Please note (in the report below) the Lebanese official's statement, "This kind of crime is not common in Lebanon but we have a few every year", as if the "mere few" number of honor killings does not warrant the country's reputation as a backward primitive country. It's like saying, "we have a few terrorist organizations running around with heavy weapons and missiles, but God bless them, they are harmless."
Also note that the Lebanese authorities have yet to eliminate the so-called "extenuating circumstances" that would land this criminal brute a mere 6 months in jail, only to return in his glory to the village, having saved the family's honor.
What we never know are the stories behind the "Honor crimes". Oftentimes, the sister or the female in the family is killed not as a rescue operation of the family's "honor" but because of some other reason: She had information about the brother's illegal activities, or the brother was pimping his sister and when she wanted out, he kills her...etc.
In Lebanon, religion dominates and life is ruled by bearded men from the Middle Ages. Christian or Muslim, Lebanese men (especially from the mountainous hinterland) are neanderthal brutes. This combination makes for a patriarchal society protected by religious orders and organized religion. When marriage and divorce (for example) are permitted under the law only by the religion authorities, imagine how every other aspect of people's lives become subservient to the religious system of thinking, believing in fantasies, and engaging in otherwise violent and criminal actions under the protection of the law.
In my mind, the same psychosocial drivers that are behind "Honor killing" in Lebanon are also at work behind Hassan Nasrallah's "Divine Victories" and "God-mandated resistance", and the recent decision by the Lebanese government to seal Christian-Muslim unity by declaring March 18 (the Day of the Annunciation to Mary) a national holiday, as if to further reinforce the oppressive and mind-numbing sway that religion has on the Lebanese people's minds and lives.
Hanibaal
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Man Arrested in North Lebanon for Sister's 'Honor Killing'
A Lebanese man has been arrested in northern Lebanon for killing his sister earlier this week in what authorities described as an honor killing, a security official said on Friday.
"The 24-year-old victim was single and apparently had a boyfriend," the security official told AFP. "(Her brother) admitted shooting her twice in the head to cleanse the family honor."
The woman was only identified by her initials, as was her 28-year-old brother. Her body was discovered on Tuesday on the main road of the village of Hakr al-Daheri, in the northern Akkar region.
"This kind of crime is not common in Lebanon but we have a few every year," the official said.
Lebanese law stipulates extenuating circumstances for so-called honor killings, in which male relatives kill female kin they suspect of illicit behavior with men.
From Naharnet
Beirut, 12 Mar 10
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