Category: Women’s Rights Matter

A few weeks ago at the National Press Club, I spoke of the world crisis in respecting children’s dignity and human rights, and the need to challenge those who commit and those who tolerate abuse, hatred, rape, and violence against our children.  I love my brothers and sisters in humanity of all identity groups, but we must stand united as a human race to challenge those who would attack our children.

I stated in my December 8 comments, they are “our children” because humanity’s children are humanity’s shared future. They are not just the responsibility of their parents, they are also our shared responsibility as a human society — not only for our human rights, but also for our very future existence. They are part of our shared responsibility not only for equality and liberty, but also for the future of humanity itself.

Even animals in the wild have the instinctual need to defend their children. Our human society must do better. We must work to end the very contempt so many have for our chidren, their innocence, their future, and their very lives.

So many would like to explain away not just the abuses of our children, but the societal willingness to accept this. We are too busy, the people committing such abuses are just crazy, they are the responsibility of the police and the children’s parents.

CONTEMPT.

You don’t spit on a child and call them filthy names by accident. There is no explaining this away. It is nothing less than open, unmitigated, CONTEMPT.

Yet this is precisely what has been reported in Israel over the past week. In the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh, an 8-year old Orthodox Jewish girl walking to Jewish religious school, wearing a long dress and long sleeve blouse was set upon by “ultra-Orthodox” extremists who spit on her.

For months, this child, Na’ama Margolis, and her classmates have endured being spat upon and threatened with filthy insults by dozens of cowardly men, who see nothing wrong with attacking children.   Such men apparently claim that these girls’ conservative dress is not conservative enough for them. This was reported and many in Israel have condemned such outrages against these children. Others have been challenging efforts at public gender segregation, excluding girls and women from public sphere in public events, in stores, on buses, and even on the sidewalk.  Men supporting such abuse of women have clashed with the police.  The attacks on such children and attempts at public gender segregation in the streets was broadcast by Israeli Channel 2 and is provided with English subtitles on YouTube at:

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Some Israelis have also been challenging a growing repression against Israel women, including an Israel woman soldier called filthy names by a man for sitting in the front of a bus.  I stand with the women and men protesting in Israel to reject such contempt against girls and women, and I am proud to support your campaign for freedom and respect.  I reject the efforts of those who seek to use violence and contempt to intimidate girls and women in Israel (or anywhere).  Outside of the U.S. Secretary of State, the situation in Israel has been received with a significant silence here in the United States, especially by activists. I am especially disappointed to see feminists who have been very active in challenging the disgraceful so-called “honor killings” around the world, apparently must be on vacation and too busy to be concerned about these issues involving Israeli women. I have also seen some writers who seem to want to explain the abuses against Israeli women away as political targeting or as some type of cultural misunderstanding.

To those who believe it is a cultural misunderstanding to spit on little girls, let me tell you there are plenty of fathers who would have their own cultural response with a closed four fingers and a thumb if you spit on their daughter.

It is instinctual, it is normal, it is part of basic human survival coding to want to protect and defend our children. We shouldn’t need to explain it. We shouldn’t need to encourage it. It should be part of our human identity.

Nor is it political targeting to challenge abuses against children, among people in any nation or any identity group.  I have stood in defense of Israelis many times to seek the respect, security, and human rights that all human beings deserve.  But wrong is wrong – as other protesting Israelis point out, and we must have no acceptance of contempt against our children.

This incident summarizes the entire issue of open contempt against children, their rights, and their dignity: Spitting on Our Children.  Such contempt does not get any clearer than that.

Certainly we cannot address child abuse in another nation, without addressing the disgrace and child abuse in the United States of America, who has yet to ratify the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), accepted by the General Assembly in 1989. While the United States signed this important convention as part of the United Nations, the United States is one of the few nations that has failed to ratify this convention.  23 years later, administration after after administration, Republican and Democratic, have come and gone, and still this basic convention on the rights of children has not yet been ratified by the United States.  In 2008,  Barack Obama promised to “review” this, but as we approach 2012, nearly four years later, the current  United States administration has also failed to ratify this convention on child’s rights.

The only other nation that has not ratified the CRC is Somalia, where a 13-year old little girl (Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow) was publicly stoned to death in a pit as “adulteress” for the “crime” of being raped, watched by over 1,000 people who failed to act, as Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow’s extremist murderers justified killing her based on their interpretation of Islamic Sharia Law. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution condemning that killing, but where are they on ratifying the CRC?

We also cannot address the importance of the CRC, without challenging those who have ratified it with “exceptions,” that some children only have rights to life and human dignity based on limited religious interpretations.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ensure human rights for all – without exception – but the United States of America’s government needs to ratify the CRC themselves so that when it offers advice to other world powers, it has done the least that it could do.

In many parts of the children and young girls are even sold as slaves, but while we condemn such practices, the United States of America must set an example with our commitment to international children’s rights. We don’t set examples for our children, by just doing the least that we can do, but for the American voting public, that is the least you should demand from your government.

We lead as human beings, as parents, as social leaders, as religious leaders, as identity group leaders, and political leaders – must lead by example.   “Do what I say, not what I do” accomplishes nothing in social change and human rights.  So the series of disgraces against children around the world require us to speak out consistently everywhere in the world, with every group in the world, and in every circumstance.   We must show human rights, dignity, and compassion to some children, but we must do so for our all of our future children.

Our places of learning should be obvious places where children are safe.  But we have learned in America how untrue that is today in our nation.  Today, yet another alleged rape victim has reported the use of the Pennsylvania State University campus football facilities , as part of an apparently organized effort alleged to have been committed by former football coach Sandusky.  It is sickening for Americans and people with respect for children’s rights around the world to hear the growing allegations, and this latest victim brings the number to 11 reported victims.  All of us our responsible for our children, including those in positions of authority, not simply when it is convenient, but all of the time.  Even if it is inconvenient to someone’s weekend (as former football coach Joe Paterno testified), we must alert the authorities to known or suspected abuse of children, and do the most we can to protect our children, not the least we can.  As a Penn State alumnus, I understand when it comes to children’s safety – no one, no organization, no team, and no activity – is more important than our children.

We see some who would rationalize and look the other way when children are killed as part of violence among adults.  It is always and will always be unacceptable and wrong.  There are no exceptions.  We must stop killing our children, because we can not find ways to live with each other and to deal with our conflicts.  Those who seek to fight, fight as adults, and leave our children out of these wars.  I know the arguments, how people need to fight for security and defense.  But our children don’t have to be a part of that.  To those who say that is impossible, I say you need to find a way.  If we are not preserving our children’s lives, what type of security, what type of defense, and what type of “victory,” do you think you are working towards?

In terms of the United States government, the Israeli government, and every government in the world who is at war or in conflict, there are no “acceptable” child casualties in war.  It does not matter how we define these casualties, as “collateral damage,” or how sorry we are.  This also includes the disgusting and disgraceful allegations that some Israeli soldiers have also used human shields. This also applies to any solider, American, or from any nation, who believes it is acceptable to allow the deaths of our children.  Our apologies do not bring the lives of our children back anywhere in the world.  No war justifies the death of children anywhere in the world, any place, any time.

To those terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, Hamas, and Hezbollah, there are also no “acceptable” child human shields or child casualties.  On December 30, the Voice of America reported on Afghanistan terrorists recruiting child suicide bombers, and posted a video of an interview with such a child. Digital Journal also provided a report on Taliban child suicide bombers on December 31, along with a YouTube video link.

This also includes disgraceful allegations of Palestinian militants using child human shields, or any other group with militants fighting anywhere in the world.  Such groups claim they are working for ideological and nationalist causes.  No cause justifies murdering children anywhere in the world, any place, any time.

In Pakistan and around the world, we have seen terrorist organizations seek to brainwash children with hatred and to train children to become terrorists.   As the Pakistan Daily Times has reported, some Pakistani groups have used madrassas  to teach children how to wear suicide bomber vests.  Throughout Africa, and in other parts of the world, there are others who seek to recruit children for their wars.  In Somalia this week, children are being recruited as “child soldiers” to wage war on the government by the Al-Shabaab group.  No cause justifies this promotion of hatred in children’s minds, this warping of their innocents hearts to believe that people of all one kind, one group, or one religion deserve hatred, violence, and death.  No group has the right abuse our children and try to turn them into killers.

In every case and circumstance, those who would kill our children and make them into killers, anywhere and everywhere in the world, they too are spitting on our children.

There are those in the United States that claim their religious views justify child abuse, including child sexual abuse, as we have reported on the disgraceful case of Raymond Jeffs, Raymond Jessop,and his child abuse on young pre-teen and teenage girls by those who claimed that their sexual abuses was protected polygamy by their Mormon / Christian extremist views.

We have also seen those who claim they have the “right” to murder young girls in America in so-called “honor killings,” rationalized by their extremist interpretations of Islamic religion and culture.  Just slightly over a year ago, the trial of Faleh Almaleki began for the “honor killing” murder of his daughter  Noor Almaleki.  The Arizona Republic reported that “[f]amily members told police that the father was upset that his daughter failed to live by traditional Muslim values.” We need others to condemn those who rationalize murder and hate.  (Almaleki’s families comments to the Arizona Republic is an extremist view that will no doubt disturb many traditional Muslims practicing love and respect to children and one another.)   In April 2011, Faleh Almaleki was sentenced to only 34 years in prison for what was clearly a premeditated murder of his daughter.

Noor was hardly the only such young girl murdered for such rationale; other American girls murdered in such so-called “honor killings” have included Amina and Sarah Said in Dallas, Sandeela Kanwal in Georgia,  Methal Dayem in Cleveland, and Tina Isa in Indianapolis.

All those who would use religious RATIONALIZATION to sexually abuse, beat, attack, and kill our children also have contempt for children’s rights.  Their contempt and violence against our children speaks for itself, and they cannot hide behind their claims that contempt, abuse, and violence against children is justified by their extremist religious views or culture.   They too are spitting on our children.

Those who seek to pray on our children’s minds and souls to corrupt towards violence and hatred know no boundaries.  In our reporting at Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), we have reported on those who seek to influence children via the Internet and from extremist group meetings to promote hatred of people different from themselves.  We have seen with our own eyes the images of small children influenced by the Christian extremist Hutaree group and other groups that promote hatred and promote violence in the United States.  When we challenge groups that promote such hatred and racial nationalism in America, as well as other groups that promote hate, we seek to protect our children – our shared responsibility.

This problem is not limited to any one religious, ethnic, racial, national, or identity group.  There is a decided effort by those promoting hatred to fight their war for hate with, against, and through our children.   They too are spitting on our children.

But the contempt towards our children is hardly an isolated incident and, as I expressed in my December 8 remarks, this is a global phenomenon that we must challenge consistently and without exception.   In every case, these too are spitting on our children.

This month, we have seen the release of a young girl, Gulnaz, in Afghanistan who was imprisoned as a teenager for the crime of being a rape victim. She was released on the condition that she marry her rapist.   Today, December 31, the Daily Mail reports on another 15 year old girl, Sahar Gul, who was imprisoned in a toilet in Afghanistan by her family because she refused to be a prostitute.  She was tortured by being burned with cigarettes, was starved, and had her fingernails, hair, and parts of her flesh torn out with pliers.   The violence against children in Afghanistan has been pandemic with acid attacks against young girls and women, and girl’s schools attacked by terrorists with poisonous gas because they don’t want young girls to get an education.

In India, we have heard many reports of so-called “honor killings” against young girls, most recently with a girl who was hung to death on December 29.  We have heard of many such “Hindu culture” rationalized “honor killing” murders in India.   The Asian Age has reported that India has over 1,000 “honor killings” a year.  So-called “honor killings” in India have also included murders of Muslim girls, including one child who was burned alive for seeing a boy.

We regularly hear reports of such so-called “honor killings” around the world from the activist web site http://www.stophonourkillings.com.   Pakistan Tribune has reported 675 “honor killings” in Pakistan in the first 9 months of this year, and Stop Honour Killings reports on nearly 3,000 “honor crimes” in the United Kingdom in 2010.  This month alone, the group has reported on honor killings, crimes, and trials in Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, India, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

In Pakistan and Egypt, religious minority girls and children have been the targets of abuse for years.  Such Christian children, Hindu Children, and other religious minorities are routine targets for attacks and rape.  In Pakistan, Christian children have been threatened, are beaten, and forced by extremists to convert to Islam, according to reports from CDN.  The abuse have forced some children to flee schools because of their persecution.  They have reason to be afraid, Christian girls have been repeatedly murdered and raped without justice.  One  Christian girl Shazia Masih was working as a domestic worker when she mysteriously died, and her family believes she was thrown down a flight of steps by her employer.  Another Christian child Tehmina Qasim was beaten by her employer and thrown out a window, left to die.  Another 12 year-old Christian girl, Shazia Bashir, was raped and murdered, allegedly by her employers.  Pakistan Christian children have been murdered in mob attacks on villages such as the attack on the predominantly Christian homes in Gojra by mobs who burned down churches, homes, and burned children and other to death.  In Pakistan, Christian girls are attacked and threatened on a regular basis, as Pakistan Christian Congress leader Nazir Bhatti reports, this is a part of a systematic oppression on Christians.

Pakistan Hindu girls have also been abducted from their homes and forced by extremists to convert to Islam.  In one month, as many as 25 such Hindu girls were abducted.  Some, like Hindu child Nadini, are not found.