Sunday, June 18, 2006
Was There Ever Such A Tale Of Woe As Katherine and Her West Bank Romeo ...
Don't know how many have been following the story of the Michigan straight-A high school student who met a young Palestinian on-line -- and contrived to fly to the Middle East to marry him.
Katherine Lester met Abdullah Babseh (who prefers to go by AbdullahPsycho when he's on-line)on MySpace. She's a 16 year old high school student from Michigan, he's between 20 and 25, and lives on the West Bank. His family is supportive -- and hers is, gosh, apparently not! He sent her plane tickets to get to Jordan, and she was supposed to make her way to the West Bank, but was intercepted by authorities who whisked her back to the States.
Katherine apparently lied to her parents to get a passport, saying she wanted to go to Canada with some friends ("Run along across the border and have a good time ?!?!?! Huh?) Instead she slipped to the airport and the rest is history
Now, Abdullah's family's position is understandable. They want their son to be happy, and his mom even went to meet her at the airport.
According to an AP report:
Plus, in the Middle East, I don't think it's uncommon for men in their early twenties to marry 16 year olds, it happens here in the States as well, depending on where you live. Heck, Zarqawi had a 14 year old bride, and Mohammed himself married an 8 year old.
Abdullah's family's from Jericho, a place described as being relatively calm. But, it's on the West Bank. Where they elected Mama Hamas. Where Al Quada, famous for kidnapping and beheading Americans, has set up shop, and where that low mechanical whine could be an Israeli rocket whizzing overhead, or a Palestinian mortar misfire ...and this girl's probably wondering why her parents are being so unfair about it ...
But, of course, her parents have been unfair about it ... so has our liberal public school system ... and our media, our music industry, and various feminist organizations who are supposed to be safeguarding rights for our daughters ...
Here's what Katherine Lester needs to understand about Islamic culture, and she needed to understand it before being quagmired in hormonal infatuation:
First, the hijab is not a Halloween costume to be worn, deliciously, once a year. If you're living in an Islamic country, you wear it every day of your life, in stifling heat, except inside the house, if your husband allows you to remove it. You don't get to go shopping with your friends, unless your husband, your father, your brother, your uncle, or your son goes out with you. You don't get to dash to Starbuck's for coffee and a little companionship after sundown unless your husband lets you go, and you have a (male) chaperone.
Second, under strict Islamic law -- the wife is property. If you do something that disgraces your husband's family, your in-laws can stone you to death. Don't even think about laying a guilt trip on them, because unlike breast beating Americans, strict Muslim parents don't care. If you dishonor Shari'a, stoning you is the right thing to do according to the culture; don't expect help from the neighbors, either -- they'll agree with your in-laws. Nobody, except possibly your parents back in the States, will really care -- and once you're married inside an Arab fundamentalist culture, your parents will not be able to do anything to help you.
Now, Katherine may revel in the attention she's getting from freaking out her parents, and those old fuddy duddy dudes in this country -- but if she tried the same thing with Abdullah's family, they get to beat her. Legally. No DCFS, no legal recourse, no media outrage (what, Al Jazeera's going to care?)
Under Shar'ia, I suppose it's nice if a woman's educated, but educated women are not especially valued these days; it's female suicide bombers that make the news. Even if a girl is an honor student, she shouldn't count on having many conversations that don't revolve around domestic issues.
Now, some may point out that strict Shar'ia is not practiced in every Muslim country, and that's true. But, remember, Abdullah lives on the West Bank -- which just voted in Hamas to be the ruling party.
Someone should have pointed out that if Katherine had made it to her union with Abdullah, she'd have probably been expected to start having babies almost immediately. Her kids will be raised according to Islamic tradition, regardless of what she wanted. And forget any notion of teaching the kids anything about Christianity or any other religion -- ain't gonna happen in an Islamist country.
If there's a domestic conflict (which always happens in every family), her husband would probably side with his mother. Remember, the young love birds would probably be nesting with his parents -- or at least, within a short walking distance. The mother-in-law will rule the roost, in accordance with the men in the family, and Katherine would be at the bottom of the family totem poll, at least for another 20 years when she can lord over her own daughter in law.
Unfortunately, Katherine has probably been schooled to revel in multi-culturalism, which translates to "They're just like us, but better and more fun." There are indications that her parents are of the liberal persuasion, which means that if politics are discussed in her household -- Bush is the real problem. And the intrinsic cultural oppression of women which occurs in Middle Eastern culture was probably completely under the radar.
Now, to Middle Eastern readers, I'll concede that it depends on the country you live in, but as an American woman, I am not impressed with Islamic law as practiced in alot of Middle Eastern countries. The West Bank is not Jordan, or the UAE, or even Lebanon. A few years ago, in Saudi, home of the Wahhabi's, there was a US woman fighter pilot who was censured for going off base without the proper coverings.
But what about an American bride in a strict Islamic culture? No trips to the mall to hang out. No rap songs with fun lyrics praising "pimps and hoe's" Forget thongs -- if Abdullah's mother finds one in the underwear drawer, she can stone her daughter-in-law if she wants to. Forget fashionably short skirts, low riders, and Abercrombie and Fitch. Forget I-Pod downloads, Seventeen Magazine. Forget about going to the movies to see women action hero's in spandex acting just like men, or steamy love scenes, or teenaged X rated movies. Forget about hanging on the phone for hours at a time to gossip with girlfriends.
Oh -- but don't ever forget that Abdullah gets to go out with his friends whenever he wants to, whereever he wants to, and do whatever he wants to -- and even a young American bride has absolutely nothing to say about it -- and just might be censured by the family if she complains too often and too annoyingly.
Fun times, eh?
Katherine's grown up with full American rights for women, won the hard way over the past hundred years or so. But these days, NOW is not really building on the rights our foremothers won, or promoting education to our daughters exactly how those rights were won. It's basically changed into an organization to promote leftist -- and Democrat -- philosophy, and to swell its own coffers with donation monies from rich liberals and moronic American women.
Yes. I said "moronic", and I meant to. Because what are we teaching our daughters? Dress up in Spandex and beat up boys (watch any action movie out there these days.) Support lesbianism -- (watch any prime-time TV show for the obligatory lesbo scene). Make sure to dress like a "hoe," so you can be exploited by men, then whine, and preferably collect money from a civil lawsuit over it. Make really sure your daughter understands that oral sex isn't really sex, and don't forget to defend Bill Clinton for exploiting a young intern while he was in office -- it was only sex. After all, Hillary, the smartest woman politician in the world, never found sexual exploitation of young interns to be a problem.
Above all, make really sure that your daughter understands that having a profession is more important than staying home with kids -- the real objective, as pushed by our schools and our culture, is to have a career that doesn't involve kids, and to condone having kids without involving a husband. But, don't worry about who's going to take care of those kids -- you can always hire an illegal immigrant woman at dirt cheap wages to look after them while you're at work. And when they're older, they can just cruise the net after school until you get home from work.
Feminism these days is more focused on establishing the grounds for perceived victimization than praising rock hard heroism, the stainless steel backbone of woman who actually brought us our rights. There's not a woman in America today who is really helped by modern feminist organizations -- or popular movies -- or the music industry -- or liberal educators in the public school system -- or liberal politicians ...
Katherine is just another example of how brainwashing works.
Ain't love grand?
StetsonTip Kevin at WhizbangBlog:
Offered for trackback at Cao's. ¶ 8:00 AM
Katherine Lester met Abdullah Babseh (who prefers to go by AbdullahPsycho when he's on-line)on MySpace. She's a 16 year old high school student from Michigan, he's between 20 and 25, and lives on the West Bank. His family is supportive -- and hers is, gosh, apparently not! He sent her plane tickets to get to Jordan, and she was supposed to make her way to the West Bank, but was intercepted by authorities who whisked her back to the States.
Katherine apparently lied to her parents to get a passport, saying she wanted to go to Canada with some friends ("Run along across the border and have a good time ?!?!?! Huh?) Instead she slipped to the airport and the rest is history
Now, Abdullah's family's position is understandable. They want their son to be happy, and his mom even went to meet her at the airport.
According to an AP report:
"...Sana Jinzawi, Abdullah's mother, said her son is heartbroken and insisted the two are in love.Now, there's apparently a long tradition of raiding to get a bride in the Middle East. An ex-pat Iranian once explained to me that in the old days, when young people fell in love against their parents wishes, the man raided the village, procured the bride, the parents met, contracts were signed, money exchanged hands and the couple lived happily ever after -- or at least happily enough for romantic legends to develop. Perhaps sending plane tickets to a 16 year old American is a modern analogy.
"She was going to sign a marriage contract as soon as she got here," she said, adding that she told Katherine to "bring a pink dress for the engagement party and a white dress for the wedding."
"She wanted to convert to Islam and wear the head covering and live with us and adopt our culture," she said. (wow, that would warm the heart of any young man's mom -- FB)
Plus, in the Middle East, I don't think it's uncommon for men in their early twenties to marry 16 year olds, it happens here in the States as well, depending on where you live. Heck, Zarqawi had a 14 year old bride, and Mohammed himself married an 8 year old.
Abdullah's family's from Jericho, a place described as being relatively calm. But, it's on the West Bank. Where they elected Mama Hamas. Where Al Quada, famous for kidnapping and beheading Americans, has set up shop, and where that low mechanical whine could be an Israeli rocket whizzing overhead, or a Palestinian mortar misfire ...and this girl's probably wondering why her parents are being so unfair about it ...
But, of course, her parents have been unfair about it ... so has our liberal public school system ... and our media, our music industry, and various feminist organizations who are supposed to be safeguarding rights for our daughters ...
Here's what Katherine Lester needs to understand about Islamic culture, and she needed to understand it before being quagmired in hormonal infatuation:
First, the hijab is not a Halloween costume to be worn, deliciously, once a year. If you're living in an Islamic country, you wear it every day of your life, in stifling heat, except inside the house, if your husband allows you to remove it. You don't get to go shopping with your friends, unless your husband, your father, your brother, your uncle, or your son goes out with you. You don't get to dash to Starbuck's for coffee and a little companionship after sundown unless your husband lets you go, and you have a (male) chaperone.
Second, under strict Islamic law -- the wife is property. If you do something that disgraces your husband's family, your in-laws can stone you to death. Don't even think about laying a guilt trip on them, because unlike breast beating Americans, strict Muslim parents don't care. If you dishonor Shari'a, stoning you is the right thing to do according to the culture; don't expect help from the neighbors, either -- they'll agree with your in-laws. Nobody, except possibly your parents back in the States, will really care -- and once you're married inside an Arab fundamentalist culture, your parents will not be able to do anything to help you.
Now, Katherine may revel in the attention she's getting from freaking out her parents, and those old fuddy duddy dudes in this country -- but if she tried the same thing with Abdullah's family, they get to beat her. Legally. No DCFS, no legal recourse, no media outrage (what, Al Jazeera's going to care?)
Under Shar'ia, I suppose it's nice if a woman's educated, but educated women are not especially valued these days; it's female suicide bombers that make the news. Even if a girl is an honor student, she shouldn't count on having many conversations that don't revolve around domestic issues.
Now, some may point out that strict Shar'ia is not practiced in every Muslim country, and that's true. But, remember, Abdullah lives on the West Bank -- which just voted in Hamas to be the ruling party.
Someone should have pointed out that if Katherine had made it to her union with Abdullah, she'd have probably been expected to start having babies almost immediately. Her kids will be raised according to Islamic tradition, regardless of what she wanted. And forget any notion of teaching the kids anything about Christianity or any other religion -- ain't gonna happen in an Islamist country.
If there's a domestic conflict (which always happens in every family), her husband would probably side with his mother. Remember, the young love birds would probably be nesting with his parents -- or at least, within a short walking distance. The mother-in-law will rule the roost, in accordance with the men in the family, and Katherine would be at the bottom of the family totem poll, at least for another 20 years when she can lord over her own daughter in law.
Unfortunately, Katherine has probably been schooled to revel in multi-culturalism, which translates to "They're just like us, but better and more fun." There are indications that her parents are of the liberal persuasion, which means that if politics are discussed in her household -- Bush is the real problem. And the intrinsic cultural oppression of women which occurs in Middle Eastern culture was probably completely under the radar.
Now, to Middle Eastern readers, I'll concede that it depends on the country you live in, but as an American woman, I am not impressed with Islamic law as practiced in alot of Middle Eastern countries. The West Bank is not Jordan, or the UAE, or even Lebanon. A few years ago, in Saudi, home of the Wahhabi's, there was a US woman fighter pilot who was censured for going off base without the proper coverings.
But what about an American bride in a strict Islamic culture? No trips to the mall to hang out. No rap songs with fun lyrics praising "pimps and hoe's" Forget thongs -- if Abdullah's mother finds one in the underwear drawer, she can stone her daughter-in-law if she wants to. Forget fashionably short skirts, low riders, and Abercrombie and Fitch. Forget I-Pod downloads, Seventeen Magazine. Forget about going to the movies to see women action hero's in spandex acting just like men, or steamy love scenes, or teenaged X rated movies. Forget about hanging on the phone for hours at a time to gossip with girlfriends.
Oh -- but don't ever forget that Abdullah gets to go out with his friends whenever he wants to, whereever he wants to, and do whatever he wants to -- and even a young American bride has absolutely nothing to say about it -- and just might be censured by the family if she complains too often and too annoyingly.
Fun times, eh?
Katherine's grown up with full American rights for women, won the hard way over the past hundred years or so. But these days, NOW is not really building on the rights our foremothers won, or promoting education to our daughters exactly how those rights were won. It's basically changed into an organization to promote leftist -- and Democrat -- philosophy, and to swell its own coffers with donation monies from rich liberals and moronic American women.
Yes. I said "moronic", and I meant to. Because what are we teaching our daughters? Dress up in Spandex and beat up boys (watch any action movie out there these days.) Support lesbianism -- (watch any prime-time TV show for the obligatory lesbo scene). Make sure to dress like a "hoe," so you can be exploited by men, then whine, and preferably collect money from a civil lawsuit over it. Make really sure your daughter understands that oral sex isn't really sex, and don't forget to defend Bill Clinton for exploiting a young intern while he was in office -- it was only sex. After all, Hillary, the smartest woman politician in the world, never found sexual exploitation of young interns to be a problem.
Above all, make really sure that your daughter understands that having a profession is more important than staying home with kids -- the real objective, as pushed by our schools and our culture, is to have a career that doesn't involve kids, and to condone having kids without involving a husband. But, don't worry about who's going to take care of those kids -- you can always hire an illegal immigrant woman at dirt cheap wages to look after them while you're at work. And when they're older, they can just cruise the net after school until you get home from work.
Feminism these days is more focused on establishing the grounds for perceived victimization than praising rock hard heroism, the stainless steel backbone of woman who actually brought us our rights. There's not a woman in America today who is really helped by modern feminist organizations -- or popular movies -- or the music industry -- or liberal educators in the public school system -- or liberal politicians ...
Katherine is just another example of how brainwashing works.
Ain't love grand?
StetsonTip Kevin at WhizbangBlog:
Offered for trackback at Cao's. ¶ 8:00 AM
