Rand Abdel-Qader, a 17-year-old Iraqi student, was beaten to death by her father. Her crime? Speaking to a young man whom her father did not approve of, a British soldier.

The local police? Rather than arresting him, they congratulated him.

His community? Rather than condemning him, they are providing support to "disappear" in Jordan for a few weeks "until the story has been forgotten".

This is the religion of peace? That values honor over life?

Let us be clear. This young woman was not an adulteress. Her best friend, with whom she confided her infatuation, confirmed that she was a virgin at the time of her death.

Her father, Ali Abdel-Qader, was quoted as saying "G-d is blessing me for what I did".

Really!?!?

That is not the G-d I know. That is not the G-d of Scripture. That is not the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'akov.

Let no man ever claim that Muslims, Jews, and Christians worship the same G-d. What Abdel-Qader calls G-d is not my G-d.

After having her father choke her with his foot on her throat, stabbing her, and his sons, her brothers, joining in to help I wonder if Rand would call her religion one of "peace". It surely does not describe the manner in which she died.

This story remains uncategorized because I sincerely hope this does not and will not happen often enough to merit a category other than murder.

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: 11 May 2008

Here is the "religion of peace"