Brittany Roberts
Mr. Suderman
Middle Eastern Studies
12/2/2012
Middle East Honnor Killings
With the large spread of Muslim honor killings occurring in multiple countries around the world, the question lies, is it morally wrong? The rise of Muslim immigrant honor killings is raising awareness in the United States with six “honor Killings” in the past two years alone. This is pressuring people to have concerns about what that they, “Muslim community and police need to do more to stop such crimes.” The last alleged honor killing was on Nov. 2. When Noor Almaleki and her mother were ran over in a Peoria, Ariz., parking lot. Prosecutors found Noor Almaleki’s father responsible and charged him with murder. He confessed that he was mad his daughter left a man she married in Iraq and moved in with an American. In many of the incidents the father is usually held responsible for most of the honor killings. With reporters quoting, "It's usually the father, brother or first male cousin who is charged with the actual shooting or stabbing, (but not) the mother who lures the girl home," Chester says.
Honor killings can be defined as the killing of any person(s) to protect family honor. The majority of the victims are female. In Middle Eastern countries, women are often times seen as the property of the men. In such environments, marriage and motherhood is the ultimate path to status attainment (Sev’er 969). “The concept of ownership has turned women into a commodity which can be exchanged, bought, and sold” (Mayell 15). In addition to being seen as a possession, women have the burden of not blackening the family name. Although most honor killings are concentrated in the middle east and Asia, it is practiced all around it world. “Reports submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights show that honor killings have occurred in Bangladesh, Great Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda” (Mayell 13-14). The practice was condoned by fundamentalists in Afghanistan, but they have been reported to occur in Iraq and Iran. Iraq and Iran did not report these killings to the UN. Majority of the honor killings occur in countries where women are considered vessels of the family reputation. The bulk of the killings occur in places where tribal customs are followed with little resistance. Father’s often have their son(s) do the killing, for if by some odd chance any legal action is taken, they would get a much lighter sentence for being a minor. “The tragic deaths of Aqsa Parvez and Amina and Sarah Said have raised the specter of honor killings within the Muslim communities in Ontario, Canada, and in Texas.” To many, these three