Literally, sadly. From Peter Worthington in the Toronto Sun:
Shocking murder escapes media spotlight
When Aasiya Hassan suggested to her husband in 2001 that he should start a TV channel dedicated to correcting stereotype views of Americans towards Muslims, she had no idea she would someday be its most newsworthy item.
Her hubby, Muzzammil Hassan, agreed, and founded Bridges TV — a small channel based in Orchard Park, NY.
The pair did what they could to present Muslims in a good light, refuting many of the negative ideas about Muslims. They tried to put into historical and cultural context, characteristics of Shariah law that offend so many non-Muslims: Amputating hands for theft, stoning women to death for adultery, the necessity of women covering their flesh so it won’t be visible to male eyes, the dominance of males in Muslim society, lack of education for girls, the practice of “honour killing” of women for a variety of infractions, and a whole package of cultural mores that collide with modern western society’s values.
Born in Pakistan, Hassan came to America 25 years ago. His wife was a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, her father from Syria, her mother from Jordan.
Hassan is an MBA, and formerly worked in a bank. As CEO of Bridges TV, he felt: “There should be a Muslim media so that Muslims children growing up in America grow up with the self-confidence and high self-esteem about their identity both as Americans and Muslims.
Since 2004, the Hassans ran their TV channel — and then Aasiya, perhaps more American than traditional Muslim, filed for a divorce.
On Thursday, last week, Muzzammil Hassan, age 44, turned himself into Orchard Park police and declared he’d killed Aasiya, 37 — in fact that he’d decapitated her, cut off her head, presumably because she had dishonoured him by seeking a divorce.
Other aspects involved may emerge later. Hassan remains in jail, charged with second-degree murder.
Considering its background, the story has had remarkable little play — a mention on CNN, a few paragraphs in various newspapers, but nothing in the way of follow-up in the mainstream American (or Canadian) media.
Nor has there been much in the way of comment, perhaps because of over-sensitivity about raising questions of Muslims and/or minorities. This is a form of reverse racism, and foolish in that it ducks what is a valid issue today.
No rational person suggests that what Muzzammil Hassan did is typical of Muslim behaviour, but the case is loaded with irony and significance.
Intellectually dedicated as he might have been to correcting false stereotypes about Muslims, it all fell apart for Hassan when it became personal. The same might have been said of his wife, who defied her culture — and became a victim…
More from Mark Steyn.
Mark C.
Apparently the “if it bleeds, it leads” motto of journalists and media is a bit more selective than we thought.
The author is wrong when he states that this incident is not typical of Muslim behaviour. In fact, it is sadly typical of Muslim behaviour when they feel slighted.Instead of asking so called ‘moderate’ Muslims to stand and disassociate themselves from radical Islam, perhaps we should be courting their women instead.It seems to me that they have the most to lose.
The saddest, most ironic, most telling part of the story is the fact that the creation of this tv station which nobody ever watched, received much play in the media, far beyond it’s newsworthyness. The decapitation of one of it’s founders is deliberately ignored.
Head-lines?
Silence from the media is bad enough. But have you heard a peep from the feminists?
Dom’s question bears weight… Women! Where aaarre you?
What Hassan didn’t consider was the medium and the message: By invoking the most repugnant of sharia customs, he has turned the concept of “moderate Muslim” into an oxymoron. The very Paragon of Moderation has reverted to type.
There isn’t a large public outrage because, in fairness, most people would rather not deal with the bully tactics the Left would shove at them. The internet has gotten the message out to places the MSM failed to reach with lighting efficiency. The anger, too, is no less intense. The silent, collective “Uh-Oh.” Aasiya is not being ignored. To the contrary: Like Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, she, too, will be remembered.
N.O.W., though, isn’t off the hook. This organization, like Hassan’s medium, was founded specifically to answer such situations. That Hassan has failed miserably is sad enough.
Feminists are racists. Feminists do not care about female victims of crime unless the perpetrator of the crime is a white guy. Absent a crime which fits their agenda they’ll stick to their knitting and play with ‘statistics’.