Friday, November 1, 2013

Farzana Hasan on the Medium (Anti-"Honour" Crime Transit Ads, Which are Good) and the Messenger (Pamela Geller, Not So Much)

The Toronto Sun columnist has some hesitations about Pamela Geller, the anti-jihad activist behind those "racist" Edmonton transit ads that were removed no more than 24 hours after they went up. She concedes, however, that more transparency re the motivations and provenance of "honour" crimes is, all in all, a good thing:
This is clearly a Muslim problem, but many Muslims do not see it as their issue. 
It is simply too glib to claim that family violence can happen anywhere in a bid to explain away honour killing. 
Some worry about offending orthodox Muslims, but it is more pressing to ask, who will speak for the victims of this violence? 
The motives of those who sponsored the Edmonton bus ads may be questionable. 
However, any method that alerts potential victims to the danger done by a twisted sense of honour may be beneficial. 
It may even save lives. 
That is--or rather, was--the motive, Farzana. So why snipe at the messenger?

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