For en måned siden gik jeg fra ham for sidste gang og jeg er ovenpå. Vi boede ikke sammen, end ikke i samme by. Det passede mig fint. Jeg elsker at bo alene. Alligevel fyldte han meget. Med tiden mere, jeg med tiden mindre. Nu er jeg ovenpå igen. Det er sommer, jeg cykler og går til yoga i tide og utide, jeg går amok i mikrofiltreret valleproteinsmoothies, jeg har ro til at læse igen, ser udstillinger, kommer mere ud. Har overskud.

Problemet med mænd er, at vi lader dem fylde for meget. Problemet med kvinder er, at vi er overudviklede på empatiområdet. Derfor har svært ved at sige fra, at være konsekvent. Vi ser det i det private; familiestrukturen, og vi ser det i større sammenhænge i både lokal- og global -samfundet. Den aktuelle kamp om ligeløn for de kvindedominerede arbejdsområder, er et fremragende eksempel. Der hersker en forventning til kvinder om, at de er milde, givende, selvopofrende, næstekærlige og står bag deres mand (chefen er ofte en mand). Det gør vi også, synes jeg faktisk. Med empatien kommer loyaliteten. Men der er uballance i udvekslingen af selvopofrelse eller vilje til kompromis. Kvinder går ud fra, at vi naturligvis får det igen som vi giver, men det gør vi bare ikke. Vi glemmer at bede om at få noget igen, og dét er nødvendigt. Mænd er ikke så kloge. Ihvertfald ikke særlig mange af dem jeg har mødt. De er søde, jeg elsker mænd, men de skal have det skåret ud i pap. Når kvinden i et parforhold opdager, at der er uballance i udveksling af selvopofrelse og vilje til kompromis, så kræver de ofte en genforhandling af kontrakten. I langt de fleste tilfælde sker dette først når det er for sent. Det er ihvertfald min erfaring. Kvinder er splittede mellem nutid og fortid. Vi føler skyld. Det kommer med empatien og forventningerne. Der ligger tusinder af års forventninger til kvinden, hendes plads og hendes rolle, både ude i samfundet og inde i hende selv. Dem ryster man ikke bare af sig på tredive-fyrre år.

Jeg følte skyld. Jeg havde intet gjort, intet forkert. Jeg var imødekommende, selvopofrende og så videre. Også en bitch, Jeg er jo kun et menneske, men jeg var dén halvdel af forholdet som var overbærende. I forlængelse héraf, blev jeg mindre opmærksom på egne behov samtidig med, at jeg i stadig højere grad måtte tage imod sure opstød når noget gik galt for kæresten. Som om det var min skyld! Alene den insinuerede anklage gjorde, at jeg følte skyld. Knud Løgstrup har udarbejdet nogle rigtig fine teorier omkring dette.

Jeg kendte til problemet mens jeg var i forholdet. Jeg vidste, at jeg kun kunne komme ovenpå ved at gøre det hélt slut og dermed blive skyldfølelsen kvit. Jeg fik ret. Jeg kan igen få luft.

Er det Maria Sveland der i Bitterfissen har skrevet, at 'bag enhver stærk mand står en kvinde, og bag enhver stærk kvinde står en skilsmisse'? Det er det vistnok. Måske er der noget om snakken.

Kvindekampen startede med en revolution i 70'erne, men problematikken er så dybtliggende, at virkelige ændringer må ske over lange perioder: En sag for evolutionen. Små skridt. Vi må gøre os bevidste. Ret ryggen medsøstre - livet er ikke for tøsedrenge!

Human Rights Watch har netop udgivet en rapport om de forfærdelig ydmygende forhold, som kvinder i Saudi må finde sig i. Hvem husker ikke episoden med de unge kvinder, som af det religiøse tankepoliti blev tvunget tilbage i en brændende bygning (hvor de døde i flammerne) fordi de ikke var islamisk tildækkede nok?

JP skriver:

En kvinde i Saudi-Arabien skal have tilladelse fra et mandligt familiemedlem til at arbejde, rejse, studere, gifte sig eller modtage sygepleje. Saudiarabiske kvinder lever i en undertrykkende verden, fastslår menneskerettighedsorganisationen Human Rights Watch i en ny rapport, der er baseret på interviews med mere end 100 kvinder fra Saudi-Arabien.

"Den saudiarabiske regering ofrer basale menneskerettigheder for at fastholde den mandlige kontrol over kvinder," har Farida Deif fra Human Rights Watchs Mellemøstkontor udtalt i en pressemeddelelse.

Et eksempel i rapporten er, at en 40-årig kvinde ikke kan rejse ud af landet, medmindre hendes 23-årige søn – der fungerer som hendes værge – har givet tilladelse.

I rapporten bliver det fastslået, at myndighederne behandler kvinder som mindreårige, som ikke har magten over deres eget liv. Kvinder kan heller ikke tage simple beslutninger i forhold til deres egne børn, idet de f.eks. ikke kan åbne bankkonti til børnene eller tilmelde dem i skole uden barnets fars tilladelse.

Menneskerettighedsorganisationen opfordrer Saudi-Arabiens regering til at fjerne de kønsdiskriminerende regler.

De "kønsdiskriminerende regler" er islam, det politisk-religiøse system i sin wahabitiske variant, så for mig at se er HRW - på trods af deres intentioner - himmelråbende naive, hvis de bilder sig ind, at Saudiernes magthavere gør andet end at bryde ud i hånlig krampelatter.

Hele rapporten kan læses i pdf-format her.

Uddrag fra rapportens abstract:

Fatma A., a 40-year-old Saudi woman living in Riyadh, cannot board a plane without written permission from her guardian. As a divorced woman whose father is deceased, the Saudi authorities have now transferred her guardianship to her son.
“My son is 23 years old and has to come all the way from the Eastern Province to give me permission to leave the country,” she said. Throughout much of the world, it is taken for granted that the law empowers both men and women upon reaching the age of majority (typically eightteen) to make decisions for themselves. In Saudi Arabia, however, the government denies more than half of its citizens this fundamental right.
The Saudi government has instituted a system whereby every Saudi woman must have a male guardian, normally a father or husband, who is tasked with making a range of critical decisions on her behalf. This policy, grounded in the most restrictive interpretation of an ambiguous Quranic verse, is the most significant impediment to the realization of women’s rights in the kingdom. The Saudi authorities essentially treat adult women like legal minors who are entitled to little authority over their own
lives and well-being.
Every Saudi woman, regardless of her economic or social status, is affected by these guardianship policies and the deprivation of rights that their enforcement entails.
Adult women generally must obtain permission from a guardian to work, travel, study, or marry. Saudi women are similarly denied the right to make even the most trivial decisions on behalf of their children.

- heller ikke hvis du selv har islamisk baggrund - med mindre du har masser af penge, hvis du nu skulle fortryde. Sædvanlig mellemøstlig hundehandler-mentalitet for fuld udblæsning (EB):

Imam Hussien Khoudour i Slagelse (Imamen i Slagelse???!!! Jeg kender kun ham der's far, der var vognmand...) har i månedsvis forsøgt at afpresse en 20-årig, muslimsk kvinde 200.000 kr. for at give hende papir på skilsmissen fra hendes 28-årige, muslimske mand.

– Jeg vil ikke betale så mange penge for at komme ud af ægteskabet. Jeg har sagt til imamen, at jeg vil gå med til at tilbagebetale min mands brudegave til mig på 30.000 kr.

Den unge kvinde har valgt at stå frem i Ekstra Bladet med sin historie, fordi hun synes, det danske samfund skal vide, at mange muslimske kvinder har store problemer med at blive skilt fra deres muslimske mænd.

Ikke tvangsægteskab
– Jeg lærte O at kende i januar 2007. Når man er muslim, er der ikke noget, der hedder kærester. Man skal forloves og giftes og holde et kæmpebryllup. Hussien Khoudour gav os vort ægteskabsbevis 17. marts, og 15. og 16. august holdt vi vores bryllup med omkring 600 deltagere, fortæller L.

– Var det et tvangsægteskab eller et såkaldt arrangeret ægteskab?

– Nej, overhovedet ikke. Der var frit valg på alle hylder. Han var pæn, ordentlig og godt uddannet. Dagen efter brylluppet rejste vi til Egypten på en treugers ferie, og derefter boede vi sammen en uge i hans lejlighed i København.

Frihed koster
– Så havde jeg fået nok. Jeg ringede til min far og bad ham om at hente mig. Jeg forklarede ham, at jeg havde fundet ud af nogle ting om min mand, der ikke var så gode. Min far hentede mig med det samme og spurgte, om jeg havde det godt med at være single igen. Ja, svarede jeg. Jeg kontaktede senere imam Hussien Khoudour, der havde lavet vor ægteskabsbevis og bad ham give mig en skilsmisse. Min mand sagde først ja, men efter at have talt med imamen ville han alligevel ikke lade mig gå. Imamen søgte at presse mig til at betale de 200.000 kr. Imamen sagde, at han nu havde fået presset prisen ned på 180.000 kr. Hvis jeg betalte det beløb, ville han give mig skilsmissepapirerne. Imamen sagde også, at jeg var meget ung og ikke fungerede i samfundet. Hvis jeg ville have min frihed, skulle det koste mig noget.

– Hør her, sagde jeg til Hussien Khoudour, der står intet sted i Koranen, at jeg skal betale så mange penge for at komme ud af et ægteskab.

- og imamsen har i øvrigt slet ikke ret til at lyse ægteskaber (NA):

Familiestyrelsen har på foranledning af kvindens advokat meddelt, at Hussien Khoudour slet ikke har bemyndigelse til at vie par i Danmark, fordi imamens forening - Nour Hak - ikke er godkendt som trossamfund.

- Efter min opfattelse har min klient aldrig indgået et gyldigt dansk ægteskab. Desuden udløb seksmåneders-fristen den 17. marts i år, men alligevel nægter både imamen og den muslimske mand at give min klient et bevis på skilsmissen, siger advokat Frank Rasmussen.

Ifølge jurist Muhaiman Al-Naeemi, der er partner med Frank Rasmussen, er sagen ikke enestående.

- Jeg vil tro, at mindst et par hundrede muslimske kvinder er i samme i situation som kvinden her. De ønsker at forlade deres mænd, men bliver enten truet eller afpresset økonomisk, siger han.

... Resultatet (fra interviewundersøgelsen ”IntegrationsStatus” om integrationen i Danmark i 2007, udarbejdet af Catinét. AL) er overraskende i forhold til en stereotyp opfattelse af, at tørklædet er noget, som mændene kræver, at deres kvinder bærer, som patriarkalsk overhoved i familien. Men reelt er det ikke overraskende, fordi den samme religion er i udvikling. Tørklædet kan tillægges mange betydninger og bæres af vidt forskellige grunde fra kvinde til kvinde. For nogen er det et modefænomen, og for andre et symbol på et dybt religiøst og individuelt valg, siger Kate Østergaard, som bakkes op af forfatter Gretelise Holm, der er aktuel med en bog om køn og ligestilling.

– Problemer med tørklædet er helt overdimensioneret. Etnisk danske kvinder er også underlagt forventninger, blot om en anden bestemt påklædning, og det, får vi ikke øje på, undertrykker. Det skulle vi måske løse først, før vi pukker løs på mindretallet, siger hun.

Det er dog ikke helt sikkert, at de tre piger nævnt i denne artikel er sådan helt 100% enige i den sag (hele artiklen; hat tip: Snaphanen):

On her first day at Basra University this year a man came up to Zeena, a 21-year-old Christian woman, and three other Christian girls and ordered them to cover their heads with a hijab, or Islamic headscarf.

“We didn't listen to him, and thought he might just be some extremist student representing only himself,” she said. The next day Zeena and two of her friends returned to class with uncovered heads.

This time a man in the black clothes of the Shia militia stopped them at the entrance and took them aside. “He said, 'We asked you yesterday to wear a hijab, so why are you and your friends not covering your hair?'. He was talking very aggressively and I was scared,” Zeena recalled.

The girls explained that they were Christians and that their faith did not call for headscarves. “He said: 'Outside this university you are Christian and can do what you want; inside you are not. Next time I want to see you wearing a hijab or I swear to God the three of you will be killed immediately',” Zeena recalled. Terrified, the girls ran home. They now wear the headscarf all the time.

Ja, så er det åbenbart lykkedes de "frigjorte" feminister at få gennemtrumfet, at de må hive deres hængepatter frem i svømmehallerne. Det er sandelig godt, at søstrene har noget at gå op i - tildækning af patter i svømmehallerne er jo et samfundsmæssigt problem af en størrelse, som næppe kan undervurderes.

Flot, piger - i får garanteret en masse ægteskabstilbud ud af det - fra romantiske, mellemøstlige mænd med brune mandel-øjne og hedt blod, som - hvis de lykkes, vil tillade jer helt selv at bestemme, om I vil dække hele kroppen til, eller have halsen skåret over.

Dumheden på venstrefløjen er tilsyneladende grænseløs.

Kommunalreform skyld i andevoldtægter

Offentliggjort 28.03.08 kl. 13:23

Kommunalreformen er skyld i, at lystne andrikker i store mængder begår massevoldtægt mod chokerede hunænder i lystanlægget i Holstebro.

Andrikkernes parringslyst er så voldsom, at de i nogle tilfælde parrer hunnerne ihjel eller drukner dem under akten. Derfor plejer kommunen hvert år at skyde omkring 100 af dem før parringstiden.

Ondulering

Men travlhed med sammenlægningen af fire kommuner har i år betydet, at der ikke var tid til at ondulere ænder. Det svier nu til hunænderne, der forfølges af hele flokke af parringslystne hanner.

- Der er ikke meget at gøre ved det nu, hvor jagtsæsonen er overstået. Hunnerne må klare sig til efteråret, hvor der igen må skydes ænder, siger skov- og landskabsingeniør Thomas Odgaard fra kommunen til Ritzau.

Han forudser imidlertid nye problemer den kommende tid, hvor de mange andrikker vil drukne mange af de nye ællinger.

Jeppe - godt gået, at du stadig kan score de unge, smukke kvinder.

Alle I andre: Klap i - hvis det ikke havde været gensidigt, havde der jo været tale om voldtægt. Det er der ikke, så vidt vides i skrivende stund. ;-)

Og så har det ikke noget at gøre med, at Jeppe Kofoed er socialdemokrat. Hetzen mod ham er at benytte laveste fællesnævner til at få skubbet fiskeindpakningsmateriale over disken i bulk-kvantitet. Det samme var jo tilfældet med Jørgen Leth.

Nu ved jeg ikke om Jeppe er gift, men det rager heller ikke mig - det må blive en sag som holder sig indenfor hans - og pigens - privatliv.

Når danske kvinder konverterer til islam, vælger to ud af tre at bære tørklæde. Det volder ofte problemer for de danske muslimer, der møder stærkt negative reaktioner fra deres danske omgivelser, viser ny forskning.

En 44-årig mandlig læge fra Sydjylland er anklaget for blufærdighedskrænkelse over for to kvindelige patienter, oplyser JydskeVestkystens netavis, jv.dk.

Der falder først dom i sagen om et par måneder, men anklagemyndigheden lægger ifølge anklageren, politifuldmægtig Morten Wosylus op til, at manden, der er af anden etnisk baggrund end dansk, fradømmes retten til at virke som læge i en tidsbestemt periode.

- Der skal afhøres flere vidner inden domsafsigelsen. Det sker i et retsmøde om formentlig to måneder, da der er mange sager under behandling, siger dommer Jan Strange fra retten i Esbjerg til jv.dk.

Kvindernes anmeldelser ligger næsten halvandet år tilbage, men siden har politiet efterforsket i sagen.

En 36-årig kvinde har anmeldt, at lægen bl.a. har befølt hende i skridtet stak en finger op i skeden og i endetarmen samt befølte hende på klitoris og forsøgte at kysse hende bagefter.

En 18-årig kvindes anmeldelse går på, at hun blev opfordret til at tage sin top og bh af, hvorefter lægen holdt om hende og kysssede hende.

Kronik: Forbyd sexkøb - kriminalisér kunderne

Af Ritt Bjerregaard, overborgmester i København (S)

Offentliggjort 08.03.08 kl. 03:00

v/ Lasse Sonne, mag.art., ph.d-stipendiat.

Foredraget er en præsentation af mit nyligt påbegyndte ph.d.-projekt, hvor jeg skal se nærmere på, i hvilke rituelle sammenhænge Þórr blev anvendt. Kildematerialet hertil er nok sparsomt, men giver alligevel et indblik i forskellige rituelle praksis. Kildematerialet vil blive præsenteret - fx runeindskrifter, skjaldedigte og såkaldte amuletter - hvor jeg samtidig vil komme nærmere ind på problemerne ved anvendelsen af de enkelte kilder.

Herefter vil jeg komme ind på to tolkninger af Þórr, som pt. nyder stor udbredelse: Þórr som krigsgud, som fremført af Dumézil, og Þórr som ærekær arketypisk mand, som fremført af Clunies Ross. Jeg vil her se nærmere på, om disse tolkninger, som stort set er baseret alene på myterne om Þórr, stemmer overens med den rituelle anvendelse af Þórr.

Oplægget finder sted mandag d. 31. marts, kl. 17.01 i lokale 15.1.61 på KUA.

Litteratur:

Clunies Ross, Margaret. "Þórr's Honour". Studien zur Altgermanische. Festschrift für Heinrich Beck. Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germaninischen Altertumskunde 11. Heiki Uecker (red.). 48-76. Walter de Gruyter. Berlin & New York 1994.

Jensen, Hans Jørgen Lundager & Jens Peter Schjødt. Suveræniteten, Kampen & Frugtbarheden. Georges Dumézil og den Indoeuropæiske Ideologi. Aarhus Universitetsforlag. 1994.

Lindow, John. "Addressing Thor". Scandinavian Studies 60. 1988: 119-136.

Staecker, Jörn. Rex Regum et Dominus Dominorum. Die Wikingerzeitlichen Kreuz- und Kruzifixanhänger als Ausdruck der Mission in Altdänemark und Schweden. Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology 23. Almqvist & Wiksell International. Stockholm 1999.

Den 23-årige journaliststuderende Sayed Pervez Kambaksh fra Afghanistan blev dødsdømt for at downloade en rapport om kvinders rettigheder efter en retssag, der varede blot fire minutter.

Det fortæller Sayed Pervez Kambaksh til den britiske avis The Independent.

- Min såkaldte retssag varede i fire minutter i en lukket retssal. Jeg fik at vide, at jeg er skyldig, og at jeg skal dø.

Selv om Sayed Pervez Kambaksh risikerede dødsstraf, fik han ikke lov til at have en forsvarer ved sin side.

- Det kunne ikke komme på tale, at jeg skulle have en forsvarer til at repræsentere mig. Jeg fik ikke en gang lov til at tale på mine egne vegne, siger Kambaksh til The Independent, som har interviewet ham i en fængselscelle i byen Mazar-i-Sharif i det nordlige Afghanistan.

Siden dommen den 22. januar har Sayed Pervez Kambaksh boet i en stor celle på 10 gange 12 meter - sammen med 34 dømte mordere, røvere og terrorister.

Dødsdommen har medført voldsomme reaktioner hos de vestlige regeringer. Og i hovedstaden Kabul, hvor folk generelt er mere frisindede end i Afghanistans landområder, er befolkningen også imod dommen.

The Independent har startet en underskriftsindsamling for at få den britiske regering til at lægge pres på Afghanistan, og indtil videre har 90.000 skrevet under for at få Kambaksh løsladt.

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh har anket dommen.

Kvinder, som ikke respekterer hovedtørklædet hijab og deres mandlige ægtefæller, fortjener at dø.

Ordene stammer fra den fremtrædende iranske imam Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hassani, som leder fredagsbønnen i byen Uromieh i den iranske del af Azerbaijan.

"De må dø"
- Jeg forstår ikke, at disse kvinder, som ikke respekterer hijabben, stadig er i live 28 år efter den islamiske republiks fødsel, sagde han onsdag ifølge religionnewsblog.com.

- Disse kvinder samt deres mænd og fædre må dø, sagde Hassani, som repræsenterer det iranske åndelige overhoved Ayatollah Khamenei i det østlige Azerbaijan.

• The fact that their husbands and fathers apparently deserve to die for the ‘disobedience’ of ‘their women’ shows a medieval view that women are inferior to men and somehow meant to be the compliant property of their fathers and husbands.
• Their right to choose their own clothes and determine their own appearance is being denied. They are under constant restriction from the Islamic state with the implicit criticism of the choices that some would wish to make. Any psychotherapist will tell you that criticising another person’s appearance cuts very deep. It expresses disapproval of not just the appearance, but of the person herself (or himself).
• There is an implicit view that they must not express any form of sexuality. Human beings are fundamentally sexual beings. To deny people the right to express themselves are beings with a gender denies a huge part of who they are as human beings.
• There is an implicit view that women are the danger and must accept all the responsibility. If a woman gets raped it is her fault for being a woman. There is no recognition that men are able to resist sexual temptation and should do so. The solution to the problem is to remove any prospect of sexual temptation and blame the woman rather than encourage men to behave responsibly and to accept some responsibility for any attraction.
• The women are abused by the violence that is shown to them if they dare to not conform to the Islamic male agenda.

If women choose to wear the hijab as an expression of faith, let them do so. Any compulsion to do so, including threats of murder to themselves, their husbands, and their fathers is obscenely immoral and makes the whole notion of religious faith look totally ridiculous.

SBAI, NEL NORD ITALIA CI SONO DONNE INCATENATE IN CASA

Getrud har været så venlig at oversætte artiklen - læs i kommentarerne - TAK til "Spydpigen"!!!

PER LA RAPPRESENTANTE DELLE DONNE MAROCCHINE VI È UNA 'PERICOLOSA AVANZATA POLITICA DELL'INTEGRALISMÒ

Roma - Una forte denuncia delle condizioni di vita delle donne arabe in Italia è arrivata oggi da Souad Sbai, presidente dell'assocazione donne marocchine in Italia (Acmid-Donna). «Nel Nord Italia ci sono donne che vivono incatenate in casa, dalla cucina al bagno, senza poter aprire la porta», ha detto la Sbai durante la presentazione a Roma dell'ultimo libro di Giuliana Sgrena 'Il prezzo del velo - la guerra dell'Islam contro le donnè, edito da Feltrinelli. «Nel Nord ci sono bambine di 4 e 5 anni che indossano il velo d'estate come d'inverno. Questa è la cultura dei maschilisti, degli integralisti - ha proseguito - e nessuno si scandalizza di niente». Nella parte settentrionale del nostro Paese, ha spiegato la Sbai, «si sentono la solitudine e la paura delle donne arabe e si vede l'indifferenza totale della politica». «In Italia molte donne non escono di casa, vivono rinchiuse, come in catacombe», ha denunciato la rappresentante delle marocchine in Italia, ricordando che le donne arabe arrivano nel nostro Paese «sognando la libertà e i diritti, e trovandosi poi in piena solitudine». «Il fondamentalismo non ha nulla a che vedere con l'Islam, ma avanza per il buonismo di una certa poltiica in tutta Europa - ha osservato la Sbai -. L'integralismo islamico sta avanzando politicamente, ma non ce ne rendiamo conto perchè non abbiamo avuto le bombe sotto casa. E questo solo perchè ora non è il momento. I Fratelli musulmani si stanno inflitrando anche nella politica italiana», ha detto la Sbai. Parlando poi del continuo sorgere di moschee in Italia, la Sbai ha puntato il dito contro tanti «imam che sono ignoranti, che sono macellai, che hanno provocato danni alla comunità». Riferendosi infine al libro della Sgrena, la Sbai lo ha definito «un regalo per tutte le donne musulmane, per quelle che soffrono, per quelle che sono morte».

Ritt vil kønskvotere vejnavne

Det rabler for Ritt
Forslaget får en hård medfart af den københavnske kultur- og fritidsborgmester, Pia Allerslev (V).

"Nu rabler det altså fuldstændig for Ritt. Man kan da ikke i ramme alvor foreslå kønskvoter på vejnavne. Jeg mangler ord," siger Allerslev til Ekstra Bladet.

Ingen kommentarer.

Fra American Spectator:

If Britain were an inmate in a psychiatric hospital (and there is quite a bit of empirical evidence that it should be), the nation would be on 24-hour suicide watch. I say this after coming across this headline in the Sunday Telegraph: "Multiple wives will mean multiple benefits."

No, Westminster hasn't passed a law permitting bigamy. That is, unless you are a Muslim and happen to have acquired your harem before your British citizenship. It seems Gordon Brown's government will now allow Muslims with more than one wife to claim extra welfare benefits for each wife. That's called compassion. It is estimated that there are at least a thousand "polygamous partnerships" in Britain, so the ruling could cost taxpayers millions of pounds, depending, I guess, on the number of wives each immigrant in question want to bring with him. (Islamic law permits men to have up to four wives at any one time.)

Artiklens forfatter bringer kommentarer fra andre avisers læsere til nyheden:

I SOMETIMES GET a laugh from perusing the reader comments following British news stories. For example there was this from Mike in New York commenting on the "multiple wives" story:

"Wow -- nicely done Labour! You are pretty much guaranteeing that the UK will either end up as a Caliphate or under some rascist (sic) British National Party regime - apparently there is no longer a middle choice. Good job Labour for surrendering like a ravening Frenchmen - and good job Tories for being a milquetoast opposition and abandoning basic conservative principals. You know your country is in trouble when only the freakish fringe parties are talking any sense."

Or this:

"Let us found a religion that allows everyone to have a Porsche and five houses and and... And then ask the state to pay for our religious needs..."

That the law of the land may be applied differently to one depending on his set of supernatural beliefs is the epitome of multiculturalism gone mad, though hardly surprising. Britain's progressives long ago stopped regarding Western civilization as a culture or society worth preserving. Secretly they feel such intense guilt over their colonial history that they have concluded it is best for the colonized to colonize them for a change.

Now then, who's got the next watch?

Se også: Får sosialstønad for flere koner

Søstre dømt til stening i Iran
To iranske kvinder anklaget for utroskab skal piskes og stenes til døde, lyder det fra Irans højesteret. Der er ingen beviser, der giver anledning til en steningsdom, mener forsvarer.

Søstrene kendes kun som 27-årige Zohreh og Azar, skriver religionnewsblog:

The penal court of Tehran province had already sentenced the sisters, identified only as Zohreh, 27, and Azar, to stoning, reports said.

Solati (kvindernes advokat, AL) explained that the two sisters had initially been tried for “illegal relations” and received 99 lashes. However, in a second trial they were convicted of “adultery”.

The pair admitted they were in the video presented by the husband but argued that there was no adultery as none of the footage showed them engaged in a sexual act with other men.

“There is no legal evidence whereby the judge could have the knowledge for issuing a stoning sentence,” Solati said, adding that he had appealed to the state prosecutor.

“The two sisters have been tried twice for one crime,” Solati protested.

Nej, de er blevet dømt to gange for ingenting, og det er de blevet, fordi mænds vidneudsagn vejer væsentlig tungere end kvinders i sharia-lovgivningen. Enhver islamisk mand har ret til at behandle kvinder som kvæg, og det gør de så.

kvinderne var udvalgt blandt evnessvage patienter:

Atta told state TV that both women were mentally disabled and their explosives were remotely detonated.

...

February 1, 2008

Two female jihad-martyrdom bombers kill at least 64 in Baghdad

The motivation for a female jihad-martyrdom bomber is murkier than for a male one. The libidinous aspect is not there, but there have been reports that at least some of these female bombers, if not the ones involved in these Baghdad attacks, are women who have come to be considered as having sullied the family's purity, and as such, their surest path to Paradise is to take hold of Allah's guarantee of it to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Qur'an 9:111). And that promise, of course, may be attractive also to those who do not otherwise face immediate death.

"At least 64 dead in Baghdad market bombs," by Hamid Ahmed for Associated Press

The motivation would seem to be, that the incident is staged by male, anti-mohammadan fanatics sacrificing a couple of oligophrene women under their control, to do their dirty work for them. Anti-mohammadans are cowards, hiding behind women and children! A.L.

Fra Kr. Dagblad

En skare på omkring 200 demonstranter vovede sig i går ud i Kabuls gader for at fordømme dødsdommen mod den 23-årige afghanske journalist Perwiz (Parwez!) Kambakhsh.

Demonstranterne forlangte, at præsident Hamid Karzai skrider ind i sagen og ophæver den ultimative straf, der af en lokal domstol i det nordlige Afghanistan er blevet tildelt Perwiz Kambakhsh for blasfemi og for kritik af Koranen.

– Proceduren i denne sag og anklagerne mod Kambakhsh er på ingen måde anderledes end retssagerne og forfølgelserne under det mørke og middelalderlige Talebanstyre, skriver det afghanske solidaritets-parti i en pressemeddelelse.

Perwiz Kambakhsh er blandt andet blevet dømt for en artikel, hvor han kritiserer profeten Muhammed for at se bort fra kvinders rettigheder, og for at læse hjemmesider på internettet om kvinders rolle i islamiske samfund.

Ja, SÅ må han af med hovedet. Men naturligvis har det intet med islam at gøre.
...

Meshrano Jirga, der er det afghanske parlaments overhus, kritiserer både USA og FN for at blande sig i interne afghanske anliggender og udtrykker sin støtte til dødsdommen. Selvom Overhuset ikke har nogen juridisk vægt kommer støtten til dødsdommen som en overraskelse blandt mange.
...

Uanset Overhusets motiv til at støtte dødsdommen får initiativet skarp kritik fra Den Internationale Forening af Journalister:

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today accused Afghan parliamentarians of being out of touch with democracy when they supported a death sentence passed on a journalist and condemned international human rights protests.

The upper house of the Afghan parliament was commenting on a decision issued last week by a religious Islamic court that convicted Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, a journalism student and reporter for the daily newspaper Jahan-e Naw, of blasphemy and sentenced him to death.

“This statement by Afghan lawmakers is a shocking confirmation of intolerance and a lack of respect for free speech,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “It is worryingly out of touch with international standards of democracy.”

As well as endorsing the death sentence, the parliamentarians also criticised the human rights groups who have launched a public campaign to get the death sentenced reversed.

The IFJ has called on its member unions to join a campaign to urge Afghan President Hamid Karzai to overturn the death sentence against Kambakhsh. The IFJ believes the sentence handed down disregards Afghanistan’s constitution, which says that “freedom of expression shall be inviolable. Every Afghan shall have the right to express thoughts through speech, writing, illustrations as well as other means in accordance with provisions of this constitution.”

“While the Afghan government may not want the scrutiny from the international community, it is our job to put the pressure on President Karzai to ensure that Afghanistan abides by its own laws,” White said.

The IFJ is supporting local groups, including the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association, in their fight for justice for Kambakhsh.

For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2207
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide

MEENA (1956-1987) was born on February 27, 1956 in Kabul. During her school days, students in Kabul and other Afghan cities were deeply engaged in social activism and rising mass movements. She left the university to devote herself as a social activist to organizing and educating women. In pursuit of her cause for gaining the right of freedom of expression and conducting political activities, Meena laid the foundation of RAWA in 1977. This organization was meant to give voice to the deprived and silenced women of Afghanistan. She started a campaign against the Russian forces and their puppet regime in 1979 and organized numerous processions and meetings in schools, colleges and Kabul University to mobilize public opinion. Another great service rendered by her for the Afghan women is the launching of a bilingual magazine, Payam-e-Zan (Women's Message) in 1981. Through this magazine RAWA has been projecting the cause of Afghan women boldly and effectively. Payam-e-Zan has constantly exposed the criminal nature of fundamentalist groups. Meena also established Watan Schools for refugee children, a hospital and handicraft centers for refugee women in Pakistan to support Afghan women financially. At the end of 1981, by invitation of the French Government Meena represented the Afghan resistance movement at the French Socialist Party Congress. The Soviet delegation at the Congress, headed by Boris Ponamaryev, shamefacedly left the hall as participants cheered when Meena started waving a victory sign. Besides France, she also visited several other European countries and met their prominent personalities. Her active social work and effective advocacy against the views of the fundamentalists and the puppet regime provoked the wrath of the Russians and the fundamentalist forces alike and she was assassinated by agents of KHAD (Afghanistan branch of KGB) and their fundamentalist accomplices in Quetta, Pakistan, on February 4,1987.Meena gave 12 years of her short but brilliant life to struggle for her homeland and her people. She had a strong belief that despite the darkness of illiteracy, ignorance of fundamentalism, and corruption and decadence of sell outs imposed on our women under the name of freedom and equality, finally that half of population will be awaken and cross the path towards freedom, democracy and women's rights. The enemy was rightly shivering with fear by the love and respect that Meena was creating within the hearts of our people. They knew that within the fire of her fights all the enemies of freedom, democracy and women would be turned to ashes.

Danske reklamer er endnu engang kommet i unåde hos det svenske "Etisk råd mod kønsdiskriminerende reklamer", ERK. Rådet har tidligere kritiseret danske reklamer for at være sexistiske, og denne gang går det bl.a. ud over turistorganisationen Wonderful Copenhagen, skriver sydsvenskan.se. Wonderful Copenhagen har fået udsendt et annoncetillæg til alle Sydsvenskans abonnenter med angiveligt stødende stereotype beskrivelser af, hvad kvinder og mænd, drenge og piger kan bruge tiden på i København. I annoncen kan man bl.a. læse:

"Mens mor og datter hygger sig med shopping, café-besøg, keramik og kunsthåndværk i København, kan far og søn begive sig ud på en tur for karle med hår på brystet. Lytte til krigs- og militærhistorie, se fantastiske 3D-film, høre om utrolige verdensrekorder, gå på eventyr i ruinerne under Christiansborg Slot og besøge den pensionerede danske ubåd, som blev brugt under krigen i Irak. Afslutte dagen med saftige, hjemmelavede hamburgere."

Jamen, det lyder da hyggeligt på den måde - så slipper man også for den evindelige fodboldsnak et par timer. :-D

Ifølge ERK medvirker Wonderful Copenhagen med den tekst til at "konservere en utidssvarende syn på kønsrollerne, som er nedværdigende for både mænd og kvinder".

Nu må min lomme le. Er der ingen grænser for idiotien? Læs mere på 180Grader.
...
Sydsvenskan fortsætter:

ERK gillade inte heller fortsättningen av reklamtexten, med rubriken ”Krut och kanoner på Orlogsmuseet”:

”Sonen kan klättra runt på skeppet och tillsammans med pappa fördjupa sig i olika teman som bemanning av kanonerna, maten, straff och sjukdomar ombord.”

ERK – ett självsanerande råd som reklambranschen etablerat för att hålla borta den värsta sexismen, samt i hopp om att slippa en lagstiftning mot sexistisk reklam – anser att Wonderful Copenhagen ”konserverar en otidsenlig syn på könsrollerna som är nedvärderande för både män och kvinnor”.

Den som följt ERK:s arbete under åren kan få för sig att rådet mobbar Danmark (och absolut plutläpparnas paradis Italien, men det är en annan historia). Wonderful Copenhagens reklam är bara en av flera danska annonser som pekats ut som sexistisk eller könsstereotyp.

Danskarna är oförstående inför de svenska pekpinnarna. Wonderful Copenhagen skriver i ett kort yttrande att reklamtexten om de krigs- och hamburgerintresserade fäderna och sönerna inte är könskonservativ.

Ibland kan man ana en sarkastisk ton i de danska svaren till ERK.
...
Danmark har ingen motsvarighet till ERK. Louise Witt-Hansen, talesperson för feministiska Kvindeligt Selskab, har sagt att danskar i allmänhet hatar det politiskt korrekta och gör en poäng av att allt måste kunna uttryckas i det offentliga rummet.

”Kritiserar man anses man korkad, tråkig och trångsynt”, säger Hansen.

Dette er jo selvfølgeligheder for os danskere - med undtagelse af Susanne Giese, Elsebeth Gerner-Nielsen og andre fantaster, som forsøger at få Danmark islamiseret så hurtigt som muligt. Ibn Warraq er som altid værd at læse.

1. The subordinate place of women has given way to full social and legal equality. Women have freedom of action, are able to travel alone, are permitted to uncover their faces, and are allowed the same property and inheritance rights as men, and their testimony in a court of law is equal to that of men .

2. No girl is forced into marriage, and no girl is permitted to marry until fully physically mature. Every woman is free to marry a man of her own choice without permission from a putative guardian or parents, or to remain single if that is her choice. Muslim women are free to marry non-Muslims. They are free to divorce and are entitled to maintenance in the case of divorce.

3. Women have equal access to secular education, equal opportunities for higher education, and are free to choose their subjects of study. They are free to choose their own work and are allowed to fully participate in public life-from politics and sports to the arts and sciences.

4. All citizens are equal in front of the law, irrespective of race, religion, creed, or sexual orientation. In other words, non-Muslims (Christians , Jews , Pagans , Zoroastrians , Hindus , Buddhists ,atheists ) and homosexuals enjoy the same human rights as Muslims.

5. Jihad in the military sense is rejected since it does not respect the rights of non-Muslims. Freedom of expression, freedom of thought and belief, freedom of intellectual and scientific inquiry, freedom of conscience and religion – including the freedom to change one’s religion or belief - and freedom from religion: the freedom not to believe in any deity are all protected , and where blasphemy is not a crime. These freedoms include the right to examine the historical foundations of Islam, and to explain the rise and fall of Islam by the normal mechanisms of human history, and the freedom to criticize Islam and the Koran.

6. No person is subjected to cruel punishments such as mutilation of limbs for theft, stoning to death for adultery. Copies of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, and Ibn Warraq’s Why I Am not a Muslim are freely available. Well, at least the latter rather than the former!

The girl is 15 years old but looks much younger. Her face has the fine-boned elegance typical of her native Somalia, but her accent belongs to the streets of East London. She is plainly terrified. That much is clear from the way she avoids eye contact and constantly fidgets in her chair.

"Promise you won't print my name or anything?" she implores repeatedly. "Promise no one will ever know that I've spoken to you? If people in my community find out, they'll say that I've betrayed them and I'll have to run away. And anyway, I don't want my parents to be sent to jail."

With great courage, this British-Somali girl - she asks that we call her "Lali" - is about to describe a barbaric act of ritualised cruelty which has been perpetrated against her. Knowing the danger to which she is exposing herself, her anxiety is entirely understandable.

For by speaking about it, Lali will break the ultimate taboo among Britain's 600,000 ethnic Africans. In Norway, where this brutal act is also prevalent, a young Somali woman was recently beaten, almost to death, for talking to TV documentary programme-makers.

It is known by a variety of names, the most common of which are female genital mutilation (FGM), female circumcision, or simply "cutting" - a word which somehow conveys the raw pain its prepubescent victims suffer.

Most people will be unfamiliar with this practice, which involves removing part or all of the clitoris, the surrounding labia (the outer part of the vagina) and sometimes the sewing up of the vagina, leaving only a small opening for urine and menstrual blood.

It is carried out for a variety of cultural reasons. Such is the secrecy that surrounds the practice that even those aware that it occurs in large swathes of Africa and Asia will be shocked to learn that it is prevalent in Britain.

During a highly disturbing, four-month investigation, however, we uncovered evidence that thousands of British-African girls, in towns and cities throughout the country, have been forcibly "cut".

By conservative estimates, 66,000 women and girls living in Britain have been mutilated. This figure, accepted by the Metropolitan Police, came in a report by a volunteer organisation funded by the Department of Health and carried out with academics from the London School of Tropical Hygiene and the City University.

And thousands more girls are at imminent risk as families club together to fly professional "cutters" from Africa to Britain.

These women "elders" perform the crude operation for up to £40 a time, often on kitchen tables or floors, without anaesthetic, using filthy, blunt knives, razor blades or scalpels.
Many readers will be distressed by our report, but this practice is an abomination which has no place anywhere, let alone in a civilised society, and if it is to be expunged then this is a story that must be told.

There is no way of escaping the unpalatable terminology, just as there is no way for girls like Lali to escape the unsterile knife which cuts them as they are held down and which will result in a lifetime of physical and psychological pain.

Some people say the practice is to increase the sexual pleasure of the man, but this is only one appallingly outdated reason why many womenfolk from 28 African and some Middle Eastern countries, most of which have sizeable representation in Britain, are treated like this.

It is also done to demonstrate their virginity on their wedding night; and because "uncut" girls with the ability to enjoy love-making are considered more likely to be promiscuous, unhygienic, and prone to diseases such as Aids.

Attempts are also made to justify this iniquitous practice on religious grounds. Some hard-line Muslims insist that women must undergo genital cutting to remain faithful to the purest teachings of Islam - although, in truth, it is not even mentioned in the Koran, and only ambiguously in the Hadith (a collection of oral traditions about the life of the prophet Mohammed).

Several leadings Imams have openly condemned the practice. This, though, does not deter its proponents, who maintain that it is their inalienable right to live according to their traditional beliefs and customs, rather than conform to British values. Indeed, some argue that the freedom to carry out FGM is a fundamental principle of our multi-cultural society.

Whatever the arguments, the fact is that genital mutilation is a reality, and the Metropolitan police is so concerned that it recently set up a special unit to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. Heading the unit is Detective Inspector Carol Hamilton, herself a mother, who was horrified when she discovered what was happening to other people's daughters.
The Met team also educates regional police forces about FGM, and speaks to mosques, community groups and local authorities.

Usually their visits are well-received, but we found that at least one London council declined to publish material highlighting the suffering and danger the practice causes - for fear of offending ethnic African residents.

This kind of attitude incenses Detective Inspector Hamilton. "We are all becoming very culturally sensitive," she says. "People are a bit frightened of saying 'You can't do this here' because people shoot back with 'But it's our culture'.

"But it's not: this is just plain cruel. I won't be put off by the politically correct argument. We have to be seen to be strong on this. I don't care about human rights - I care about the rights of the child. Everything else has to go out of the window.

"We have one rule in child protection: the child is of paramount importance. I stick by that firmly."

Together with the Waris Dirie Foundation, an international campaign group formed by the Somali-born supermodel who suffered genital mutilation as a five-year-old child, the Met announced a £20,000 reward last July for information leading to the conviction of anyone who performs or abets cutting.

Under the 2003 Female Genital Mutilation Act, those involved could be jailed for 14 years. Yet the fact that no one has been prosecuted says much about the problems the police are facing.

"There are thousands of girls being cut in your country," says Waris Dirie spokesman Walter Hutschinger. "We are sure it's going on, and on a very big scale. Your law is one of the most comprehensive in the world, but it is useless if nobody will help to implement it.
"We have been contacted by girls from all parts of Britain - London, Cardiff, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool, Reading, Slough, Milton Keynes, Crawley - anywhere there are big African communities.

"Many of these girls know they are about to be cut and are desperate for help, but they are even more afraid of what might happen to them if they come out in the open.

"One young woman wrote recently to tell us that she was about to be taken home to Somalia to be cut, and she was terrified because her older sister had died after cutting. [To avoid detection, the mutilation is often done in a girl's native country.]

"She was thinking of running away - but she didn't know where she could go or what she would do. The girl says genital mutilation has destroyed her family. We wrote back offering a meeting, but she has not been back in touch.'

During our investigation, we found similar difficulty finding girls willing publicly to condemn a practice whose "virtues" are impressed upon them from infancy so that they are effectively brainwashed into believing it to be an essential step towards womanhood.

Lali is so determined that other girls should be spared the misery she has endured since the cutter came to call four years ago that, last week, she bravely told us her story.

She was three years old when her family left impoverished, war-ravaged Somalia and settled in the East End of London, where her early childhood life seemed immeasurably better.

Everything changed for Lali when she was 11 years old. One morning, her mother told her, quite casually, that they were to visit another Somali girl, whom she liked.

"I thought I was just going to play with my friend, so I was happy," Lali says quietly, avoiding eye contact.

Soon after she arrived at the friend's anonymous council house, however, cold reality dawned. In fact, Lali's mother had secretly joined together with several other women to pay for a "cutter" to travel to London from Mogadishu to circumcise their daughters.

"They believed it had to be done, otherwise we would never get a husband,' Lali shrugs.
What happened next was like a scene from medieval times. Her mother, other female relatives and family friends suddenly grabbed Lali and grappled her to the floor. Then, on cue, the strange woman came in, like a torturer with her bag of implements.

"They held me down, and when the woman began cutting I screamed, so my friend's sister put her hand tightly over my mouth," she says. "I had known her and these other women all my life, and now they were doing ... this."

The cutting often results in life-threatening complications such as septicaemia, haemorrhaging or cysts, but in this respect Lali was fortunate. Outwardly, at least, she quickly recovered and returned to school, too frightened and ashamed to tell her teachers and friends about her ordeal.

However, the legacy of the atrocity inflicted on her when she was 11 years old will always remain. When a marriage is arranged for her, sex will be a painful duty to be endured.

If she is lucky enough to avoid the pre-natal complications frequently caused by genital mutilation and have children, she will almost certainly have to undergo a Caesarean section.

"It is the most traumatic rite of passage," says Comfort Mohmoh, a doctor who runs a Well Woman Clinic at London's St Thomas' Hospital and has performed a number of successful operations to reverse genital mutilation - a procedure possible only in less severe cases. She sees from 400 to 500 cases a year. "These women get abdominal pains, backache, extremely painful periods, recurring urinary infections and, inevitably, a great deal of pain during intercourse."

Lali is already encountering some of these physical problems, yet in some ways the emotional and psychological damage is even worse.

"What happened to me has totally broken my trust in the women I loved," she told us. "I didn't believe my mother could let this happen. My love for her has changed.

"It hurt so much. I would never let my children suffer this. I don't believe this is right. It's a stupid, old-fashioned custom. Why can't we forget it?"

This alienation between mothers and daughters, of course, is another subtle way in which the practice subjects African women to male authority. Among the many otherwise educated and reasonable British-African men we spoke to, however, few were willing to call a halt.

With breathtaking sadism, their attitude was summed up by one man during an internet chat forum for Somalis living in Britain. "They should get their kintirs [Somalian for clitoris] cut off if they can't control their passions," was his message to liberated female compatriots.

One lone voice was Asif, a 26-year-old Somali mechanic who came to London at 15 - though his reasoning was hardly reassuring.
"We call these girls 'table-tops' because they are like wood," he told us. Rapping his fist on the table, he added: "Who wants to make love to this? I would never allow this to happen to my daughters."

As Detective Inspector Hamilton has discovered, however, he is very much in the minority. "I met one group of Somalis and got the message that cutting was even stronger here than in Somalia," she says. "Here, it seems, they feel the need to keep their traditions going.

"But detection is very difficult. If somebody rings and tells us a girl has been subjected to it, how do you check that? Especially when the family seem quite reasonable and say they don't believe in it, but refuse permission for the children to be medically examined."

Perhaps we should take a lead from France, whose methods of prevention have been strengthened following a landmark case in 1999, when a woman of West African origins was jailed for eight years for cutting 48 young children.
Now all French children of African background are closely scrutinised by social workers and doctors during infancy, and any abnormal behaviour or prolonged absence from school is immediately investigated.

It is also considered a duty of French doctors to examine any ethnic African girls they suspect have been mutilated and, waiving usual patient confidentiality rules, report their parents to the police if their suspicions are confirmed.

In this age of political correctness, no doubt, factions in Britain will argue that such interventionist activity is discriminatory and a breach of human rights. There will also be those who believe female genital mutilation to be an issue for the African community to resolve, arguing that our overstretched police and health professionals have more pressing matters to address.

Detective Inspector Hamilton was persuaded otherwise when she sat through a graphic video showing a cutter at work. With its haunting screams and bloodied instruments, this real-life horror film changed her life.

"These little girls shouldn't have to live in that other world," she says. "They go to school here. Their homes and friends are here. They are our little girls. They are British. What is happening to them is barbaric - and it must be stopped."

• Anyone with information about female circumcision should call Crimestoppers in confidence 0800 555111, or email david.jones@dailymail.co.uk