Bangladesh: Rape victim receives 101 lashes for becoming pregnant
— Daily Telegraph reports: — “The girl’s father was also fined and warned the family would be branded outcasts from their village if he did not pay.”
— “The girl was raped by a 20-year-old villager in Brahmanbaria district in April last year.
— “Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper reported that she was so ashamed following the attack that she did not lodge a complaint.”
— “Her rape emerged after her pregnancy test and Muslim elders in the village issued a fatwa insisting that the girl be kept in isolation until her family agreed to corporal punishment.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands uncategorically and unreservedly against HATE. We believe that you cannot hate your fellow human beings and support our universal human rights. We believe that Love will Win over Hate.
Even though we realize that we are not really addressing a factual argument, as the proof that the Holocaust happened and the proof that the “Protocols of Elders of Zion” are a fake has been readily available to the world for many, many years, we believe that there is a need to continue to speak out against such Holocaust denial and anti-Jewish hate embodied in the promotion of the “Protocols.” We do so also in urging that those who promote such anti-Jewish hate will find inspiration to love their fellow human beings and drop the burden of such hate from their hearts.
Furthermore, we urge Al-Faraeen and Tawfiq Okasha to review the book “Dismantling the Big Lie” by Simon Wiesenthal Foundation’s Dr. Steven Jacobs. This book by Dr. Jacobs book remains one of the most comprehensive refutations of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” and is available for free download in Arabic. Tawfiq Okasha claims to seek dialogue. We urge him to broadcast a refutation to the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” based on this information which is available in English and in Arabic.
We believe that it is not enough to simply dismiss those who hate as caricatures, and not to take hate seriously.
We believe that it is necessary to respond to mass movements that seek to promote hatred against any of our fellow human beings, as part of our defense of our universal human rights.
Saudi Arabia: Rape victim might be lashed 100 times
— AsiaNews.it: “A woman jailed after being raped could be lashed 100 times. Camille, an invented name, is a 35- year-old immigrant from the Philippines who has been in a Saudi jail since September 2009. As a result of her rape, she became pregnant, but miscarried because of harsh prison life.”
— “According to her mother, she is scheduled to go before the judges who could impose 100 lashes.”
This posting provides updates in the trial of Muzzammil Hassan, who beheaded his Muslim wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan,in February 2009, after she filed for divorce. The case has been seen by many to be an “honor killing.” The latest reports state that Muzzammil Hassan is claiming that he was abused and was a “battered husband,” who murdered his wife in self-defense. His attorney seeks to use this and a psychiatric defense in his March 2010 trial. The judge stated today that he would reject an “emotional-disturbance defense,” and the prosecutor noted that Muzzammil Hassan beheaded Aasiya Hassan after she filed for divorce.
Aasiya Zubair Hassan - Victim of Suspected "Honor Killing" in Buffalo, NY
— Buffalo News reports: Judge rejects planned defense, delays in beheading case
— “The judge in Muzzammil S. ‘Mo’ Hassan’s murder case today barred his new attorney from using an emotional-disturbance defense and said he would only grant the jailed businessman further delays in his trial based solely ‘in the interests of justice.'”
— “Hassan is accused of beheading his estranged wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, 37, last February.”
— “Hassan’s new defense attorney, Frank M. Bogulski, today told reporters that he is ‘confident’ he can get an acquittal for Hassan on an unprecedented defense combining psychiatric elements and justification based on claims Hassan was ‘a battered’ spouse who was verbally abused and humiliated by his wife.”
— “Homicide Prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable, though, noted that Aasiya Zubair Hassan was beheaded about a week after she began formal divorce proceedings.”
— “And Gable today won her months-old motion to bar a psychiatric defense.”
— “The judge told Bogulski he can make motions in coming months seeking permission to reinstate a psychiatric defense but as of now, such a defense claiming Hassan was emotionally out of control when he killed his wife ‘is precluded.’ ”
— WIVB reports:
— “An Orchard Park TV executive accused of beheading his wife now claims he was the victim.”
— “An attorney for Muzzamil Hassan said the Bridges TV co-owner was the victim of years of domestic abuse.”
— “His wife, Aasiya was found beheaded at the TV studios back in February.”
— “Hassan’s attorney plans to argue that his client was battered past his breaking point, and that the killing was justified.”
— “Hassan’s attorney will have to present evidence of a psychiatric defense by the time the trial resumes in March.”
Egyptian television station Al-Faraeen owner Tawfiq Okasha defended the anti-Jewish propaganda broadcast on Al-Faraeen in a message broadcast and translated by MEMRI. Al-Faraeen’s Tawfiq Okasha questioned the historical fact of the Holocaust, and also defended Al-Faraeen’s broadcasts broadcasts promoting the apocryphal “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” as a fact that Jews had a global conspiracy to rule the world.
In a television broadcast on January 17, 2010, Tawfiq Okasha stated that “I would like to say to the Jews: You talk about the Holocaust and about many other things. Do you have any video footage of this? Do you have any pictures of this? … Ever since I was born, I’ve been hearing about the Holocaust, but I haven’t seen any films of it. Send me films, and I will show them to public opinion, and we will be able to talk about this… There’s nothing to it.”
Tawfiq Okasha also stated: “You said that we had talked about The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and that these protocols are humiliating to the Jews. Well, these are the documents we have. You are invited to start a dialogue with us, and deny that the Jews have anything to do with these protocols.”
According to MEMRI, “Al-Faraeen TV is broadcast by the Atlantic Bird 4A satellite, which is owned by the France-based Eutelsat company. Since 2006, Eutelsat has been partnering with Nilesat in the operation of this satellite. Atlantic Bird 4A can be received in the Middle East, North Africa, and southern Europe.” “On December 20, 2009, Tawfiq Okasha announced on the air that Al-Faraeen TV had signed a cooperation agreement with Germany’s state TV network, to take effect January 2010.”
On January 11, 2010, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called for a “ban of Violent Extemismi Egyptian TV Al Faraeen on French Eutelsat and German ARD Network.”
Al-Faraeen's Tawfiq Okasha Defends its Broadcasts on the Apocryphal "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"... and claims the apocryphal "Protocols of Elders of Zion" are "the documents we have"
Voice of the Copts reports regarding Egyptian Christian Convert Mr. Mohammed Bishoy Hegazy
— European Centre for Law and Justice submitted application into UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights “seeking judgment against the Egyptian government for refusing to recognize the fact that Mr. Mohammed Bishoy Hegazy and his family members are Christians converted from Islam”
Egyptian Christian Convert Mohamed Hegazy (Photo: Voice of the Copts)
Al Masry al Youm and MEMRI have reported on a meeting between U.S. Ambassador to Cairo Margaret Scobey and Coptic Church Patriarch Shinoda, where the recent terrorist attack against Coptic Christians in Nag Hammadi was discussed. The reports do not mention any specific concerns by the U.S. government about the killings and abductions of Copts, other than “discussion” on the Nag Hammadi terror attack. The reports did state that “U.S. Ambassador to Cairo Margaret Scobey promised that the U.S. administration would compel the Egyptian government to pass legislation for the Coptic minority, such as a law arranging for church construction, or even top posts and allocation of seats for Copts in parliament.”
MEMRI: Egypt: U.S. Ambassador in Cairo: We’ll Act To Help The Copts
— MEMRI reports: “During a meeting with Coptic Church Patriarch Shinoda, U.S. Ambassador to Cairo Margaret Scobey promised that the U.S. administration would compel the Egyptian government to pass legislation for the Coptic minority, such as a law arranging for church construction, or even top posts and allocation of seats for Copts in parliament.”
— Scobey, Shenouda discuss Naga Hammadi — Al Masry al Youm: “According to a source at the papal office, Scobey and Shenouda also discussed the 7 January shooting incident in the Upper Egyptian city of Naga Hammadi, in which six Coptic Christians and one Muslim were killed.”
Margaret Scobey, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (Photo: U.S. Cairo Embassy)
— Saudi Girl, 12, Married Off to 80-Year-Old Man
— “‘She was raped and they took her to the hospital after the wedding night,’ Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a Saudi journalist who has been banned from reporting by the government told The Media Line.”
— “No religious justification for child marriage: Saudi cleric”
— AFP reports: “The case of Aisha, known to Muslims as ‘The Mother of Believers,’ is often used by Saudi judges and clerics to justify child marriages.”
— “The government’s Human Rights Commission said it was following the Buraidah case, which is currently being weighed by a local court.”
On January 21, 2010 on a winter afternoon, over 2000 Coptic Christians rallied, chanted, sang, prayed, and marched outside the White House to get the attention of U.S. President Barack Obama and the American public on the continuing human rights violations of the Copts in Egypt. They came from Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and other parts of America to protest the recent terrorist attack on Copts in Egypt on January 6 (Coptic Christmas Eve), with terrorists killing Copts as they left their religious services in Nag Hammadi (near Luxor). The latest attacks were part of a continuing history of oppression, rape, murder, and forced conversion from Christianity to Islam of the Coptic people and women in Egypt.
January 21, 2010 - Over 2000 rally in front of the White House in the aftermath of the Coptic Christmas eve killings of Copts in Egypt Protesters Joining the Copts White House Rally
The crowd arrived in different locations from buses, some of which were organized at St. Mark Coptic Church (11911 Braddock RD Fairfax, VA 22030) and St. Mary Coptic Church (8340 Woodward St. Savage, MD 20763). Coptic organizers included Halim Meawad and Magdi Khalil.
With the recent attacks on Copts in November 2009 (in Farshoot and Abou Shousha) and the January 2010 terrorist attack on Copts outside their Mar Yohana church in Nag Hammadi, the Coptic people continue to face deadly persecution in Egypt. Individuals passed out fliers at the White House rally defying President Mubarak’s claims that “there is no persecution for Copts in Egypt;” the fliers addressed the oppression of Coptic Christians, attacks on churches, the forced “Islamization” and abduction of Coptic girls, and official restrictions on creation of new Christian churches.
One attendee stated that the crowd of Copt supporters was estimated at 2500 people. It was a large enough crowd that it filled the Pennsylvania Avenue area in front of the White House. We attempted to estimate the moving crowd (which frequently was marching around the area) and concluded it was clearly over 2000 people. New members to protest continue to join the rally as it was in progress. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) was represented among the supporters at the Copts’ White House rally.
More People Kept Coming to the Copt Rally
Protesters held signs, crosses, and American flags. Entire families with their children came to spend the day.
Signs included messages such as “Stop the Killing of Innocent Christians Now,” “Save Christians in Egypt,” signs imploring President Obama to recognize their plight, and some signs merely asked the painful question “Why?” regarding the hate-based attacks and oppression on the Copts’ human rights and lives.
Copts Called for "Stop the Killing of Innocent Christians Now"
In reference to the January 6 (Coptic Christmas Eve) terrorist attack, one protester’s sign read “Bloodshed is not what I wanted for Christmas.”
Others held large banners describing the scope of the ongoing human rights violations against the Copts: 161 attacks on Christians and churches, 4500 stores, houses, and churches burned, and 1500 tortured.
Copts Describe Scope of Human Rights Crisis in front of the White House (January 21, 2010)
The protesters called for U.S. President Barack Obama to take action, and chanted “Obama, Obama, We Need Action!”
They also chanted to stop the killing of Christians in Egypt, that “Christian Blood is Not Cheap,” and implored the “U.S. [to] Wake Up!”
Protesters lined up and down the Pennsylvania Avenue area in front of the White House marched back and forth.
Copts Lining Up on Pennsylvania Avenue in Front of the White HouseCopts Marching in front of the White House
During the protest at the White House, Coptic supporters sang “Lord Have Mercy,” and prayed. They protested for freedom of worship for the Coptic Christians in Egypt.
Copts Join Together for Moment of Prayer in front of White House
As the Copts braved the winter day to show their support for their fellow Copts in Egypt, they showed that they would defy the forces of oppression, and that they will not allow the suffering of the Copts to be forgotten by the U.S. government or by the American people. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands by the Copts’ struggle for their universal human rights.
Copts Fear No Evil as They Call for Their Universal Human Rights
