Domestic Violence It's Not

This is a press release from New York State Now issued by President Marcia Pappas:

On February 12, 2009, in Orchard Park, Buffalo, NY, forty-four year-old Muzzamil Hassan, a prominent Muslim businessman, was arrested for having allegedly beheaded his wife, thirty-seven year-old Aasiya Z. Hassan. What was Aasiya's crime? Why, Aasiya was having Muzzamil served with divorce papers. And apparently, on February 6, Aasiya obtained an order of protection which had forced her violent husband out of their home.

NOW New York State is horrified that Erie County DA, Frank A. SeditaII, has referred to this ghastly crime as "the worst form of domestic violence possible." The ridiculous juxtaposition of "domestic" and "beheading" in the same journalistic breath points up the inherent weakness of the whole "domestic violence" lexicon.

What is "domestic" about this violence? NOW NYS President Marcia Pappas says "it is high time we stop regarding assaults and murders as a lover's quarrels gone bad. We further demand of lawmakers that punishments fit crimes. We of NOW decry the selective enforcement of assault laws and call for judicial enforcement of our mandatory arrest policy, even when the axe-wielder is known by his victim."

And why is this horrendous story not all over the news? Is a Muslim woman's life not worth a five-minute report? This was, apparently, a terroristic version of "honor killing," a murder rooted in cultural notions about women's subordination to men. Are we now so respectful of the Muslim's religion that we soft-peddle atrocities committed in it's name? Millions of women in this country are maimed and killed by their husbands or partners. Had this awful murder been perpetrated by a African American, a Latino, a Jew, or a Catholic, the story would be flooding the airwaves. What is this deafening silence?

And exactly what do orders of protection do? Was Aasiya desperately waving the order of protection in Muzzamil's face when he slashed at her throat? Was it still clutched in her hand as her head hit the floor?

You of the press, please shine a light on this most dreadful of murders. In a bizarre twist of fate it comes out that Muzzamil Hassan is founder of a television network called Bridges TV, whose purpose it was to portray Muslims in a positive light. This a huge story. Please tell it!
 
 

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And why is this horrendous story not all over the news? Is a Muslim woman's life not worth a five-minute report?

Ironically, NOW is buying into the very prejudice they claim to be rising above.

By using language like "terroristic", jumping to conclusions about honor killings, and then linking honor killings to Islam, they are displaying either great ignorance or Islamophobia or both.

First of all, it has yet to be established that this is an "honor killing". Had the victim or perpetrator been black or Catholic or Jewish, I doubt the term "honor killing" would have been employed.

Secondly, it is mistaken to associate honor killing with Islam. There is nothing in the Qur'an or the Hadith about honor killings. Honor killing is a cultural practice, not a religious one---and to imply otherwise is as I said to either display great ignorance or great Islamophobia. It is an unfortunate fact that non-Muslims also engage in honor killings, and to imply that this killing is somehow a part of "the Muslim's religion" is to completely misrepresent the issue at hand.

[True Religion Brand Jeans]

and to imply that this killing is somehow a part of "the Muslim's religion" is to completely misrepresent the issue at hand.d