We have another fresh outrage from a Sharia verdict: a couple in Mali was stoned to death by extreme Islamic activists in Northern Mali.
They were executed in the town of Aguelhok by being buried up to their necks and pelted with stones until they died. Al-Qaida-linked Islamists are seeking to impose sharia law in the north with an ongoing rebellion. We recently discussed the destruction of Islamic shrines in Timbuktu.
Source: Guardian
Lottakatz, I was accepted into a Peace Corps project in Mali in 1974. I was flown to DC and briefed. The project was to teach Tuareg how to dig pit silos for their cattle, making them less nomadic. I turned the project down for several reasons. I had a degree in criminal justice and although I was young and naive, there was a guy @ the briefing that said little and seemed more CIA than Pease Corps. Also, we wouldn’t be able to drink alcohol! Since then I have followed Mali and this recent violence has broken my heart.
Also in this mix – the Tuareg supplied a large number of men for the Libyan Army in support of Kadaffi. They were driven out with his over thrown & are now wandering around the desert heavily armed and short of money. Thats a bad combination anywhere.
Another benign culture crushed by exposure to global political forces and the lust for power.
Blouise, I get all of my information about world cultures and politics from books about beads, jewelry traditions and masks. 🙂
lotta,
That was really interesting. I knew next to nothing about the Tuareg culture.
To refer to nick spinelli’s post, the region has actually calmed down in the last decade, with the indigenous people of the north, the nomadic Tuareg, negotiating for more autonomy and integration into the Mali armed forces, albeit after a revolution or three over two over the last 30 years.
I first heard of them in connection with their gold-work and jewelry; they’ve been around for centuries as a nomadic people with a matrilineal based social structure. Their men traditionally wear veils and women, on various traditionally designated trips to festivals (mainly in hopes of finding a good metal-smith) have the option of purchasing short-term marriage licences. (To make the trip more interesting?):-)
This incursion by al qaeda is actually destabilizing the possibility of peace in Mali between the government and the Taureq.
You probably have seen pictures of these fellows before- they dress up and dance at the festivals (many young men do) hoping to attract a ‘temporary’ wife. A small ‘dowry’ or gift from the wife to the short-term husband is appropriate from my reading.
The Tuareg also have had and still have a slave class- it ain’t all dancing and cow-herding among the Tuareg. Still, al qaeda seems to be accelerating the destruction of the Tuareg culture in Mali (along with a bunch of other factors) and that’s just ******* me off.
http://0.tqn.com/d/goafrica/1/0/u/G/gerewol.jpg
Barkin:
I haven’t really seen any folks buried to their necks in sand and bludgeoned to death around here for adultery. Where do you hang?
Here in America where the Ten Commandments apply, we would never as a political entity, city, state, federal government, take a person’s life. We have the Sixth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill. No exceptions, Sears Roebuck version of the Bible does not really apply. Thank dog we dont kill people, in the name of the people, like those heathens in Mali.
What was their crime?
Darren:
“There isn’t really much difference between this permutation of Sharia Law and outright rule by decree / totalitarianism.”
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We disagree here. Most garden variety tyrants don’t base their infallibility on the interpretation of the mind of some deity whose will can neither be proven nor disproven. They base it on their own will which is decidedly secular. Think Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot etc. The fundies base their infallibility on some kind of mind meld with the creator of the universe rendering them infinitely more dangerous. They cannot be wrong lest their deity be wrong. Think of them more like Shinto kamikaze’s of WW2.
There isn’t really much difference between this permutation of Sharia Law and outright rule by decree / totalitarianism. It’s not the adherence to law but rather murdering people and using a system of rules to justify it.
Bankers are well hung under Iranian law when they mess with the goods:
rafflaw 1, July 30, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Mike S.,
Whose God knows it?? 🙂
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“God is on our side” knows it.
raff,
Based on comments from a right wing Christian and a devote Muslim, their God knows how it will turn out, not to worry.
Mike S.,
Whose God knows it?? 🙂
All around the world the battle between religious extremists and those who believe in a secular legal system is being joined. The sides pit the Authoritarian mind against rational thought. “God” knows how it will turn out.
Looks like Al Qaeda is exploiting the power vacuum of northern Mali to base its operations after setbacks in Yemen and Afghanistan. I know what I would do to stop it, but I don’t want to upset some of my more sanguine compadres around here.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/26/world/africa/mali-burnett-al-qaeda/index.html
The question is if this act will be allowed by officials of the government.
Are we surprised…..
Mali has been a tinder box for decades. Surprising it’s taken this long to start burning.
Doesn’t sound like an official government action … more like an ad hoc event by a rogue meme complex.