Iraq’s Moral Police massacre emo kids – so the vested interest groups say
ENGLISH Alarabiya news reports that Iraqi activists re murdering anyone with an “emo” haircuts. Reports are that the past month at least 90 Iraqi teenagers with “emo” appearances have been stoned to death by the Moral Police. The Iraqi interior ministry calls the emo youth “devil worshippers.”
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement:
“The ‘Emo phenomenon’ or devil worshiping is being probed by the Moral Police who have the approval to eliminate it as soon as possible since it’s detrimentally affecting the society and becoming a danger. They wear strange, tight clothes that have pictures on them such as skulls and use stationery that are shaped as skulls. They also wear rings on their noses and tongues, and do other strange activities.”
One alleged escapee says:
“First they throw concrete blocks at the boy’s arms, then at his legs, then the final blow is to his head, and if he is not dead by then, they start all over again.”
Says the website:
The exact death toll remains unclear, but Hana al-Bayaty of Brussels Tribunal, an NGO dealing with Iraqi issues, said the current figure ranges “between 90 and 100.” Activists said that leaflets were distributed in Baghdad warning teenagers from donning the “emo” style, and in some regions, teenage homosexuals were killed by battering their heads also by concrete blocks.
Is it true? The BBC adds:
Militias in Baghdad’s conservative Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City have distributed leaflets with the names of 20 young people they say should be punished.In a statement on his website, Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr described emo youths as “crazy and fools”, but said they should be dealt with within the law.
The Mail reports it as fact:
Youngsters in Iraq are being stoned to death for having haircuts and wearing clothes that emulate the ‘emo’ style popular among western teenagers. At least 14 youths have been killed in the capital Baghdad in the past three weeks in what appears to be a campaign by Shia militants.
All news organs have the above phots of a man and what seems to be a dead body.
The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission says 40homosexuals – or those thought to be – have since February “been kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered”.
Iraqna News spoke with Colonel Mushtag Taleb Muhammadawi, of the Iraqi Interior Ministry:
”Research and reports on the emo phenomenon has been conducted and shared with the Ministry of Interior which officially approves the measures to eliminate them. The Ministries of Education and Interior are taking this issue seriously and we have an action plan to ‘eradicate them’. I will be leading the project myself and we have the necessary permits to access all schools in the capital.”
But the numbers have not been confirmed. The man in the photo has not been named. And thought such a hideous story is all too believable, we see no proof.
The NY Times notes:
Many details of what Iraqi newspapers have called the “emo killings” are murky and unverified, but the uproar comes at an awkward moment for Iraq. The country has been preparing to showcase itself to the world by hosting a high-profile meeting of Arab leaders in late March, the first major diplomatic event here since American forces withdrew in December…Ibrahim al-Abadi, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said the statement had been misinterpreted. He said emo teens were free to dress as they pleased, and said the government would protect them.
But get this in the Associated Press:
Young people who identify themselves as so-called Emos are being brutally killed at an alarming rate in Iraq, where militias have distributed hit lists of victims and security forces say they are unable to stop crimes against the subculture that is widely perceived in Iraq as being gay.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 11th, March 2012 | In: News Comments (12) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
March 12th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
As to Northern Ireland, my limited understanding is that it involves not only sectarianism, but also the deliberate resettlement, on orders of the King, of Protestants into a land where Catholicism was, or was feared to be, the overwhelming religious majority.
March 12th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
In post #6 there is information on the scriptures that are the foundation of Islam. What these scriptures say, and how they are received by the Faithful, are what Islam consists of.
Solving any problem requires looking at what is actually there, rather than having a wide-ranging discussion that explores any and every aspect imaginable whilst enjoying a nice cuppa, and at the same time being so polite as to say nothing that might inflame any passions at all. I am not taking the side of the EDL here, but I cannot sit by while others appear to be engaging in wishful thinking. We have in Islam something so different, and that it is completely outside of most people’s frame of reference, that it causes many to not have, and sometimes even refuse to have, accurate knowledge of it and how it affects the lives of people.
March 12th, 2012 at 3:51 pm
…and again we find religion at the heart of the killing…. the opium of the masses, but also the cancer of a cohesive society.
March 12th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
This has been verified apparently. They are being caught and stoned…..
To do with religion? probably not but sectarian definitely. We only have to look to Northern Ireland to see what sectarianism does.
March 12th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Well I think any attack on freedom of expression is wrong – and what is going on here is absolutely awful.
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But it’s WAAAAY over simplified to say that “it’s all them islamics faults”
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After all doesn’t freedom of expression include the freedom to express oneself as a Muslim?
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It is more likely to be a cultural and sociological matter than one steeped in religion.
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When I was young and in school, Kids got bullied for being “gay” (if they were or not).
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It wasn’t because of any religious thing – It was because they were different.
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Often that simple fact can be enough.
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The people that are doing this are likely of a similar age to the victims (young men)
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They grew up in a society where brutalization, bombings, blood, violence and murder where common place.
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In our society these kids would get bullied – would get mugged or a kicking from the local “Chavs” – Out there they take it a little further
March 12th, 2012 at 4:09 am
The story ran in al-Arabiya, which may be a “vested-interest group”
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/03/09/199614.html
March 12th, 2012 at 4:01 am
Anorak – …”but the gays are also Muslims”. So they are. The point is that they accept and embrace a gay identity, which is why they were killed. Male homosexual behavior is common, as is the attitude that it’s a behavior of convenience by an otherwise hetero male who does not identify as gay. Big difference.
“And if Islam is dangerous because some Muslims are homophobic nutters…” Islam is designed to be dangerous for gays, women, girls, those who ask too many questions, free thinkers, people who want to have a different religion, non-Muslims, (Jews especially), etc. When a gay Muslim is killed by a fellow Muslim, it is done in defense of Islam. This is true because of what is written in 1)the Qur’an,2) the Sunna, 3) the four sahih (trusted) Hadith, 4) the four accepted schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), and 5) the expression of Islamic jurisprudence, Shari’a law. These scriptures provide a religious and ideological foundation that is unlike anything found outside of Islam. The Christian who murders gays does not represent Christianity because of a verse in Leviticus which most are not even aware of and do not believe they should obey.
March 12th, 2012 at 12:13 am
Do we have any ‘evidence’ that this famous gay blogger is actually in Iraq and not in a bed sit in Clapham?
March 11th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
The famous blogger in Baghdad whose blog became viral during the initial days of the US invasion (and whose pen name was Salam Pax) is openly gay.
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He is also still alive and still tweeting:
http://twitter.com/#!/salam
March 11th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Tom Jones – but the gays are also Muslims. This story passed as factual news is that gays are being massacred. But we are told no names of any victims. And if Islam is dangerous because some Muslims are homophobic nutters, then what of the Christians who murders gays? Do they represent all Christians and Christianity?
http://www.anorak.co.uk/266514/politicians/united-nations-says-its-ok-to-execute-gays.html/
March 11th, 2012 at 7:28 pm
Where there’s smoke….
March 11th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Your “we see no proof” attitude supports those who would like to believe that Islam is not violent and harsh.