basta, also hit the headlines.’3 ”
“Despite the accumulation of substantial evidence and the expressions of concern by the most senior leader of the Coptic community, this aspect of human trafficking has scarcely been acknowledged by the world’s most powerful human rights institutions, including those dedicated to the issue of trafficking in persons. The Coptic Foundation for Human Rights and Christian Solidarity International (CSI) therefore commissioned an anti-trafficking specialist, Michele Clark, and a Coptic women’s rights advocate, Nadia Ghaly, to undertake an investigation of allegations surrounding the abductions and forced marriages and conversions to Islam in Egypt. They performed outstanding pioneering work, interviewing victims, their relatives, lawyers, priests and other Coptic community leaders.”
“This report documents dozens of specific cases and demonstrates consistent patterns used by the perpetrators, their victims, government and law enforcement, and members of Egypt’s faith communities. The report concludes with a valuable set of practical and critical recommendations for the Coptic community, the Government of Egypt and the international community. The findings of Ms. Ghaly and Ms. Clark are deeply disturbing, and should challenge human rights activists and institutions, especially those whose mandate includes women’s rights and trafficking in persons, to undertake, as a matter of urgency, further research into this form of gender and religious based violence against Coptic women and girls in Egypt.”
Copt Myrna Hanna - AINA states she was "abducted 10 months ago, forced to convert to Islam and married by a 'customary marriage contract' by Osama Hefnawy to his son Mohammad" (AINA)Copt Amira Morgan - Reportedly Kidnapped and Forced Conversion to Islam (AINA)Copt Ingy Basta - Disappeared (AINA)Copt Marian Bishay - Reportedly Kidnapped and Converted to Islam - 15 years old (AINA)Copt Irene Labib - Reportedly Kidnapped by Muslim man (AINA)Copt Rania Tawfik Assad - Reportedly Kidnapped (and Recovered) - Muslim Brotherhood Linked Group Member Sought Her Forced Conversion to Islam (AINA)Copt Nermeen Mitry - Reportedly Kidnapped (and Recovered) "by a Muslim man to coerce her into converting to Islam (AINA)
— WLS-TV reports: — “Police in a southwest suburb are investigating a case involving a Muslim woman as a possible hate crime.”
— “The woman says someone in a grocery store tried to pull off her headscarf and made a derogatory comment about Islam.”
— “The comment referred to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings. The alleged incident happened in Tinley Park two days after the massacre. The woman involved says it was a personal and physical attack on her religion because her headscarf is a symbol of her dignity and her faith.”
— ” ‘I was very confused and very upset that something like this would happen,’ said Amal Abusumayah. ‘This is my first experience so I was very devastated at having something like this happening to me.’ ”
Experts on China’s One Child Policy to Testify in Congressional Hearing
November 8, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C.–As President Obama prepares to visit China this week, concerned organizations will raise their voices against China’s One Child per Couple Policy this Tuesday, November 10, 2009:
What: An Evaluation of 30-Years of the One-Child Policy in China
“The Chinese Communist Party states that it has “prevented 400 million births” through its One Child Policy–greater than the entire population of the United States. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing this Tuesday will present new evidence that many of these births have been “prevented” through forced abortion, involuntary sterilization, and infanticide.
Because of the traditional preference for boys, sex selective abortion is practiced. Indeed, in some areas of China, 130 boys are born for every 100 girls. Because of this “gendercide, ” there are now an estimated 37 million Chinese men who will never marry, because there aren’t enough women. This gender imbalance is a powerful, driving force behind human trafficking and sexual slavery in China and the surrounding countries.
On April 22, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that coercive family planning in China is “absolutely unacceptable.” Whether pro-life or pro-choice, no one supports forced abortion–because it is negates the power of choice. Rather, the One Child Policy causes more violence toward women and girls than any other official policy on earth.”
–Reggie Littlejohn, Womens Rights Without Frontiers.
Join Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, ChinaAid, and the following concerned expert panelists for this pivotal hearing hosted by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. See the Official Hearing Announcement issued November 6, 2009.
* Toy Reid, Congressional-Executive Commission on China
* Reggie Littlejohn, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
* Annie Jing Zhang, Women’s Rights in China
* Nicholas Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute
* Rebiya Kadeer, Uyghur-American Association
* Harry Wu, Laogai Research Foundation
* Jiang Tianyong, Beijing Global Law Firm
If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Hoffman at (202) 225-3599.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY: PRESS CONFERENCE AT 12:15 PM
Meet the speakers and take advantage of photo opportunities at the Press Conference, to be held at 12:15 PM, in Room 2318, Rayburn House office building. Both events are open to the public.
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.
20 Year Old Noor Almaleki - Died on November 2, 2009 - A Victim of An Ideological Violence Against Women
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.
Amina and Sarah Said - Victims of "Honor Killings" in TexasSandeela Kanwa - Victim of "Honor Killing" in GeorgiaMethal Dayem - Victim of "Honor Killing" in Cleveland, OhioTina Isa - Victim of "Honor Killing" in IndianapolisAasiya 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.”
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 libertyof women in America and around the world?”
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.
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.
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.
— BBC: “Somali adulterer stoned to death” — “Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth.”
— “Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka.”
— “An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby.”
— “Islamist groups run much of southern Somalia, while the UN-backed government only control parts of the capital.”
— “This is the third time Islamists have stoned a person to death for adultery in the past year.”
— “Al-Shabab official Sheikh Suldan Aala Mohamed said Mr Abdirahman had confessed to adultery before an Islamic court.”
— ” ‘He was screaming and blood was pouring from his head during the stoning. After seven minutes he stopped moving,’ an eyewitness told the BBC.”
— “The BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says that if the woman is also killed, her baby would be given to relatives to look after.”
