Time to go into the light...
No Honour in these Killings
March 10th/2017
I was collecting images from around my beautiful County for a project, when, like so many of my journeys, my direction changed. One image created a cascade of others. For what is memory but pictures or images of our history. This incredible image was altered by the loss of some of my innocence. The day Sharia law came to Kingston. The day Kingston Mills lock went from this tranquil magnificence to the site of a grizzly quadruple homicide.
The facts (thanks Wikipedia)
The Shafia Family murders took place on June 30, 2009 in Kingston, Ontario. Shafia sisters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, (all Afghan origin) were found dead inside a car that was discovered underwater in front of the northernmost Kingston Mills Lock.
On January 29, 2012, the jury completed its deliberation after 15 hours and reached a verdict of guilty, four counts of first degree murder for each of the three defendants. Guilty were Mohammed Shafia, Tooba Yahya,(Mohammed's other wife) and his son Hamed. First degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without a possibility of parole for 25 years.
The story
I remember hearing about some accident where 4 people went off the road and into the Locks. The tragedy of losing four people in your family at once was mind boggling. It wasn't long before I became aware of what had happened. I admit at that point in time I had not given Islam or Muslims much thought. I knew about several religions but nothing of Mohamed, or Allah and his teachings. Like most people, I had no need or desire to know, so I spent no energy learning, until then.
The concept that they were executed for dishonouring their family made me shudder. How could anyone justify killing for honour, let alone one's own flesh and blood? How can being too Canadian warrant a death sentence? Yet, that was the reality of what happened.
His daughters died because they were defiant and Canadianized. His first wife, because she was barren and complicit in their treachery. Islam teaches that they were considered property, not people. Commodities to be used as their father/husband saw fit. They had failed to meet their end of the bargain for their lives. They dishonoured their family.
The exact location remains a mystery, but somewhere at that secluded lock station, the four women were held underwater, one by one, until they stopped moving. Autopsy reports do say that there were contusions and bruising on the top of their heads, so they were likely subdued by a blow, before being submersed.
Shafia sisters, Zainab 19, Sahar 17, and Geeti 13, along with Rona Amir Mohammed
Nothing more chilling then the words from the father/husband himself,
“My conscience, my God, my religion, my creed aren’t shameful,”Shafia told the others, back inside the van. “Even if they hoist me up onto the gallows, nothing is more dear to me than my honour. Let’s leave our destiny to God and may God never make me, you or your mother honourless.” MacLean's
“There is,” he said later, “no value of life without honour.”
Thank goodness there was no Islamiphobia M-103 hiding the truth. This is a clear example of the teachings of Islam. It was clear to all who heard the facts of the case what had happened, as stated by the judge,
"It is difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable, more honourless crime,” Justice Maranger told them. “The apparent reasons behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your twisted notion of honour-a notion of honour that is founded on the domination and control of women, a sick notion of honour that has absolutely no place in any civilized society.”
"It is a good day for Canadian justice,” said Laarhuis, )assistant crown attorney) standing beside his co-prosecutor, Lacelle. (Laurie Lacelle was appointed to the Superior Court bench in Cornwall. Feb 2015 )
"This verdict sends a very clear message about our Canadian values and the core principles of a free and democratic society that all Canadians enjoy, and even visitors to Canada enjoy.”
However, at the end of the trial there were no victim-impact statements, nobody came forward to confront their killers. No family, No one. Like their lives, they had no voice. No one to protect them. No one to save them.
The conclusion
4 women are dead because they were like a typical Canadian. Being like "Us" resulted in a shame so great that Allah demanded their lives. This is the believe stated in the Quran. Muslims believe the Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. It's a book, written by a man, interpreted by men and ruled over by men. Much like another book that has resulted in millions of deaths. To all those who ever doubt that the pen is mightier than any sword, you need only look at the power and death that has followed two BOOKS.
How different our lives would be if we had picked different books to follow. I would prefer Dr. Seuss and Herodotus, (who is considered by many the father of history). He was the first to approach history as a science, he believed that by studying past events scientifically, there is something to be learned and gained. Why are we not learning? Perhaps because so many are reading the wrong historical references.
Was Winston Churchill correct? Is History written by the victors? Or is it written like most things today? Like the words on this page? Words strung together as my presentation of the information I found. The best any of us can do is find your own information and form your own opinions. Reality is in the eyes of the individual, and is neither right nor wrong, just individualized. We all have very different filters that information must seep through to get to our conscious minds. What someone chooses to do with their reality is where conflict arises.
It is why I have always found digging around and gathering facts before moving forward with a belief has served me well. Anytime I look at one side of any issue, I limit my own understanding and perspective, and in honesty cannot call it truth.
Knowing what I do today, my truth is; there is still so much truth that needs to seen. What I don't know will hurt me, and those I love. It is my responsibility to find the truth, not just accept what is pre-packaged and presented to me. Finding the truth can be painful, sometimes we find things that don't fit into the reality we want. We can deny and ignore, or take smaller bites of the truth so it is easier to swallow. Or we can take someone else's truth and wear it like a religion. What story do you follow?
The choice is ours. I chose to dig, I love to dig, even if what I find scares or repulses me. I dig because part of me wants to believe that under all the layers of crap, there's a prize waiting. Maybe knowledge is its own reward? I don't know yet, but I'm searching until my brain disconnects for good.
I will leave you with one of my favorite Suess quotes. No matter what the problem, Until someone cares, nothing will get done.
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/inside-the-shafia-killings-that-shocked-a-nation/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/shafia-jury-finds-all-guilty-of-1st-degree-murder-1.1150023
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2011-2012/the-house-of-shafia
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/shafia-son-launches-supreme-court-appeal-in-honour-killings
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/shafia-honour-killing-trial/
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/02/shafias-to-serve-their-sentences-in-canada
http://www.macleans.ca/news/convicted-killer-mohammad-shafia-didnt-pay-legal-bills-lawyer/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/shafia-family-honour-killings-new-trial-1.3832670
Resources
For all those curious minds who need to have updates, I included some recent links on what the Shafia family has been up to.
Hamed Shafia MONDAY, FEBRUARY 06, 2017
Is arguing to the Ontario Court of Appeal, Hamed introduced birth documents from the Afghanistan government he said showed he should not have been tried as an adult because he was 17 – not 18 – at the time of their deaths. He argued that he should have been tried separately from his parents.
It remains to be seen if the court will agree to hear the case, let alone grant a new trial.
Mohamed Shafia Nov 02, 2016
The Ontario Court of Appeal has dismissed a request for a new trial for a Montreal couple and their son who were convicted of first-degree murder in the so-called honour killings of four female family members in 2009.
The Kingston Penitentiary closed in 2013. It’s not clear where Shafia is now serving his life sentence. I tried to locate hi and they have his stashed away somewhere. Hi behaviour in Kingston Pen may have him in secure isolation somewhere. One can only hope he has lots of time to consider what his honour has got him.
Shafia used ultra radical Islam and old-fashioned big house bullying to control and intimidate about 25 other men. The wealthy Afghan immigrant who orchestrated the 2009 mass “honour killing” of four family members in Kingston, Ont.—is now accused of refusing to honour something else: his legal bills.
The Above article was written by Diane Quigley the sole owner and operator of this site.
The Facts; I try very hard to secure the most reliable and current information available without security clearance.
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