Footage of a young Syrian woman’s execution by her brother was greeted with widespread horror. Yet such violence is all too common – and as a member of the Free Syrian Army, with its own police and courts, the man is untouchable.
This kind of honor murder is “all too common” and its perpetrator is “untouchable,” yet criticizing Islam and Muhammad in the West is deemed “offensive.”
This took place in Syria, but no one leaves his or her culture at the door when immigrating. Immigrants bring their cultural practices with them. Those who insist upon open borders are choosing the path of willful blindness to the detriment of all free societies.
These are people who see no shame in killing the girl, but actually believe it’s what washes away the shame she has brought on the whole family,” says exiled Syrian writer Loubna Mrie. “An innocent girl is dead because some guy posted her pictures on Facebook.
According to the World Health Organization:
There are an estimated 5000 murders in the name of ‘honour’ each year worldwide, although this is believed to be an underestimate (16). These killings occur mainly in parts of the Middle East and South Asia, but also among some migrant communities – for example, in Australia, Europe and North America. Studies have reported ‘honour’ killings being committed by use of firearms, axes and edged tools; through strangulation and stabbing; and by burning, forcing a woman to take poison or throwing her from a window.
“‘They see no shame’: ‘honour’ killing video shows plight of Syrian women,” by Shawn Carrie and Asmaa Alomar, Guardian, November 12, 2018:
Footage of a young Syrian woman’s execution by her brother was greeted with widespread horror. Yet such violence is all too common – and as a member of the Free Syrian Army, with its own police and courts, the man is untouchable.
Kalashnikov in hand, the man looks into the camera. He stands over a terrified girl, who is pleading for her life.
“Make sure we can see both your faces,” a voice orders.
Behind the shaky camera, another one goads the gunman: “Go ahead, Bashar – cleanse your honour.”
Without another word, a flurry of bullets is fired into Rasha Bseis’s body. It takes nine agonising seconds for her to die.
Rasha had been murdered on camera by her brother, Bashar Bseis, condemned by rumours that she had committed adultery, for which the punishment – in her brother’s eyes – was death.
Even in a war as long and bloody as Syria’s, the execution, shared thousands of times on social media, shocked the Syrian community. The events unfolded after a scorned suitor had posted images of Rasha online. She was dragged from her home in a camp just 2km from Turkey’s border and shot by a soldier it trained and equipped – a fighter enlisted in the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army.
“What [Bseis] did was not an ethic of the Free Syrian Army and is contrary to the principles of our revolution,” Mustafa Sejari, a spokesman for the FSA, told the Guardian, adding that an investigation was under way and that a military court in Jarabulus had issued a warrant for Bseis.
Weeks later, however, an arrest has yet to be made, and there are fears that, as an FSA fighter, Bseis will never be held to account.
“These are people who see no shame in killing the girl, but actually believe it’s what washes away the shame she has brought on the whole family,” says exiled Syrian writer Loubna Mrie. “An innocent girl is dead because some guy posted her pictures on Facebook.”…