This may not be a big story in the West, but it is getting a lot of play on the Arabic satellite channels and here in Iraq:
Akram, a long-time Syrian resident of Jordan, says that in the Zaatari camp, which houses some 30,000 Syrian refugees in the desert near the border town of Mafraq, a new social phenomenon has spread that has come to be termed sutra or “cover” marriage, where refugees marry off their daughters, even at a very young age, to the first person who asks for their hand, under the pretext of “covering” their honor. He says he knows of one case in which a 70-year old Jordanian man wed a Syrian child of 12… “Cover” marriages started becoming more numerous and exploitative as a direct result of the atrocious living conditions in the camp, according to Nidal. Desperate refugees began looking for any way to extricate their children from impoverishment and misery. At the same time, Jordanian men seeking to marry increasingly took advantage of their dire situation.
There has never been any love for Saudis either among Shi’ites or among Sunnis throughout much of the Middle East. Rumors that the Saudi embassy and Saudi bureaus now facilitate the marriages of young Syrian girls to Saudis are spreading outrage. Self-righteous explanations that such marriages save girls and women from prostitution or being forced into other immoral behavior carry little water, as the same Saudis who allegedly are taking such children could just as easily provide charity to assist families who have fled the Syrian crackdown without seeking to exploit the situation.
When Angelina Jolie's visit to Syrian camps failed to give this part of the story some echo, I figure the media just does not want to bother with yet another medieval aspect of Islam. n nJust like the media ignored how Iraqi Christian refugees to Syria did turn to prostitution. n nSo ironic that Obama's sole topic at the CGI was about human trafficking and modern slavery. nHe always misses his opportunity to actually use his bully pulpit. Was that not a perfect momentSept 25, to mention THIS?
Other than as an illustration of the savagery and institutionalized perversion and misogyny of arab society, what purpose does this story serve? n nIs it a call for American action? Do we send in a battery of social workers? Birkenstocks on the ground, so to speak? n nIf, on the other hand, the story's goal is to educate the uninformed or intentionally ignorant as to what these people are, it is laudatory. If it is meant as a call to action, the heart is in the right place, but it will not achieve its goal. n nIt is also illustrative that the western media, with its built in racism by neglect/low expectations, chooses not to focus on these sorts of human condition stories. n nIn the end, kudos to Mr. Rubin for expressing concern, and I am proud that it is in Commentary that he has done so. n n n n
Savagery, sir? Are you implying that Pamela Geller, that daughter of Attila the Hun who warred against the mightiest guardians of New York's most humanitarian and civil impulses from the New York Times to the Mayor's Office to the New York's clergy, was right to call our Islamic brethren "savages" rather than the most humble devotees of a religion of peace and love?
Eventually you get the society and the culture you deserve. Or more precisely, eventually someone bothers to notice something that you've been doing all along under quiet cover of your 'culture'. Institutionalized child rape in the Arab world? I'm sorry but unless and until there's some Jews to blame, we're not interested. Now crawl back to your hovel and molest one another.
Well said.