![Almaleki is accused of killing his daughter because she had become too "Westernized"](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/hash/81/2c/812cbe5018318eeb0da9392526d16ef4.jpg "Almaleki is accused of killing his daughter because she had become too "Westernized"")
Noor Faleh Almaleki died in a horrifying and bizarre tragedy. Her father hit her with his car on October 20 in a parking lot in Peoria, Arizona. Noor died Monday November 2, of the injuries she sustained. Noor was with her boyfriend's mother, who also suffered serious injuries in the attack.
Peoria Police had initially charged her father, Hassan Almaleki with aggravated assault; now that Noor is dead, the charges will be more severe (see full story here).
Hassan Almaleki attempted to flee the country immediately after the attack. He drove to Mexico, abandoned his car, and tried to fly to Britain. Authorities in Britain forced him to return to the United States. At a court hearing over the weekend, prosecutor Stephanie Low alleged that Hassan Almaleki had admitted to committing the crime.
Family members told police that Hassan killed his daughter because she was too westernized and refused to conform to traditional Iraqi values. In particular, he felt her actions defied Muslim traditions. Low alleged that "this was an attempt at an honor killing."
Recent updates indicate that Noor had been fighting with Hassan for years, and had planned to move in with her boyfriend and his mother; this made Hassan furious (see more here). Her brother Peter stated that "the past two years she's been going out of her way being disrespectful," but added that seeing her in the hospital broke his heart.
Peter added that there are "different cultures, different values. One culture does not make sense to another culture." Hopefully he was not referring to murder. There are only a few moral absolutes for humanity, but murder is probably one of them.
Sometimes certain ideas don't make sense to others because they are illogical and inherently incorrect, not because others are intolerant. The idea that you should be killed just because you have a vagina and disrespected your father is one such example. Most of the world does not subscribe to such nonsense.
At any rate, the culture argument fails here. Justifying oppression, subjugation and violence on the premise of "culture" is just a laughable proposition. Anyone who thinks that "disrespect" should be met with violent death should get their head checked, regardless of what culture they subscribe to.
That women are still viewed and treated by some as disposable pieces of property is abhorrent and vile in this day and age. Indeed, Noor's case is an apt example of this. She was treated essentially as subhuman. When she refused to submit, she was put down like an animal.
To make a disturbing point, many people in this country probably treat their animals better than Noor was treated by her father.
Comments
Very good article! Thank you for sharing. It is really unfourtunate that women in some cultures only get to live a half life, and i mean that in more than one way. They are killed for inhumane reasons or oppressed to the point to where death might seem like the easier option.
Thank you for reporting on this! Indeed, there is still a dire need for feminist progress.
Okay, stop putting words in peoples mouths....
IF it broke his heart to see his sister in a hospital bed, then Peter was not referring to murder when talking about cultural differences....
Stop implying that he was, just to make ur article juicer...
If that's not what Peter meant, then he shouldn't have prefaced his "heart broken" claim with some crap about his sister's purposeful disrespect and a vague qualification about different "cultures". If my father killed my sibling with the family car, the last thing I would be doing is rambling about "cultural differences" and how my sibling was purposefully disrespectful before tacking on, "by the way, I'm sad she's injured."
There is no excuse for what he did and he has to face the consequences, but i will also tell you this much. I am from India, have been married for 14 years (arranged by our parents) who have given us all the freedom in the world to do what we want with our lives and yet many westerners (Thankfully not all)cannot understand how a marriage can be "arranged". You think in your arrogance that your culture is the only free and liberated one. Sorry, but these are all relative concepts.
It's a shame that this happened though and may her soul find peace.
This is not an attempt at honor killing. It IS honor killing.
My gut reaction would be the death penalty for this guy. But I think life in prison is even a worse punishment given how inmates treat each other, and I don't think he is big enough to fend off another inmate- that coward who killed his daughter the honor killing way then tried to flee to another country.
That's why many of us feel the mostly liberal media is very irresponsible in hiding the fact honor killing is a real problem worldwide in dealing with another lady who fled her father from Ohio to Florida:
www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/14/florida.muslim.convert/index.html
"There is no excuse for what he did and he has to face the consequences, but i will also tell you this much. I am from India, have been married for 14 years (arranged by our parents) who have given us all the freedom in the world to do what we want with our lives and yet many westerners (Thankfully not all)cannot understand how a marriage can be "arranged"."
Good for you that you are happy in an arranged marriage.
But the fact remains if a marriage is arranged, where neither husband nor bride have a choice in it, they are in for a loveless marriage more likely than not. I am Asian, too, and I have seen that kind of stuff. It is not good for the soul. It is good you are happy with it, but I don't think for a second you are the rule rather then the exception. In your case, it sounds more like luck of the draw that the parents on both sides put a couple together that can be happy with each other.
It is self-contradictory to say marriage is arranged then say you have freedom
to do what you want to do with your life. Marriage is a big part of one's life, after all.
Jenn: If that's not what Peter meant, then he shouldn't have prefaced his "heart broken" claim with some crap about his sister's purposeful disrespect and a vague qualification about different "cultures". If my father killed my sibling with the family car, the last thing I would be doing is rambling about "cultural differences" and how my sibling was purposefully disrespectful before tacking on, "by the way, I'm sad she's injured."
Me: I agree with you there. I do wonder if the brother is trying to come to terms that it is the father who did this to his sister.
Regardless, though, to the credit of the mother, she refused to speak to the father for what he did, according to what I heard in the news.
"Sometimes certain ideas don't make sense to others because they are illogical and inherently incorrect, not because others are intolerant."
Disagree. Others (in this case us) are being intolerant. Being intlerant of murder, rape, incest, kidnapping, etc., is a GOOD THING.
"Sometimes certain ideas don't make sense to others because they are illogical and inherently incorrect, not because others are intolerant."
Disagree. Others (in this case us) are being intolerant. Being intlerant of murder, rape, incest, kidnapping, etc., is a GOOD THING.
Punisher, I'm not sure if I agree with you about arranged marriage. Although we may find the idea strange or restricting, it still takes two consenting adults to have an arranged marriage. I mean, arranged doesn't usually mean forced at gun point or coerced - usually, it just means people allow their parents to make the choice for them. But if that's what they want, I don't really see how that is any less "free" than what we've got.
Like, let's say you are going out to dinner with a friend, and you don't know where is a good place to eat, and tell your friend to make the choice. I don't think this means that you did not have a choice or that you were restricted. Allowing someone to make the decision for you is a choice in itself, in my mind.
"Punisher, I'm not sure if I agree with you about arranged marriage. Although we may find the idea strange or restricting, it still takes two consenting adults to have an arranged marriage. I mean, arranged doesn't usually mean forced at gun point or coerced - usually, it just means people allow their parents to make the choice for them. But if that's what they want, I don't really see how that is any less "free" than what we've got."
Not necessarily disagree. If the couple want it that way, then yes, I don't have a problem or don't see a problem, really.
But I know families who don't respect the wishes of their kids and relatives to try to force them into relationships for purpose of marriage.
I guess it depends on the circumstances.
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