Help the Women of Iraq
In case you haven’t heard about this, here’s a summary: A seventeen year old Iraqi girl, Rand Hussein, is seen talking to a British soldier. Their friendship never gets beyond casual, but the girl confides to a friend that she has a crush on him. Four months later, her father, Abdel-Qader Ali, finds out and takes the only logical step: he beats / stomps / stabs her to death, with the help of his sons. Meanwhile, the girl’s mother, Lila Hussein, fears for her life and gets the courage to escape from her waste-of-genetic-material husband. While hiding out from him she receives multiple death threats. Finally, she is able to plan an escape from Iraq altogether with the help of a group campaigning for women’s rights. On the day she was to be smuggled into Jordan, she was murdered in the street.
I am not violent at all. I don’t wish harm to anyone. But I am being honest when I say that I would personally take joy out of murdering Abdel-Qader Ali. I do hope that this woman’s death is a sort of shot-heard-round-the-world and people open their eyes to these tragedies. It has certainly opened my eyes. But I know that this is not the first time this has happened.
This time, however, there is a way to help. Thanks to Rebecca Watson of SkepChick and The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, and Moe of Jezebel, there is a way to donate money to the group that helped Lila plan her escape. Since the names of the people in the actual organization have to be kept confidential, for obvious reasons, the money will go through Jezebel and will then be wired to a journalist contact in Basra, who will personally hand the money to the organization.
You can send donations of any amount via PayPal to tips@jezebel.com. Thanks for listening.
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June 5th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Thank you so much for this information. I’ve been looking for a good cause to throw some of that tax rebate check at and I’ve found it.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Amen, FD! Thank you for being willing to help.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I was just talking with my husband about it and we only regret that we can’t do more. I really, really hope help gets to these women. The whole situation is horrible beyond words.
June 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
There is literally nothing we can do as American women but share our wealth. Even the tiniest bit of wealth is everything in the world to these women. PLEASE, try to put yourself in their place. Wouldn’t you be BEGGING someone for help? Help to get away from the men who murder your family? I know I would be. Thank you, Jason for the link. I feel a fragment less helpless now.
June 10th, 2008 at 7:36 am
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