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Edited on Sat Dec-17-05 10:22 AM by onager
(For those who don't know me, I'm on a long-term work assignment in Alexandria, Egypt.) :hi:
It was reported in one of the local English-language papers. I wish I could find it, but the very efficient housekeepers here in the hotel threw out my stack of newspapers. Dammit...
As I remember the facts, a 17-yr-old girl from a farm village ran off with her boyfriend. Her father and brother tracked her down and brought her back home. In the middle of the village's main street, with many eyewitnesses, the brother shot her in the head.
He is in jail now, but probably not for long. The Egyptian legal code is based on two sources: the French Napoleonic Code and Islamic sharia law. If you've done a little googling, you probably know that the laws in most Arab nations contain some large loopholes for honor killers. Even worse, they are usually treated as heroes by their families and neighbors when they get out of jail.
BTW, you'll probably learn just as much from web sites as you will by asking questions in the DU Islamic forum. I poke around in there some in Lurk Mode (being a Grumpy Atheist and all).
They're nice folks, but most of the Muslims in there are liberal (otherwise they wouldn't be here). And many seem to be fairly recent converts to the religion who live in the US...not in some place where they can actually enjoy the benefits of living under sharia law. :sarcasm:
I have to say that Egypt is much better than Saudi Arabia, where I lived for 2 years. In S.A. the matowa (Religious Police) were omnipresent. You could never tell what might set the buggers off and get you in trouble. One of them screeched at us because (American) women were laughing in public. He said women laughing was "unseemly."
Today I went on a long walk around downtown Alexandria, and as usual, several gangs of young girls/women came up, chatted easily with me, and even asked me to take their picture. That sort of thing NEVER happened in Saudi Arabia.
For the curious, many of these gals were definitely Muslim. They were wearing the hijab (head-covering). Others were Religiously Undefinable, with streaked hair and Western clothing. But even most of the Muslim girls here wear Western clothes, combining the modest head-covering with skin-tight jeans and form-fitting tops. Go figure.
Some other recent info, since this seems to be the forum for it: the Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that it has "convinced" 70% of Egyptian women to adopt the full face covering. From my own daily experience, I can say this is BS Of The Purest Ray Serene.
My job site is out in the Nile Delta and I pass thru a bunch of rural farm villages every day. Even most of the women out there, in presumably a very conservative area, do not wear the face covering. The majority wear the hijab, often in bright colors with beautiful embroidery and other decorations. (I didn't see much of that in Saudi, either.)
The Brotherhood also claims it convinces women to cover their faces with "persuasion, not coercion." And if you believe that...since this is the Joyous Holiday Season and all...then let me sell you this slightly used virgin who was impregnated by a god...
As you might guess, Egyptian women of the liberal, educated and working persuasions are horrified by the Brotherhood's recent wins in the Parliamentary elections. The local paper actually printed some of their reactions. Not editorializing much (sarcasm!), the paper described one outspoken women's-rights lawyer as a "radical leftist." (The slur works just as well over here as it does on Fox News.) Another woman said she was actually glad the Brotherhood had won some seats, because "now people will see what liars they are." (Doubtful.)
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