Female Genital Mutilation: Shame on Britain

Notice. If you have arrived at this post via a search engine because, You Are At Risk Or Know Someone At Risk From Female Genital Mutilation, then please click this link to the Home Office help page. Please do not be afraid to do so because it is a government organisation, it is there to help you. Alternately, you can access the same information on this blog.

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Hat tip to Richard Dawkins for both story and headline.

Tweet Richard Dawkins: FGM illegal in France and UK. France prosecutes. UK doesn't, out of "respect"/ "cultural sensitivity". Shame on Britain

Shame indeed, and shame all round. Shame on the mothers of these girls, who, has we have seen before, are instrumental in the perpetration and the continuance of this act of barbarity on their own children.

But if I am going to reserve special shame for one individual in particular, vis a vis the accompanying video to this article, then that shame must go to, Scotland Yard's specialist in child abuse cases, Commander Simon Foy.

I can't even begin to describe what the man has to say, but like myself, you will have to watch the clip (Simon Foy 11m20s mark) to fully appreciate his attitude and complacency regarding these girls, some little more than babies. Not given what a good part of the program is about I can't, the differing attitudes between ourselves here in the UK and that of France, and not least the safeguards France has implemented in order to protect these girls.

And how those attitudes differ, again, not for the first time, we hear this from across the channel: "It is very different in France. They have to integrate and they have to obey our laws." See previous: 'Your religious values are not superior to the laws of the republic.' And no prize for guessing which section of the community that particular can of worms related to.

I'm not particularly fond of highlights, I think they insult the reader, if not generally make a mess of the post along the way. But there are things that I feel I should highlight, if only to emphasise my sense of outrage. So I shall post initially without highlighting, but that may change once I've posted.

Hidden world of female genital mutilation in the UK
By Sue Lloyd Roberts
23 July 2012

Every year around 20,000 young women in the UK and France are "at risk" from female genital mutilation (FGM), but the way each country's authorities deal with those who carry it out are very different.

Twenty-three-year-old Ayanna, herself a victim of FGM, stands against the rain-lashed window of her home on the 19th floor of a Glasgow tower block in the Red Road district of the city - home to a new wave of refugees under the government's dispersal programme.

"I am so happy here," she says, clutching her 11-month-old baby to her.

"I no longer suffer the pain of sex with my husband. The pain was worse than childbirth."

She claimed political asylum to escape a forced marriage and to spare her daughter mutilation.

Ayanna explains that other mothers are allowing their daughters to be cut in Glasgow.

"There were two children on the estate, one aged three years and the other two weeks, who were cut recently by the elder women.

"They use razors, scissors and sharp knives".

FGM is a procedure which, at the least, involves cutting away part of the clitoris or, at its most brutal, all the exposed female genitalia, leaving only a small opening for urination and menstruation.

Women can die from its complications; sexual intercourse and child birth can be agonising.

It is accepted practice in parts of Africa and the Middle East and in immigrant communities from those areas. Some believe that it is a necessary part of becoming a woman. There is also a belief that FGM can reduce a woman's libido, and thus the chances of extra-marital sex.

In Glasgow I met a group of Somali women, all of whom had been mutilated.

"If the authorities could help us to make these people stop it, we would be very happy," says one of them.

"Since I arrived two years ago, I have heard nothing," says another. "There should be announcements, classes so people understand what's right and what's wrong."
No prosecutions

Five hundred miles away in Bristol, a group of schoolgirls tell me about "FGM parties".

"They cut them all together, as a group, because it is cheaper and quicker that way," explains 17-year-old Amina.

"At first the girls are all excited because it's a party, until they realise what is going to happen, and then they get frightened.

"It's done by the elder women, or the Imam, whoever is expert at cutting."
Isabelle Gillette-Faye Isabelle Gillete-Faye thinks the UK needs to do more about FGM

About 20,000 children in England and Wales, and about the same number in France, are deemed "at risk" every year.

The laws which made FGM illegal were introduced in France and England at about the same time, in the mid-1980s.

But whereas some 100 parents and practitioners of FGM have been convicted in France, there has never been a single prosecution in the UK.

I meet Isabelle Gillette-Faye, a seasoned campaigner against FGM, at the Gare du Nord in Paris.

She is trying her best not to be rude about the English.

"In England, you are very respectful of your immigrants," she says.

"It is very different in France. They have to integrate and they have to obey our laws."

Detection

She walks me over to the Eurostar platform to tell me the story of two little girls who were about to board the train headed for St. Pancras to be mutilated in the UK.

"It was a Friday. We heard just in time. They had tickets for the Saturday.

"A family member tipped us off. We told the police and they were stopped from making the journey."

The parents were cautioned. Had they gone ahead with the mutilations and been found out, they would have been imprisoned for up to 13 years.

"We simply will not tolerate this practice," Isabelle explains.

Does she think many French children have been cut in the UK?

"Yes, because you do not care," she says.

Scotland Yard's specialist in child abuse cases, Commander Simon Foy, disagrees.

"I am not necessarily sure that the availability of a stronger sense of prosecution will change it (the incidence of FGM) for the better."

The trouble is that what Isabelle calls our "respect" and what others call "cultural sensitivity" makes detection in the UK almost impossible.

In France, mothers and babies attend specialist clinics up until the age of six.

The genitalia of baby girls are routinely examined for signs of mutilation.

Dr Amellou, who works in a clinic in a Paris suburb explains that after the age of six, responsibility is handed over to school medical teams.

They continue to inspect girls, especially those coming from those high-risk ethnic groups.

I point out that such a thing would be unacceptable in Britain.

"What is your problem," she asks? "Our interest is in protecting the child."

"If we find a girl has been mutilated, we offer her psychological support and, if she wants it, surgery," she adds.

Reconstructive surgery

At 7am in a clinic on the outskirts of Paris, Dr Foldes is scrubbing up for the first of six operations he is due to perform that day to reverse FGM.

An anaesthetised woman from Guinea Bissau, is wheeled in the operating theatre, her legs are put in stirrups and the doctor begins.

"It will take only half an hour," he explains, "I restore the clitoris and labia, which were sliced off when she was six years old."

He says this will help the woman enjoy "normal sex and the delivery of a baby".

The patient will pay nothing for this life-changing operation. Dr Foldes operates "pro bono" and the state picks up the costs.

"I have operated on about 50 patients from the UK," he tells me, "but they must pay for everything."

Dr Comfort Momoh, is universally recognised as the UK's expert on the subject. She says that reconstructive surgery is not offered on the NHS.

From her office at St. Thomas's Hospital on London's South Bank, she explains that there are now 17 FGM specialist clinics in the UK.

"We see women who are about to give birth.

"After they are cut, they are sewn up so tightly that the baby cannot get out when they go into labour. We have to cut them open."

With the recent influx of Somali immigrants in to the UK, fleeing the war there, she warns that there are not enough NHS clinics available for what is a growing problem.

"I was in Glasgow recently," she says "and they can't cope."

Back in Bristol, Muna who was born in Somalia and came to Bristol from Sweden in 2003, is baffled as to why the government does not do more to stop it.

"Those statistics show how little the government is doing.

"They are so terrified and they are using cultural sensitivity as a barrier to stop them from really doing anything.

"What would you do if the girl had blue eyes and blonde hair? Would FGM still be carrying on in the UK?"

I ask her if she has a message for David Cameron?

"Yes," she says, "do something about FGM.

"And if you can't handle the issue then there is no point in you doing your job." BBC and video


Female genital mutilation

There are three main types:

The removal of the tip of the clitoris.

Total removal of the clitoris and surrounding labia.

The removal of the clitoris and labia and the sewing up of the vagina, leaving only a small opening for urine and menstrual blood - a process known as infibulation.

Female genital mutilation is tagged FGM on this blog.

Are You At Risk Or Know Someone At Risk From Female Genital Mutilation?

Female Genital Mutilation

In the UK, it is estimated that up to 24,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk of female genital mutilation. Across government work is taking place top tackle this cruel and brutal practice.

Find out about the illegal practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and advice on what to do if you are worried that you or someone you know is at risk.

The facts about female genital mutilation

• Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
• The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women.
• FGM is internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
• An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM. It is mostly carried out on young girls sometimes between infancy and age 15 years.
• In Africa an estimated 92 million girls from 10 years of age and above have undergone FGM.
• Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later potential childbirth complications and newborn deaths.
• It is illegal to practice FGM in the UK.

The law

The Female Genital Mutilation Act was introduced in 2003 and came into effect in March 2004. The act:

• makes it illegal to practice FGM in the UK
• makes it illegal to take girls who are British nationals or permanent residents of the UK abroad for FGM whether or not it is lawful in that country
• makes it illegal to aid, abet, counsel or procure the carrying out of FGM abroad
• has a penalty of up to 14 years in prison and, or, a fine

Multi-agency guidelines

The government has launched new guidelines to support front-line professionals such as teachers, health professional, police officers and social workers to prevent and tackle FGM.

The guidelines:

• explains the complex issues around female genital mutilation
• identify the signs that girls and women may be at risk or who are dealing with the consequences of FGM
• set out the actions that professionals should take, often in conjunction with other agencies, to protect girls and women and offer them the support they need

What are the signs that a may be at risk of FGM?

Suspicions may arise in a number of ways that a child is being prepared for FGM to take place abroad. These include knowing that the family belongs to a community in which FGM is practised and is making preparations for the child to take a holiday, arranging vaccinations or planning absence from school. The child may also talk about a 'special procedure/ceremony' that is going to take place.

Girls are at particular risk of FGM during summer holidays. This is the time when families may take their children abroad for the procedure. Many girls may not be aware that they may be at risk of undergoing FGM.

UK communities that are most at risk of FGM include kenyans, Somalis, Sudanese, Sierra Leoneans, Egyptians, Nigerians and Eritireans. However women from non-African communities that are at risk of FGM include Yemeni, Kurdish, Indonesian and Pakistani women.

If you have concerns that a girl or young women may be taken overseas for FGM then please contact the FCO on 0207 008 1500 or email fgm@fco.gov.uk

You should also call:

• Your local children's services or local safeguarding children's board
• Your local police child protection unit
• The NSPCC on 0808 800 5000
• FORWARD on 020 8960 4000

Indicators that FGM may have taken place

Indicators that FGM may already have occurred include prolonged absence from school, noticeable behaviour change on return and long periods away from classes or other normal activities, possibly with bladder or menstrual problems. Some teachers have described how children find it difficult to sit still and look uncomfortable or may complain of pain between their legs.

You must report your concerns to the police and to children's services.

We recommend you also call FORWARD (Opens in a new window) as they provide support, counseling and safe space for girls and women to talk about their experiences. They can also educates and work with families to prevent FGM happening to any other girls in the family. There are also specialist health services (Opens in a new window) available to women who have undergone FGM. Home Office

Please 'recommend this on Google.'

Footnote: Little wonder this country is in the state it is, if this is the best the Home Office can do for spelling and typos. See original.

France Hands Down Shockingly Lenient Sentences To Parents of FGM Victims

Before we crack on with the current post, I thought it might be prudent to import something I said previously in a post entitled: Democracy! I’ll Take Anarchy Any Day. A bizarre enough post in its own right, but certainly pertinent to this post, if only to highlight the (misogynist) attitudes of the Georgia House of Representatives.

But it is for more reasons than that, that I make use of the words. The pathetically lenient sentience handed down to the father and mother, twenty four and eighteen months respectively, for systematically maiming and disfiguring their own four daughters, is I think, and particularly for France, is nothing short of an outrage, and in itself borders on the criminal.

The text below is response to the sentencing guidelines recommended by the Georgia House of Representatives in regard to legislation banning the practice of female genital mutilation. (FGM) What I must stress however, is just how polite I am being regarding my feelings to acts of such barbarity.

Two to twenty years; I wouldn’t have a problem with the full twenty being handed down to any parent who subjected a daughter to such a selfish act of barbarism, in fact if religion were cited as the reason for carrying out this heinous act, I would give them forty years.

And my reasons would not be, as you might have so easily gathered, that I am anti religion, for this practice is nothing whatsoever to do with religion, it is but for the purposes of subjugating women and robbing them of their sexuality and as such, make them less likely to “stray.” And in doing so, bolster against the overriding insecurity of the misogynist males that abound in the countries where this practice still takes place.

As I said above, it is a bizarre post, because the House went on to include a ban female genital piercings, displaying in the twenty first century, attitudes that are simply astounding.

The legislation applies only to females mind you, it doesn't apply to the male of the species. Democracy! I’ll Take Anarchy Any Day

A slight change from original plans, the Wail has a more comprehensive article than the one I intended to employ.

Islamic holy man and his wife are jailed for mutilating the genitals of their four daughters

Victims sob in court as parents are led away
Minister brands female circumcision a 'grave crime'
By Craig Mackenzie
3 June 2012

An Islamic holy man and his wife have been jailed for the genital mutilation of their four daughters.

The case has shocked France and was branded by a female government minister as a 'grave crime' and an 'intolerable affront to women's dignity.'

All four of the victims, now aged between 11 and 20, were in court to hear the sentence and wept and cried out as their parents were led away from the dock.

The unnamed father was sentenced to two years and his wife got 18 months for allowing a 'doctor' to remove parts of their vaginas.

They were charged with ‘complicity in voluntary violence having led to mutilation by an older person of a minor under the age of 15 years’ , a crime punishable by a maximum of 20 years jail.

The father was said to be a ‘ marabout’ - an Arabic word for an Islamic ascetic holy man alleged to be endowed with magical powers.

The couple originally came from the west African state of Guinea where according to a 2007 study, 96 per cent of young girls have their genitals mutilated in the name of religion. More with photo's.

More in the sidebar under FGM. A previous French related issue posted under the 'Us and Them' tag: 'Your religious values are not superior to the laws of the republic.' French Muslim Jailed

Two Arrested in Birminghan on Charges of Female Genital Mutilation

2 arrested in Britain on charges of genital mutilation

By Agence France-Presse via Raw Story
May 4, 2012

Two people were arrested in Britain’s second city of Birmingham on Friday after a media report that medics and alternative practitioners had offered to perform female genital mutilation.

West Midlands Police said they had arrested two men aged 55 and 61 on suspicion of offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, which forbids the cutting of a girl’s genitalia unless medically necessary.

The arrests related to articles published in The Sunday Times newspaper on April 22, police said in a statement.

“We are still in the very early stages of this investigation but I hope this morning’s action sends out a clear message about how seriously we are taking these allegations,” said Detective Inspector Caroline Marsh of West Midlands Police’s public protection unit.

“Female genital mutilation is a serious assault against young girls and while it is perceived by parents not to be an act of hate, it is harmful, it is child abuse and it is unlawful.”

The Sunday Times reported that a doctor at a private clinic referred undercover reporters to a dentist who he said would give children the “circumcision” surgery.

The dentist then agreed to perform the operation, the newspaper reported. It said an alternative medical practitioner had separately also agreed to carry out the operation.

Britain’s interior ministry estimates that 24,000 girls under 15 are at risk of genital mutilation (FGM), but it has secured few convictions since outlawing the procedure.

Numbers of women and girls in Britain subjected to FGM have increased along with immigration from countries in the Middle East and Africa where it is practiced, The Sunday Times said.

Some 100 to 140 million girls and women globally are thought to have undergone FGM, which ranges from removal of the clitoris to more widespread mutilation, and can lead to infection and long-term severe pain.

The practice is thousands of years old. Raw Story

Previous and related: Female Genital Mutilation 'Offered by UK Medics'

Female Genital Mutilation 'Offered by UK Medics'

The Times link is behind a pay-wall.

Female genital mutilation 'offered by UK medics'

GP, dentist and alternative medicine practitioner are filmed allegedly offering to carry out or arrange FGM
22 April 2012

Waris Dirie, a model who campaigns against FGM, said: 'If a white girl is abused, police break down the door. If a black girl is mutilated, no one takes care of her.'

As many as 100,000 women in Britain have undergone female genital mutilations (FGM) with medics in the UK offering to carry out the illegal procedure on girls as young as 10, it has been reported.

Investigators from the Sunday Times said they had secretly filmed a doctor, dentist and alternative medicine practitioner who were allegedly willing to perform FGM or arrange for the operation to be carried out. The doctor and dentist deny any wrongdoing.

The practice, which involves the surgical removal of external genitalia and in some cases the stitching of the vaginal opening, is illegal in Britain and carries up to a 14-year prison sentence. It is also against the law to arrange FGM.

The procedure is widespread across parts of Africa. Victims are rarely given anaesthetic and frequently suffer long-term damage and pain.

Research suggests that every year more than 22,000 girls in the UK and up to 6,000 in London are at risk of the potentially fatal procedure.

The Metropolitan police said that since 2008 it had received 166 reports of people who feared they were at risk of FGM. Across all 43 forces in England and Wales, no one has ever been convicted of the offence, according to the Sunday Times.

The newspaper added that only two doctors had been struck off by the General Medical Council since 1980.

According to Forward, a charity which campaigns against FGM, an estimated 100,000 women in the UK have undergone mutilation.

The model Waris Dirie, who was mutilated as a child, is a vociferous opponent of the practice.

Calling for a crackdown on FGM, she said: "If a white girl is abused, the police come break down the door. If a black girl is mutilated, nobody takes care of her. This is what I call racism." Guardian

The Violent Oppression Of Women In Islam. A Video

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Please be aware this ten minute video is extremely graphic, I wouldn't recommended viewing by children or persons of a delicate disposition.

The Violent Oppression of Women in Islam

Popcorn With MEMRI TV

Computers are a big waste of time, a description that is neither true or accurate.
Computers are a big time waster, now we're getting somewhere.


Blogs are the biggest time waster, most true, most undoubtedly true.

So for more hours wasted/spent than I would care to admit to, what have we got? a few clips from MEMRI TV.

I suppose I could compare video clips with frogs, you have to kiss an awful lot before you find a prince. So having kissed a whole pile of frogs this morning I offer up these, well not exactly princes, shall we say princes in waiting.

I have in the past linked to many a MEMRI clip but what I offer up are a few of the lesser known ones.
The only one of the more popular ones I shall link to is Wafa Sultan, but by now I would have thought everyone on the planet must have already watched it.


So grab the popcorn.

If you have loose Western morals you will end up embracing homosexuality bestiality and paedophilia.

A compilation on the issue of wife beating in Islamic culture, woman know thy place.

Sixty seconds showing a mass hanging in Iran. Discretion advised.


Discussions on the educational curicula in the land of darkness (Saudi) more interesting towards the end.

Damned homosexualists, didn't Ahmadinejad say only yesterday that there were no gays in Iran? probably because he's hung half of them and the other half are keeping stum

Those damned footballers, stop now this is getting silly.


And last but not least Wafa Sultan.

I will dig through my own archives an see what else I can come up with.


Previous articles with clips.
Us and Them

Should Saudi Women Drive?

Fancy a Swim, Wot No Abaya! A Saudi First,

Female Circumcision. Who Is To Blame?

Well I Never! Qadhafi Loves Condi, Or Should I Say Leeza.

Us And Them Chapter 3650 Woman Know Your Place.

Us and Them Chapter 3649 The Glory Of Martyrdom

Why I hate Religion. Chapter Ten Zillion And One

I came across this story via a link in the next story. (above)


This short story below is horrendous in it's own right but what jumps out at me is it's location and the degree of sentencing.

Given that it is set in Georgia of all places, Georgia where farting without a licence will get you twenty five to life or receiving a consensual blowjob gets you ten, then why oh why does this animal only get ten years?

I can think of no other reason than "Religion" is involved.

An Ethiopian immigrant was convicted of the genital mutilation of his 2-year-old daughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in what was believed to be the first such criminal case in the United States. The man, Khalid Adem, 30, left, was found guilty of aggravated battery and cruelty to children. Prosecutors said Mr. Adem used scissors to remove his daughter’s clitoris in his family’s Atlanta-area apartment in 2001. Mr. Adem wept loudly after the jury’s verdict was read. Federal law bans the practice of genital mutilation, but many states do not have a law addressing it. Georgia lawmakers, with the support of the girl’s mother, passed an antimutilation law last year.source

I beg you read this previous post concerning Georgia and adult female genital piercings, it's a must.


The bill would make such mutilation punishable by two to 20 years (sic)in prison. It makes no exception for people who give consent to have the procedure performed on their daughters out of religious or cultural custom.

I can only assume the proposed bill was originally intended to address the custom of female circumcision but then went on to included consensual adult female piercing.

Two to twenty years; I wouldn’t have a problem with the full twenty being handed down to any parent who subjected a daughter to such a selfish act of barbarism, in fact if religion were cited as the reason for carrying out this heinous act, I would give them forty years. more Democracy! I'll Take Anarchy Any Day.

FGM. A Glimmer Of Hope

And that's all it is, a glimmer.

Police in the UK are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in the practice of female genital mutilation. Here the Somalian-born model Waris Dirie describes her experience.......

Several countries have banned the practice. In recent weeks Egypt has announced measures to fully criminalise the procedure, after a 12-year-old girl died.

"There are laws, but people also need to be punished - that still doesn't happen often enough. Schoolgirls need to be checked after the holidays. Everyone needs to be involved." more

The police speak.

The campaign is being launched at the start of the summer holidays, during which young girls - mainly from African communities - are thought most at risk.

Mutilation involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for cultural reasons.

Up to 7,000 girls in the UK are seen as at risk of this form of circumcision.

The long summer holiday is seen as the most likely time for parents to seek the procedure for their daughter as she has time to recover from what is usually a brutal ordeal before returning to school

She can be sent abroad for the treatment, but police say they know it is also being carried out within the UK itself. more

Previous.

Female Circumcision. Who Is To Blame ?

The Question is specific to the clip in this instance.
Ignorance, religion and misogyny are always to the fore, even taking ignorance and religion into account, I find it so hard to listen to these women talking about gladly butchering their own daughters.
Memri TV (Dead Link)

Update 26 April 2012. The above link is dead, updated link below, but you may have to register with MEMRI, which I thoroughly recommend, it only takes a minute. (Not required)

The clip below will make you want to scream, because it is the women who perpetrate this obscenity on their own daughters. To say nothing of the ignorance that pervades the whole culture, with I have to say, a surprising (male) exception.

#1467 - Egyptian Villagers Explain Why They Circumcise Their Daughters

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1467.htm
Further.

#1555 - Female Circumcision Debated on Egyptian TV

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1555.htm

Two page result of search - Female Circumcision.

http://www.memritv.org/search/en/results/0/0/0/|/0/0/0/0/0.htm?k=female%20circumcision&bAdvSearch=true

Bear in mind MEMRI TV is a Zionist organization, but that doesn't really detract from the stone age Islamic goings on that are depicted there.

http://www.memritv.org/

Us And Them, Ignorance or Enlightenment

Neither us nor them having the monopoly on either, other than the chosen ignorance that both east and west share when jointly embracing the ignorance of religion.

Once having chosen one's deity, or more accurately had it chosen for them, (Dawkins) this then becomes a passport for pursuing seemingly any form of cruelty, acts of barbarism, mutilation, and yes even murder.

Then having invoked the name of their own chosen man in the sky mythological super being this then seems to be taken as an endorsement of the said passport, giving the bearer carte blanche to adopt the most bizarre theories and practices, that to us, the non afflicted, could only describe as totally irrational if not quite insane.

And I employ the word rational or irrational if you will for a purpose. Is there not some passage in the good book that makes reference to the wise spending or using of talents or that the squandering of such talents is a sin? I'm sure there must be.

Now whether we consider the sin above great or small depends much if one has embraced the religion of the good book, one path leading to sin and the other to righteousness, but not quite as you might think.
For one such as I, the ungodly, there can be no greater sin than the wasting of talents, and not least the wasting of the greatest talent that is "gifted" to us, that talent which sets us apart from the beasts of the field, sets us apart and sets us above all the beasts and other creatures on the planet for that matter, and this great talent is rational thought, the very basis of our success as a species.

Perhaps not an oxymoron and maybe not even a contradiction, shall we call it an invitation, an invitation to take up this religion and in doing so automatically commit the gravest of sins, not the sin of misusing or even squandering our greatest talent, worse, to cast it upon stony ground to go unused, to suffer the fate like that of an unused limb, to simply wither away and die. My little thought for today.

So let us then address the task to hand. I had already planned to review and bring you these short clips, but as is the way of the web, distraction, like sin, is all around. It was a middle of the night browse of a friends site that jogged this old memory and as such here we are, but of that later.

The first clip is a Hamas TV interview of the pre-school age children left motherless when the children's mother, Palestinian Suicide Bomber Rim Al-Riyashi, blew herself up and killed five Jews.
I do find it hard to describe all that is wrong with this clip, it offends everything that is decent from start to finish, I leave it to you.
Children of Palestinian Suicide Bomber Rim Al-Riyashi on Hamas TV: Mama Killed Five Jews and She Is in Paradise


Who else but an Islamic cleric could make statements such?

The objections to female circumcision are illogical and unnatural.....
......while others see it as a noble act......
But throughout the history of Islam, nobody has ever said performing female circumcision is a crime.

Al-Azhar University Scholars Argue over the Legitimacy of Female Circumcision Practiced in Egypt

The title says it all really, and yes "it is all about culture."
Egyptian First Lady Suzanne Mubarak: Polygamy and Female Circumcision Can Only Be Abolished Through Education, Not by Force. A Female Egyptian President - Not in the Near Future

I loved this old girl, you can see the weariness in her that overcomes the true academic when facing ignorance one more time, I'll wager she has had a lifetime of such experiences. She reminded me of Wafa Sultan only not quite as voluble. Egyptian Women's Rights Activist Nawal Al-Sa'dawi Talks about Her Beliefs and Explains Her Decision to Leave Egypt: I Am Nauseated by Accusations against Me

When I first watched this fellow have his little rant I had to admit he wasn't a long way off the mark on a number of issues, he mentioned something in relation to Italy, and it was only through watching a clip in the early hours via the Barefoot bum that I twigged the reference. (clip. Last link.)
Al-Jazeera TV Host Faysal Al-Qassem: Western Media -Neo-Goebbelism

This is the clip referred to in the programme, it doesn't throw a very good light on the man/woman in the (US) street.