Sara Mohammad a Hero
Svenska Hjältar (”Swedish Heroes”) is a yearly award to ten people whom in some way have proven to be heroes. This year, one of the winners is Sara Mohammad, who started and is the president of an organisation called Glöm Aldrig Pela och Fadime (”Never Forget Pela and Fadime”). Pela and Fadime were both immigrants from the middle east, and both were killed by their fathers for trying to live a normal life according to Swedish standards, rather than conforming to a lifestyle that according to the fathers would have preserved the family “honour”.
I write “honour” rather than honour because these actions are so revoltingly evil that I can barely grasp that it’s reality. That anyone could hurt and even kill their own child over something as stupid as choice of clothes or spouse is unfathomable. And it has nothing to do with honour.
Sara Mohammad, whose real name is something else, grew up in Iraq under similar conditions - beaten and threatened when refusing to marry an older man her brother had picked for her, she finally agreed, but managed to escape on the day of her wedding and eventually fled to Sweden. Here, she has devoted all her energy to helping women and men escape the same so called “honour culture” that imprisoned her and so many others. She lives in constant danger but cannot imagine doing anything differently.
To Aftonbladet she says:
The police have told me I should stay home and not attend public events, because of the threats. That makes me angry. If I stay at home and stay quiet, that’s game over. The government doesn’t really know what’s happening, they’re not doing enough. What I do has to be done.
Sara Mohammad is also a member of the Swedish Humanist Association, and in the jury as well as participating in the award ceremony on Sunday is high-profile SHA member Björn Ulvaeus.
What an incredibly sad story. A story similar to this one came out of Canada this past week. Of course, non-Muslims will say that this sort of stuff is unique to Islam. (smirk)
Comment by the chaplain — December 15, 2007 @ 21:43
Chaplain, It’s hardly unique to islam. There’s christian honour culture, jewish honour culture, hindu honour culture… I have yet to hear of an honour killing in a family that was not religious, though.
Comment by Felicia Gilljam — December 15, 2007 @ 21:58