Jezebel 
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New York, 12:22 AM
Mon Nov 9
22 posts in the last 24 hours
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07/24/09
it seems like everytime the crazy xenophobia and anti-arab racism around here dies down in the public sphere, a story like this comes out and people use it as an excuse to bring their bigotry out in full force.
sherene razack was, mercifully, on cbc radio this morning talking about this, and hers was the first voice i've heard discussing this issue calling attention to the 'us-them' racist reductions that happen in instances like this, and reminding the listening audience that this needs to be examined as a case of violence against women and girls, which is something that happens across ALL cultures. i applauded my radio.
07/24/09
http://cfrcradio.com/blog/departments/news
If you think the national media is bad, the local Kingston media is worse. Small city, and highest hate crime incidence in Ontario or something.
07/24/09
07/24/09
Oh, Queen's is kind of a cesspool of oppression. Nice to see other Kingston Jezebels though!
edit: Check your personal messages.
07/24/09
07/25/09
There are some good people and cool communities, but you have to look for them. Once you find them, though, you're set. There's a small community of downtowners and students who are really involved in social justice and activist stuff and they throw some good parties. Of course, you may be in a totally different demographic (family out in the residential area?) in which case I don't know what to tell you.
07/27/09
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07/24/09
And by the way, WHITE PEOPLE COMMIT HONOR KILLINGS TOO. The president of Checnhya condones them, for fuck sakes. But if this was an immigrant family of Eastern European decent, no one would be screaming "ZOMG HONOUR KILLING"
07/24/09
Side note. I've said it before and I will say it again: I don't mind if you call bullshit on something I say for the purpose of debate or enlightenment but there is no need for the all caps or the less than kind tone. Now I have to look up Xenophobic because I never heard of that word and I may just be that. It's quite possible.
07/24/09
I have pretty strong views on this sort of thing because of my anecdotal evidence. A good friend of mine in high school happened to be Sikh. And it just so happened that one of her cousins was gunned down by another family member because said family member was nuts. It wasn't an "honour killing" (I'm using honour with a 'u' now, knowing that you too are Canadian), either in the real or perceived sense -- it was one crazy dude who senselessly killed a woman in his family.
The media, however, painted it as an "honour killing" and the whole bloody city was up in arms about it, and it provoked a lot of hostility and racism and "they should go back to where they came from" comments directed at not only my friend and her family, but practically the entire immigrant population.
I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about or publicly acknowledge the honor-killing phenomena, but it pisses me off that that's the first thing the media jumps on when someone of middle eastern or Indian ethnic origin is killed -- when it is either unproven or entirely untrue. Especially when we don't acknowledge murders by white Canadians as stemming from cultural conditions, too, albeit different ones.
For instance, you'll never see the headline "WIFE MURDERED BECAUSE OF CANADA'S RAMPANT MISOGYNY AND PATRIARCHAL CULTURE" (using caps to represent sensationalized Sun-style headlines here; not to yell) but you do see shit like "INDIAN WOMAN MURDERED IN HONOUR KILLING." As in ooh, blame the entire culture culture for 'their' supposed 'traditions', as opposed to blaming the one misogynist psycho who did it. It's a bunch of crap.
07/24/09
Speaking of which, it's horrible luck this happened in Kingston. I lived there for 3 years and never encountered such blatant racism anywhere else. This is just going to fuel their white-supremacy-boys'-club fires. :-(
07/24/09
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07/24/09
If fundamentalists are so horrified by the thought of their daughters running free and being influenced by Western harlots, then why not move somewhere that falls in line with your values?
If you want to go to a country for the economic or personal freedoms that it confers upon its citizens, you can't live in your own cultural bubble.
07/24/09
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07/24/09
The immigrant experience is incredibly difficult and is usually not a decision made without serious planning. If you are thinking of moving to a country with native values that you disagree with completely and would never want your children adopting (and you're serious enough about it to kill to uphold your own values) then it may not be the best place for your family to settle.
07/24/09
Edit: duh, this took place in Canada, not the U.S. but my point still applies.
07/24/09
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07/24/09
it's not like this family should have come here and forcibly assimilated themselves; what I'm arguing is that the parents of these girls should not have been surprised or outraged when their daughters (whom they raised in Canada) began adopting western sensibilities and tastes and they ESPECIALLY should not have reacted with violence.
If you're moving to a place that is so incredibly different than your homeland, you can't expect the next generation of your family to cling to the values you brought over. It's the natural progression of 1st/2nd/3rd generation immigrant families. If you want them to have the same values you had, then don't move to a place that is so diametrically opposed to your country of origin. I don't think that's a terribly radical proposal.
07/24/09
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07/24/09
The dominant cultural values of this country, I think are easier to see from an outsider's POV. My dad was happy to come here to make more money, but at the same time, he had a real, open disdain for American culture, basically because he thought it would make his wife and daughters rebellious whores(which it kinda did, and my mother left him after years of abuse) This country is a lot freer than many others, especially for women, and that is a real threat to immigrants with more regressive views. I really believe that if immigrants aren't prepared to adapt at all, they're in for a rude awakening.
07/24/09
I feel duped now. I know they haven't been found guilty but this is just so shocking and sad. How could this happen? Poor girls.
07/24/09
Assuming the first wife's sister is correct about the motivation for the murder, I think people like to call it something else so that it seems removed from our own culture, when in reality violence against women (including words) because they refuse to be what the men around them believe they should be happens everywhere. But if we call it something else and say it's motivated by their culture/religion, it's not our problem too.
07/24/09
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07/24/09
Unfortunately, religion and culture are often mistaken for one another.
07/24/09
Just read this on my way to work, and I just cant shake the feeling.
I come from a middle eastern, but non-religious family. while my parents have never been abusive to me, my brother is. he has on numerous occasions hit me, punched me, thrown me against the wall..etc.
my parents refused to stop him, or punish him because at the end of the day he is their son, and culturally sons are valued more than girls. even in non-religious families such as mine.
I have called the cops on him, but the first time the cops came they did not beleive me, and treated ME as the liar. my mother was in support of my brother and I had no witnesses.
the cops solution to my problem was : "why dont you leave? " I explained that I could not as my parents would come and find me wherever I went. the cops seemed more annoyed than concerned with my safety, even tho I had huge bruises on my arm and face.
the second time I called the cops, one of the officers supported me. he told my brother that he WOULD be charged unless I decided to forgive him.
I wanted to get him charged, but I couldnt because of my parents. I have since then been blamed for breakign up the family because I called the cops on him.
I guess what im trying to say here, is that the family doesnt have to be violent to take part in cultural acts. im not making a sweeping generalization here, Im just stating that this very well may have been an honor killing, eventhough the family wasnt religious.
there needs to be firmer safegaruds for women and children who are being assaulted by family members.
Cops need to be more aware and sympathetic to the culture, and understand that if the parents are defending the assaulter it doesnt mean the victim is lying. they shouldnt blame the victim, and they should apprehend the assaulter even tho the victim cant press charges.
this kind of thing makes me sick.
07/24/09
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07/24/09
I am so sad for these girls and Ms. Mohammad. To be betrayed by THREE members of your family in such a way. I can't even really wrap my head around how a father, mother, and brother could all agree to such a thing.
07/24/09
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One of the biggest difficulties with combating cultural values that stem from religion is the issue of god. If someone actually believes that god wants/commands/expects them to do something, it's not really the type of thing you can disobey. It's god - you don't say no or you're damned.
07/24/09
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07/24/09
My fear, as a progressive Muslim woman, is that these cases continue to paint my religion according to a culture with which I share nothing.
07/24/09
Also, this idea of honour killings is not only used by the media, often the aggressors themselves use it as a justification. So dismissing the idea out of hand as culturally insensitive and racist seems as inaccurate as instantly applying the label.
Overall, I feel very conflicted about the issue. Clearly this family did not subscribe to the cultural norms in Canada (the two wives is a pretty good indication of that if nothing else) and whenever we see abuse from a group that lives by different rules we are prone to use that as a justification (as in the case of fundamentalist Christian groups and so on). I think we do this primarily so as to say that it couldn't happen to us - these people are different.
07/24/09
"From a social perspective, you don't want to criminalize a community by associating them with a particular, heinous act of violence. On the other hand, from a legal perspective ... why `honour killing' can be useful is that it captures the idea of a kind of premeditation – that this wasn't an in-the-moment, spur-of-the-moment crime of passion but something that may have been planned..."
Yes, honor killings happen -- but it's not clear yet whether this was one.
07/24/09
I generally hate Christie Blachford, because her column is always SO saccharine and self-indulgent, but in her defence, she has sent a lot of time in Afghanistan as the Globe and Mail's senior correspondent.
I was listening to CBC radio this morning, and they had a woman arguing that it may be a so-called "honour killing," but that we shouldn't allow that term to distract from the fact that these acts have nothing to do with honour, and everything to do with domestic violence and patriarchal power issues.