Don’t talk of terror but of Islamophobes who make Muslims beat their wives
Domestic violence not terrorism. Richard Ferguson, The Australian, November 13:
(Mustafa Abu Yusuf) from the Islamic youth centre attended by the Bourke Street terrorist … (says Scott Morrison) should be as focused on domestic violence as he is on Islamic terrorism … “We don’t see the Prime Minister … (saying) every male in Australia should hang their head in shame and do more to stamp out domestic violence.”
Did Yusuf miss this? Sascha O’Sullivan, The Australian, November 12:
Labor MP … (Anne Aly) came under fire after attempting to … (link) terrorism and the victims of domestic violence. Dr Aly … said: “It was certainly not my intention to conflate domestic violence with terrorism.”
And did he miss this? Hayley Gleeson, ABC online, August 29:
(Recently, in a Heidelberg mosque, a young Muslim woman told Sheik Alaa El Zokm she) was terrified of getting married … because her husband might interpret verse 34 of chapter four in the Koran as … a licence to … beat her up … (Most) Muslim leaders in Australia shy away from discussing … domestic abuse and Koran 4:34 in public … A significant number of imams in Australia … (tell) followers that 4:34 does allow men to physically discipline wives. And the consequences can be brutal, with police reporting that Muslim men frequently cite scripture as justification for their abuse.
Citing scripture? Koran verse 4:34
Righteous women are devoutly obedient … As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them … refuse to share their beds, beat them …
But it’s calming. Stefanie Balogh, The Australian, February 23, 2017:
Keysar Trad, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, said the verse in the Koran that condones domestic violence … (is saying) “ ‘violence is a last resort’ … What it does is a calming effect before you even consider using your hand … (or) any act of violence.”
Calming? Annabel Hennessy, The Daily Telegraph, November 13:
A 45-year-old refugee from Afghanistan, AKB killed his wife in 2016 after discovering she was planning on leaving him. Their 11-year-old son (said) his father had repeatedly pushed his mother into their bedroom as flames engulfed their home and stopped him trying to save her … (Iranian refugee Amir Darbanou) stabbed wife Nasrin Abek 60 times with a knife in their apartment … Mokhtar Hosseiniamraei … stabbed his … 26-year-old wife Leila Alavi to death (for) leaving him.
Calming? Amani Haydar, ABC online, September 7:
My mum, Salwa Haydar … was just 45 years old when she was murdered by my father in 2015 … (She) died at the scene from about 30 stab wounds … Muslim women survivors … want to critique patriarchy, to talk frankly about how rigid gender roles and inequality fuels violence and abuse. But we’re also worried our stories will feed the racists or invite family disapproval, victim-blaming and slander. So, we self-censor …
Guess who’s really to blame. Samina Yasmeen, Islamophobia: Australia, December 2016:
Australian Muslim women experience … (the) consequences of … creeping Islamophobia. … The lack of access to employment … increases the incidence of male-perpetrated domestic violence. In less extreme cases … (it) prompts men to assume a more authoritarian and restrictive approach … (to) women in their families.