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The Women's Rights Cause
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Loading...Iran’s State Media Calls Carla Bruni A Prostitute
Although the case has been out of the news for the past few weeks, the campaign to stop the execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is still going strong, and has a powerful new supporter: French first lady Carla Bruni. There were marches in several French cities this weekend, and both Bruni and her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, voiced their support for Ashtiani. Bruni went so far as to write Ashtiani an open letter, saying,
“I just can’t see what good could come out of this macabre ceremony, whatever the judicial reasons put forward to justify it. Shed your blood and deprive children of their mother, why? Because you have lived, because you have loved, because you’re a woman and because you’re Iranian? Everything within me refuses to accept this.”
Bruni’s impassioned sentiments resulted in an equally impassioned but far less polite response from the Iranian state media, Kayhan, whose editor is a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This weekend, the newspaper carried the headline, “French prostitutes enter the human rights uproar,” and in the article went on to accuse Bruni of being a hypocrite.
“Although Bruni, the morally corrupt singer and actress of Italian (origin), was able to break the Sarkozy family and marry the French president,” ran the article, “lately new reports have emerged about her affair with a singer.”
This seems to be a reference to claims of infidelity that Bruni dismissed last April. However, Iranian state television also joined in, claiming that Bruni was simply trying to justify her own “immorality.”
The perceived need to attack a politician’s spouse shows just how much international attention this case continues to receive, even as Ashtiani’s life still hangs in the balance. Ashtiani’s new lawyer says that he has begun to receive threats, that his office was broken into, and that he has been forbidden to meet with Ashtiani.
We can only hope that more international leaders will speak out on Ashtiani’s behalf – and that they will continue to stand strong, even if, like Bruni, they are subjected to vitriolic personal attacks.
Read more: ashtiani, carla bruni, france, iran, iran state media, media coverage, nicolas sarkozy, sakineh mohammadi ashtiani, stoning, womens rights
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
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+ add your ownThis culture of males that control and dominate their women would refer to any woman who dares to defy them -a prostitute,what are they?they marry children at7,8,9,as did their prophet Muhammed who married a little girl of 9,Aisha,men who have sex with children in our society are called pedophiles,they dominate and control the lives of their female family,and hold them responsible for their 'honour'if she is raped she is responsible and must be punished ,stoned to death,run over by a car which was driven by the father or brother,as was reported,women in countries that have Sharia Law will never be free,their every movement is controlled by men ,they have to be in the company of a male relative when they go out in public,and be shrouded in a black bag from which they peer out of a slit or a mesh opening,she is reduced to a nonentity a black ghost,how dare they do this to her,we are all individuals ,human with our own personalities,this should not be allowed in this day and age,unfortunately I can't ever seeing her -being free from this prison ,the Mullah's and Iman's who preach in their mosques would see to that.
Even if the allegation about Carla Bruni were true, how would that disqualify her from having a valid view? "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone".
I don't have a problem with Islam per se, but I do with any kind of fundamentalism, whether it's Islamic or Christian as they completely have a distorted view of religion. They are all overzealous, backward, religious idiots! Unfortunately, that explains the government there, as well as the fact that the government is run by these fundamentalist nuts, so it is not really suprising to me that they would "attack the messenger" Carla Bruni, a woman at the that, that dared to speak out against their laws.
Romanie,
You cannot seriously compare the situation with France denying the Burkha, where no government would actually kill women for wearing a burkha, with this woman that is to be put to death for having sex outside of marriage, yet the man gets away with nothing. I blame these macabre, fundamentalist governments that enforce their policies on society. It would be a nice day indeed if these governments would be overthrown....
they are doing evrything under the sun to be hated the world over, if Bruni is a prostitute well I'm the pope
This whole thing is a horror movie with the bad guys running the show.
Sakib H, perhaps you should pay more attention to what we said. We didn't say the Islamic Republic of Iran is a model Islamic state. Some western raised Muslims, especially, cringe at the thought that any Muslim country is "truly" Muslim, yet most, if not all, of them do use Sharia Law, the Hadiths & the Quran for the basis of their laws (chopping off hands/feet of thieves, killing or imprisoning gay people, dividing inheritance to the benefit of males, death penalties or prison for people who renounce Islam or for a woman who marries a non-Muslim, little freedom of religion, male dominance, multiple wives - women of course can't have the same freedoms as men, etc etc). And, as far as western countries still need to go in furthering the equality of women & people born with different sexual orientation, there isn't a Muslim country on earth that can even come close to the advanced countries of western Europe or Canada for example.
Are you going to actually tell us that Muslims are not taught that all western women are whores? If so, you'd be the first Muslim we've conversed with that would not admit that & that gay people should be killed, as Mohammed said, or imprisoned, or that Islam should be taught in western schools etc. You, as a UK muslim, are an exception rather than the rule. You should do some reading & research on what Islam teaches in Muslim countries where people are not allowed to question or get a broad liberal education.
I am glad that the President's wife was not afraid of charges of Islamaphobia in coming forward to speak. It has become all too common to mistake real hate with honest conversations about topics that need discussion.
Ramanie you are arguing that assimilation and the death penalty for adultry are equal and they are not. You can argue over France's policies regarding assimilation and whether they are culturally sensitive or not. However, it is not all in the same category as speaking out against ANY culture Islamic or not that puts a woman to death while letting the man live for having sex. You immediatly blame the woman knowing in her culture having sex is not always the choice of the woman.
Moving to another country and assimilating is not the same issue at all. How you choose to integrate and become part of that culture or set yourself apart is another issue. You are free to debate why you feel people should have the freedom to move to a different country and demand that country change, but it is a different conversation than people looking at a woman dying and wondering how this still happens in our world.
What we see in Iran today is the result of American foreign policy which created the Shar of Iran who was supported by American governments in exchange for oil and was abandoned when his usefulness ran out. what we see today is the karma of what previously existed.
@Rob and Jay B.: your ignorance is appalling. All Muslims are not taught that western women are whores as it is not a nationalistic ideology. Also Iran is not a model Islamic State as such a state doesn't exist. If you are going to comment then please do a bit of research at least.
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