Samira Salih al-Nuaimi died last week as she lived: a brave symbol of human rights in a region of religious extremist and oppression. Al-Nuaimi, a mother of three and lawyer, was taken from her home in Mosul by Islamic State fighters and taken to a Sharia court for trial for apostasy in her abandoning of true Islamic teachings. This true Islamic path for ISIS then included days of torture and the executive of Al-Nuaimi.
ISIS took over Mosul and began a slew of executions under Sharia law that happened to include anyone arguing for human rights. Al-Nuaimi’s family was later called to pick up her body at a morgue. The corpse showed evidence of savage torture, according to witnesses. ISIS fighters are well-known for torturing captives.
Notably, she was accused of posting Facebook messages criticizing the militants’ destruction of religious sites in Mosul. That was enough to make her guilty of apostasy in the eyes of the Sharia “court.”
It is startling to see young women responding to social media to come at become wives to ISIS fighters, particularly girls from the West like the two recent Austrian teens (though one may now be dead). These girls give up virtually every freedom to join Islamic State which is terrorizing and killing brave women like Al-Nuaimi. The courage and sacrifice of Al-Nuaimi reminds every lawyer of our common obligation to human rights and the struggle against authoritarian rule. Few of us will ever face the mortal dangers that Al-Nuaimi faced every day. That should commit us to fight all the harder against voices against individual liberty and free speech in our own countries.
I cannot imagine (and do not like to contemplate) what these Islamic extremists did to Al-Nuaimi before killing her. They want to force faith through fear and Al-Nuaimi was fearless. That made her a danger. I could think of no greater symbol for not just women in the Middle East but for us all.
This is where you usually disappear from what I remember. Good luck digging out of your hole, paulette.
paulette, Wasn’t her seminal and world shaping speech titled “HeForShe?” You don’t need to grow a pair to discuss the “He.” I’m not a chauvinist like yourself. Feel free to say whatever you wish about men, I don’t segregate or try and violate the First Amendment as you liberals love to do. Got any speech codes up your sleeve?? Your hypocrisy is showing.
Someone’s getting their misogyny on…
https://twitter.com/ScubaSteve732/status/514823931900203010
Nick~
When you grow a uterus you can talk about what constitutes ‘fluffy feel good women’s issues.’
paulette, really? Women’s issues. Privileged white women doing fluffy feel good women’s issues while women of color are tortured and murdered. It is alarming how clueless so many folks here are. Male/female, left/right. We are quite comfortable here in the US, aren’t we. “Let them eat cake” comes to mind.
Nick ~
Ms. Watson was delivering a speech to launch her new initiative HeForShe. Why did you even bring her into this topic when it’s about Samira Salih al-Nuaimi’s torture and murder?
Emma Watson has no comment on the Oklahoma woman beheaded by a Muslim. She is busy working on making Hollywood safe for your actresses. God bless her.
Paul, I’ll be brief. The killing, raping, beheading of women in the ME has been headlines for YEARS. You have a bug up your ass about Hollywood casting couches. I have a problem w/ women being murdered. But, you have a right to focus on casting couches along w/ the dimwitted and prissy, Emma Watson. I will focus on savagery in the ME. To your “straight up” question. Casting couches is #42,584 on my list. Apparently it’s #1 on yours. To each their own.
iconclasts – because some people deserve to be insulted.
Nick – I just heard snippets about the beheading. They’re investigating any possible times to Muslim extremism. Thank God that an armed off duty cop was able to shoot him, because reports claim he was trying to behead someone else.
Nick – I really like this Pope. If this mild man wants them gone, they are the worst of the worst.
As for Emma Watson, she is painfully young, in Hollywood, a bastion of Liberalism. I wish I could explain to her the difference between wage disparity because more women than men choose P/T work, or take breaks in their career, to care for their family, and true gender inequality where women get paid less for the same work. Everyone has to choose. She seems very intelligent and kind-hearted. We’ll see what causes she champions over the next few decades.
Sandi – honor killings are yet another lovely aspect of Sharia Law and Muslim extremism. I knew a young woman whose ex-boyfriend tried to trigger an honor killing when she was visiting family in Jordan. Luckily, her father called the family and had her sent quickly home.
A 54 year old woman was beheaded by a Muslim in Oklahoma, and the privileged Emma Watson is whining about small potatoes.
Nick – what do you have against poor Emma Watson? Did she know this was happening, had happened? You write a speech, you have a topic, you try to stay on topic, you conclude you speech on topic.
Do you have any idea how big the film industry is worldwide? Do you know that Bollywood makes more films than Hollywood? There used to be a few international stars, now there are hundreds, maybe thousands.
Straight up question, Nick. Do you think women in Hollywood should have to have sex with directors and/or producers to get roles in films? Do you think women should be relegated to lesser roles in the film industry because they are female?
Oooo, Paulette, I’m sure that has you feeling deeply regretful and pondering your soul. It’s good that you get to “decide”. LOL!
paulette, Here’s the problem. Ms. Watson was not speaking @ some university or women’s forum, she was speaking @ THE UN! And, if she didn’t know of this case there are thousands of others! If you can’t see how whiney, provincial and insular this Watson speech looks, then you might be part of the problem. I’ll leave that for you to decide.
Interesting news
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The first female air force pilot in the United Arab Emirates led airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria earlier this week.
“She is a fully qualified, highly trained, combat-ready pilot, and she led the mission,” al-Otaiba said during an appearance on American cable channel MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“Do you want a model or a society that allows women to become ministers in government, female fighter pilots, business executives, artists?
Or do you want a society where if a woman doesn’t cover up in public she’s beaten or she’s lashed or she’s raped? This is ultimately what this breaks down to,” he said.
Nick ~
Perhaps Ms Watson wasn’t aware of Samira Salih al-Nuaimi’s fate. Her speech to the UN announced the launch of a global campaign entitled ‘HeForShe’ which seeks to end gender inequality. She’s 24. At 24, my ignorance of global matters was mind numbing.
There was a beheading in Oklahoma today by a Muslim who had tried to convert coworkers!!
The insanity of certain Muslims, who are taught from day one how they must live. This was brought home to me when a young woman told her father she wanted to become Christian and marry. The father had a “duty” to kill her. He did, and her mother, running them over. Muslims then took him to Dallas (from AZ) and put him on a flight out of the country. He could not have done this alone. It was about Muslim “honor.”
Ok, so we do that to people we consider terrorist….. Shouldn’t someome stop already….
paulette, Indeed. Too bad the privileged Emma Watson didn’t take a second to acknowledge her.