Friday, August 24, 2007

Honor Thy Father



She was dragged out of her house, her head held in a headlock. For just a second

a close up of her face showed it distorted by fear, her eyes wild. There was shouting from the crowd. A sense of pandemonium. The raised fist clutching a rock dissolved in a blur of motion as the cell-phone video lost focus. You could only imagine the fury with which she was attacked. Imagine the impact of the rock on her skull, the screams. The rocks that followed. Blood streaming down her long dark hair. You had to somehow force yourself to imagine it because she had lived it, and had not lived through it. In the end there was only her body sprawled on the ground wearing a red cardigan sweater and dark pants. She had been kicked, beaten and stoned to death.

That morning, when 17-year-old Dua Khalil Aswad put on her red sweater, did she have any premonition of what lay ahead? When she heard the men outside her window did her heart sicken? When her cousin came into the house did she know then? When he grabbed her, holding her head in the crook of his arm like a cowboy dragging down a steer, she knew. But it was too late then to escape. Perhaps she saw the police looking on and thought they would save her. Perhaps she thought her mother would burst through the crowd and save her.Where was her mother? Was she in the house, screaming too, being held back from saving her by the father she had dishonored? full text



1 comments:

Unknown said...

I came to know about this horrific act by a bunch of devil lead idiots, via the qahtaniya bombings. That not one of those 2000 men had an active conscience makes me lose my faith in humanity. Has anything been done about those responsible (its been more than 4 months)? If they are brought to justice by the Iraqi govt in an exemplary fashion, i am sure it will help ease the wave of violence between the yezidis and muslims and also give a sense of security to the women in the area. I have read about dua's (may her soul rest in peace) father, brother, uncles and cousins but nothing is mentioned about her mother or sister(if any)? were they also ok with this killing or are they living in constant torment?