Honor Killing by Any Other Name

[alp227]

Anna Momigliano, The Nation
February 2, 2010

Milan, Italy - When Sanaa Dafani, a young woman living in the small town of Pordenone, Italy, was murdered this past fall, local media were quick to label the crime a case of "honor killing."

Eighteen-year-old Dafani, who was born in Italy to Moroccan parents, was killed by her conservative Muslim father, who had been angered by her Western lifestyle. In Dafani's case, this meant wearing jeans and dating a man.

Dafani's death shocked the country, and many blamed Muslim traditions for the murder: "Here's another case demonstrating that the Islamic culture cannot be integrated into our society," said Enzo Bortolotti, a representative of the Northern League, an influential right-wing party.

Honor killings, homicides carried out by male family members to redeem the shame that women have supposedly brought upon their families, are often associated with, and blamed on, tribal customs in the Arab and Muslim world. In some particularly conservative Muslim countries, such as Iran and Pakistan, honor killing is still legal according to local tribal authorities, although it is often condemned by the central governments. In other countries, this practice is formally prohibited but is widespread and treated leniently: in Turkey, for instance, there are more than 200 honor killings a year--half of all the murders committed in the country. Many of them are easily disguised as suicides, while others are punished with just two or three years of jail.

But evidence suggests honor killings are still relatively common in the West as well, not only among Muslim immigrants, although such crimes may take a different name.

Read more: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100215/momiglano

In other words, it ain't right to scapegoat Muslims as violent, misogynistic people, as such traits apply to other groups of people too. Take THAT David Horowitz and all you right-wing white Islamophobic bigots!

[HillbillyBob]

1. MURDER

NT

[juno jones]

2. Honor killing ain't just a muslim thing.

While I lived in Sacramento there was a spate of Russian fundies killing off their wives and families for becoming 'Americanized'.

It's roots lie in a cultural (although it certainly crosses cultures) male territorialism that certainly isn't serving us well in modern society.

[demosincebirth]

3. Never heard of it. n/t

[juno jones]

5. A perusal of the Sac Bee circa 1999-2002 might prove instructive.

Not exactly national news, or even considered very interesting in the day.

[burning rain]

4. I don't think any significant number of people deny spousal abuse/violence/stalking, etc. ....

is a serious issue for all demographics in the US. However, I think the article obfuscates the issue of honor killing somewhat by conflating it with spousal/domestic violence, because honor killing is more commonly associated with the murder of a daughter or sister, not a wife or girlfriend.

[Igel]

6. It's a convenient kludge.

One side likes amalgamating the two kinds of violence because it makes them look less bad. It protects them against outsiders, always a good thing. Outsiders are always out to get you. You must protect your totems. Shouting, "Tu quoque!" never goes out of style.

The other likes amalgamating the two kinds of violence because it furthers their campaign, and turns attention to the problem that they see as real--possibly just making the problem broader and not fully absolving the former target of attention, but even that allows much more attention to be focused on their issues. It also helps that this serves to help a group perceived, rightly or wrongly, as victimized, wronged, and oppressed. And some people just like shouting, "Nos quoque." Even when they say "nos" meaning "some people sort of in my group but certainly quite unlike *me*."