An honour killing in Toronto?
I’m going to state the obvious. That has gotten people in trouble in the past. It might be my turn. We’ll see.
Update: The CBC reports that Toronto police were expected to hold a news conference late Monday afternoon with more information.
At the risk of earning the wrath of the Toronto Star’s Antonia Zerbisias for noting the obvious, I’m going to point at this murder in Toronto as something potentially very significant:
A broad white smile and bright eyes stare back from the photograph of a young woman just two months shy of her 21st birthday, a birthday she won’t see.
The woman in the photograph is Yasmin Ashareh and her remains were found in a bag where the residents of a John Garland townhouse complex put their trash.
Detective Wayne Banks of the Homicide Squad is investigating Yasmin’s whereabouts before her remains were discovered.
A post mortem was conducted on Friday and the cause of death was established to be stab wounds to the neck.
Yasmin lived alone, in a semi-rooming house where she rented a room, near where her body was discovered. According to Banks, she worked at a local store. Her family is from Somalia, although Yasmin was born in Canada. She leaves behind a mother, one brother and two sisters. Yasmin was not reported to be missing.
I’ve highlighted the portions of the report that I think are most disturbing.
Again, the one thing you won’t find mentioned in the article is that Somalia is a majority Muslim country (Sunni), and that Ashareh is a Muslim family name. Somalia is also organized by clan, and the sense of collective shame experienced by the entire clan for the actions of one member is very strong. Anyone outside the clan, and certainly non-Somalis, are treated with suspicion. Relationships with foreigners is strongly discouraged. And for women:
According to Somali custom, women’s social status is inferior. Both sexes believe that gender inequality is normal and natural. Women submit to males and they do much of the hard physical work. Boys and unmarried men tend the camel herds, while married men engage in trade, clear wells, and manage camels. Only senior men have the right to dispose of family property. Women’s security depends on their relationship to their fathers, husbands, brothers, and uncles. Male kin are expected to watch over a woman should she leave her husband.
The stabs wounds to the neck are part of a familiar pattern:
A BUSINESSMAN is facing a life sentence for stabbing his sister to death in front of his two young daughters in a so-called honour killing.
Azhar Nazir, 30, and his cousin, 17, used four knives to cut Samaira Nazir’s throat and repeatedly stab her after she fell in love with an asylum-seeker from what they saw as an unsuitable caste.
Miss Nazir, a businesswoman described as “strong-willedâ€, was heard to shout at her mother, Irshad Begum: “You are not my mother any more.†She was then held down as a scarf was tied around her neck and her throat was cut in three places. Nazir’s daughters, aged 2 and 4, were screaming and were splattered with blood. Police fear that they were ordered to watch as a warning to them. Neighbours called the police after hearing the screaming.
Besides the symbolism of taking revenge against the victim who spoke evil, throat slashing is a consistent element of honour killings around the world.
So we have a Westernized woman, born of a clannish Muslim family, unmarried and living on her own instead of under the protection of her male relatives. Already flags go up. She is probably dating, perhaps even kissing, strange non-Muslim men. Maybe drinking alcohol. Allah knows what else. The shame might be more than members of her family born and raised in Somalia could bear, especially if clan relatives in Somalia had gotten news of the situation.
This is speculation of course. Perhaps there is a good reason why the family did not note her disappearance for several days (a missed garbage pickup meant that the garbage bags were left out for several days before the body was discovered).
My gut tells me this was no mugging gone bad.
What if we do have an honour killing here? Clearly no one can says this is what happened, but then everyone is studiously avoiding looking at the dots that could be connected. Take that dangerous step with me and ask, "What if...?"
Then all the trouble that has beset Europe in the last dozen years might very well be on the horizon here. Already we have had 17 young men arrested on terrorism charges. In that case too, no mention was made of the obvious -- Muslim fundamentalism fueling terror was at work here. Christie Blatchford of the Globe and Mail dared mention the obvious, and was crudely attacked by the Toronto Star’s Antonia Zerbisias, who would have no mention of the role of religion in the plot.
If this story plays out as my instincts tell me it will (and I will try to follow it as best I can and let you know, one way or the other), then Toronto in particular and Canada as a whole will have to ask some harsh questions about just how well "Canadian values", so often talked about by the Liberal Party, have been taught to the immigrants who have been waved through our borders over the years. If those values fall away at the first hint of the Canadian lifestyle that goes along with those values (individual freedom, personal responsibility, gender equality, etc), then we might have a serious problem on our hands as the first generation born of those immigrants start coming of age. What problems? Extremism fueled by a harsh effort to retain traditional values and customs, resulting in violence and even death. Sometimes violence and death restricted to the community in question. Sometimes spilling out into the community at large.
Technorati Tags: Yasmin Ashareh, Toronto, murder
I just hope willful blindness in that larger community is not so widespread that we end up being unprepared for what might happen.
[Some thoughts about bilingualism, multiculturalism, immigration, and values.]
Technorati Tags: Yasmin Ashareh, Toronto, murder
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Comments
Hi Steve:
I'm mostly with you on this EXCEPT for one thing - honour killings aren't very common among Somalis. So far I haven't been able to find evidence of Somali killings taking place in the same manner that is practiced in Pakistan or Afghanistan.
CityPulse 24 just reported that police are looking for an ex-boyfriend so it is possible that we're just dealing with a garden variety domestic (not to dillute its seriousness). If her ex is also Somali, it is possible that cultural issues affected his judgement (eg he killed her to assert his dominance, hence preserving HIS honour).
Posted by: Cynapse at July 17, 2006 12:02 AM
did you see this?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=biLLsSRvrGk&search=mid%20east%20tensions
Posted by: Jed Marlin at July 17, 2006 01:05 AM
Wow how about you wait until we know what happened in this case before you start blaming religion and speculating about honour killings? You are going into a whole tirade about "da Canadian values" already in relation to muslim extremism, but if she was born in Canada it is just as likely (if not more) that she was killed in a typical Canadian domestic dispute (which, by the way, happen 1000 times more often then "honour killings").
Posted by: Meany at July 17, 2006 01:51 AM
Whether or not this particular incident turns out to be an honor killing, Steve has a valid point, and discusses an issue we may soon have to address.
European media and authorities have been known to cover over killings by radical Muslims, either by neglecting to mention religion, or by pretending there was no connection. Hopefully this will not happen (anymore) here, so that we can have an honest discussion an address this evil head on.
Posted by: Joel K. at July 17, 2006 04:39 AM
Check out the CBC archives for "Farah Khan" , that was the muslim parents that slit the throat of their daughter and then hacked up her body to bury the pieces at a lakeshore park .
The media failed to mention the religion of the couple from Pakistan that ironically fled her for our freedom and safety they didn't give to Farah, plus after digging into several articles I found one story that the Father claimed he had to kill her based on Shariah Law and his doubts that he was the biological parent of Farah from the last marriage.
Oddly, it appeared as a Immigration scam to get into canada on compassionate grounds because of the perceived harm to the child if sent back to Pakistan , the Mommy-Dearest step-Mother and psycho Daddy murdered little Farah justs months after geting into Canada .
The Media also spent 10 years hiding the fact that Gamil Gharbi was a Muslim and his suicide note claimed he murdered the 14 female students in Montreal as Jihad for Allah to purge canada of our sinfull freedoms that allow women to get an Education and work outside the home.
Everyone knew him as Marc Lepine , but that was his new name to blend in at school while plotting to murder for Allah's cause and then kill himself to be in paradise with Muhammad and Allah plus all those virgins forced to have sex with him.
Posted by: roger at July 17, 2006 06:00 AM
Meany:
These examples have been proven either in a Court case or Police records , and I really wish
more Muslims felt as you do and stop their "Alleged" claims of Islamophobia everytime a Mosque is damaged and not one arrest is made to prove who did it.
I've seen how Hamas and Hezbullah kill theirown as martyrs to blame the deaths on Israel and the USA , so until I see the whole evidence on the Canadians killed in Lebanon I will not upset you by assuming "The Jews" did it with an airstrike.
If only Arabs and Muslims in canada expressed an equal outrage when 24 of our Citizens were slaughtered by Muslims on 9/11/01 , it only took until 9/12/01 to show that Islam and Muslims were behind the slaughter of civilians.
So I'm sure you'll agree with me that we must wait for concrete proof that Lebanon was hit by Isaaeli weapons in every case reported by witnesses "Alleging" "The jews" did it.
Posted by: roger at July 17, 2006 06:14 AM
I like the last paragraph, Steve. I've been thinking through alot of these issues myself in the past couple of months, not without regret that I even have to. Not to be a link whore, but you might be interested in this post, which was a first attempt of mine to put some of those thoughts into words: http://rempeliaprime.blogspot.com/2006/06/in-defense-of-bilingualism-and.html
Posted by: Peter at July 17, 2006 09:35 AM
Heh, actually I meant the penultimate paragraph, not the last one.
Posted by: Peter at July 17, 2006 09:36 AM
Roger:
"...so until I see the whole evidence on the Canadians killed in Lebanon I will not upset you by assuming "The Jews" did it with an airstrike."
This is ignorance at it's highest. Israel has already admitted responsibility.
Sometimes I wonder whether some fellow Canadian Conservatives will render more affinity for Israel than they would for Canada.
Stop being a pussy. Canadians were killed--four of them children between ages 1 to 8. If you are a patriot, you would condemn this unfortunate attack.
It's time you stick up for your fellow country-men, dickwad.
Posted by: Omar Soliman at July 17, 2006 10:07 AM
The boyfriend: "Police are investigating whether Ashareh was in a relationship. Banks said yesterday she had previously been in a relationship and police have already questioned that person."
That was reported in the Toronto Star. The implication is that this is a dead end, but then it would not be the first time a person was interviewed, perhaps multiple times, before being detained as a suspect. But the police aren't "searching" for this guy.
Posted by: Steve Janke at July 17, 2006 10:16 AM
I think we need to put some restraint on all that multi-culturalism stuff. In Canada, as far as I know, everybody is equal. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, if for some reason (religious or others) some people can’t live with that maybe they should find another country to live in!
There are no such thing as “honor killing”, if you kill another human being, you are a murderer.
Posted by: Michel Trahan at July 17, 2006 10:45 AM
One law for all.
If your speculation proves true. The killer, if convicted, should face murder one, for premeditated murder. Same for any family members. If found guilty, they too should be sentenced to the full extent of the law as accessories.
Zero tolerance for Islamic intolerance.
Omar,
Sometimes I wonder whether some fellow Canadian Conservatives will render more affinity for Israel than they would for Canada...Canadians were killed...It's time you stick up for your fellow countrymen."
There are many Muslim/canadians I certainly wouldn't call fellow countrymen. But then, that's how they define themselves isn't it?
Having said that, non-combatants getting killed anywhere is horrible.
Posted by: Irwin Daisy at July 17, 2006 11:26 AM
Michael, Michael, Michael... Caledonia has amply displayed that everybody is definitely NOT equal in Canada.
Nevertheless I like your terminology: it should be dishonour murders.
Posted by: markpeters.ca at July 17, 2006 11:26 AM
Omar Soliman
I have lots of affinity for canada thats why i don't want 40,000 labanese running around with canadina passports.
When did one muslim have affinity for canada that they don't worry about their "real" country back home.
I could care less if israel kills 1000 lebanese parading as canadians because they started it.
DO you see the israelis bombing Jordan. Maybe you should ask why.
Posted by: DrWright at July 17, 2006 11:55 AM
DrWright:
"When did one muslim have affinity for canada that they don't worry about their "real" country back home."
Aside from the grade 2 grammar and otherwise reprehensible English, I thought I'd let you know that you're talking to one right now asshole:
I am Muslim and I am also a patriot and a partisan Canadian Conservative.
Stop being racist with your "I could care less if israel kills 1000 lebanese parading as canadians because they started it."
What a nut.
Posted by: Omar Soliman at July 17, 2006 03:03 PM
Omar:
I see the Muslims in Montreal have already exploited the death by parading a grieving female in front of the media, if only Muslims were this upset when 24 Canadian were slaughtered on 9/11/01 by other self-professed Muslims .
Oh, I also noticed the victims of Hezbullah using civilians as shields are now exalted as martyrs for Islam and in paradise with Muhammad and Allah. The female that was born here asserted that "Her home" was attacked , plus it was really sad to see the Jew-bashing hatefest by people with dual citizenship .
Canada reduced the waiting time from 7 to 5 and then 3 years to get a Citizenship for our Passport , and if living in canada for 3 years makes you Canadian ,then living in a garage for three years would make me a car.
It wouldn't shock me if those "Canadians" wanting to get back here are linked to terrorism and only want to hide here from the law , the Khadr's are a perfect example of terrorist Muslims crapping on our flag while feeding off our Social programms.
Check out the CTV.ca 15 minute video that promotes Jihad in Canada against Jews and tries to turn Canada against Israel, taqqiya is a ruse crfeated by Muhammad to allow Muslims to lie if the plan is to plot the killing of the kufars.
Posted by: roger at July 17, 2006 09:27 PM
Roger, I didn't understand a word of what you wrote up there except that part about Muslims should have been madder about 9/11. Now I believe if you look at 99% of the Muslim population, you will probably find that they are completely against violence in any form just like anyone else, because like everyone else, they are normal people with normal middle class jobs with a car, mortgage, and 1.5 kids. However, I think what is different about them in the whole 9/11 thing was that where everyone else kept saying things like "why do they hate us!" and getting replies like "it's because they hate our freedom!" (come on can you think of a dumber more jingoistic stupid response then that, they hate our freedom? please) many muslims probably knew WHY there exist extremists who hate us. That's all. As for "I could care less if israel kills 1000 lebanese parading as canadians because they started it.", I really hope you aren't advocating two classes of Canadian citizenship, one for those born outside of the country (and who are coincidentally not a WASP) and one for those in the country. When one of the second type are stuck in a sticky situation overseas, we should rush to their aid. But for the first type? Forget them, who cares if they are killed, they aren't "real" Canadian's anyways? You know what, people like YOU are the reason Conservatives keep losing elections. YOU scare away normal people that would otherwise be all in favour of most mainstream conservative policies. Unfortunately, most people who voted Liberal and NDP get this impression that all large C Conservatives are like you, and that sucks for the rest of us, because that means we will never get furthur then we are now, and you will just get more bitter and go furthur down that spiral of blaming multiculturalism, muslims, and probably gay people for all of Canada's problems.
(sorry if I post twice, "snuffy the spamhound" is on my case.)
Posted by: Meany at July 18, 2006 05:29 AM
Meany: Your comment made a lot of sense.
These attitudes ARE the reason we keep losing elections--especially in the urban centers...
Please e-mail me at omar.soliman@rogers.com
I am very curious to know what has compelled you to believe this way...a moderate, centrist approach.
Posted by: Omar Soliman at July 18, 2006 08:04 AM
meany:
You tried to draw on a Legal concept of a presumption of innocent until proven guilty, since
CAIR and the CAF support Hezbullah/Hamas I wouold prefer to see actual "Facts" of who attacked the civilians in Lebanon .
I have seen far too many civilians be used as shields by Terrorist and for some sick and twisted reason in the Middle east the Media and adults suffer a bloodlust , they also embrace the macabre by parading injured and frightened children in front of the cameras at hospitals that aren't suppose to "abandon" the injured children because of the psychological trauma .
As for my reference to Muslims, I only questioned why the Montreal Muslims used a Press conference to bash and BLAME Israel at this stage as being the murderers of innocent Canadians , if the only retort you can express is to insult people that you disagee with then you'd enjoy the Liberal Party or CAIR and the CAF .
* Here's a link to a shamefull exploitation of children and a "Threat" to canada by Muslims and Arabs for making a Pro-Israel comment.
I'm so glad Shariah-law was given the boot from Canada , Shariah would make many non-Muslims apostates and valid targets for murder by suicide bombers as Dr.Muhammad Elmasry stated on a TV show in 2005 .
http://www.nvmyweb.com/ShameOnYouCanada/html/beirut.html
BTW, if you know the Quran really well you also know the Muhammad had to flee to a Christian based Country to freely practise islam and spread it , and today many Muslims still flee to the USA and Canada from Islamic Nations which don't tolerate a version of Islam that's different from the State version.
Posted by: roger at July 18, 2006 07:09 PM
Your comments are ridiculously ignorant. You can't possibly speak on these matters with authority...
1. CAIR and CAF do not support Hezbollah/Hamas. To say so is to risk legal action in the name of defamation.
2. Your ignorance of the religious arbitration debate is profound. For starters, the matter in question was not the introduction of shari'a law, per se, but the application of religious arbitration for FAMILY disputes (inheritance, divorce, and so on). There couldn't possibly have been any effect on non-Muslims. Also, when McGuinty cancelled this system of religious arbitration, he simultaneously cancelled this same program for Jewish and other groups.
3. Muhammad did NOT flee a Christian-based "country" to freely practice Islam. He fled the town of Mecca because him and his followers were persecuted by polygamist, idol-worshippers. This is not Christianity...unless your ignorance makes it out to be as such.
Get out of the blogosphere...your ill-informed filth is detracting from informed debate.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 19, 2006 09:15 AM
 
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