CHARLOTTE, October 2, 2012 – Remember that “religion of peace” that wreaked havoc in multiple countries throughout the Middle East?

Paris-based France 24, an international news and current affairs broadcast channel, has reported that Islamist supremacists who took over Timbuktu in northern Mali in April are now targeting women as a means of imposing Sharia law in the region.

In light of recent violence in the Middle East, supposedly resulting from an offensive anti-Muslim YouTube video, it is necessary to pay attention to other areas of the world where Islam continues to inflict its medieval concepts. While much of the world ignores the dire warnings created by unreported global upheaval, lawless Islamic factions persist in exerting harsh penalties on those who stray from the fundamental tenets of the religion.

Women in Timbuktu are now being forced to wear black veils and loose-fitting clothing in order to avoid being whipped, mutilated or jailed.

Two armed groups – Ansar Dine and Mujao – have been increasingly inflicting corporal punishment on the local population for the past several weeks. Such disciplines have included amputations and stoning people to death for failure to obey Sharia law.

The first amputation occurred on September 16 when Islamists cut off the hand of a man suspected of theft. Two months before that, a man and woman accused of having an extra-marital affair were whipped in public.

Until recently many women in Timbuktu had been wearing light veils to cover their hair. Many such veils were either white or transparent, resulting in the Islamists to declare in a radio speech that veils had to be black and cover their ears. The penalty for women who disobeyed is having their ears cut off before being be sent to an all-female prison.

It was also announced that women were no longer allowed to be outside after 11 pm under penalty of being struck with sticks by the Islamist fighters patrolling the streets.

In one instance a pregnant woman who had gone into labor arrived at a hospital without a veil. Due to the emergency, the woman was unable to return to her home about 2 kilometers away. Islamists denied admittance and the woman was forced to give birth on the sidewalk.

Until recently the controlling powers in Timbuktu had been relatively lenient in their treatment of women. The primary target had been focused upon disobedient men as the supremacists tried to force them to attend Friday prayers at the mosque and to follow other tenets of the law. Despite the severe force however, compliance among the male population was less than universal, causing the Islamists to target women.

While it is impossible to expose every human rights violation that occurs throughout the world, it is also important that we do not ignore the fact that activities such as those currently taking place in Mali are common.

To cover our ears or to pretend that such acts do not exist is tantamount to allowing global terrorism to thrive without hope of controlling the problem. 

Apologists continue to insist that Islam is a religion of peace. Apparently those who would impose Sharia law did not get the memo.

Peabod is Bob Taylor, owner of Taylored Media Services in Charlotte, NC. Taylor is founder of The Magellan Travel Club, which creates, and escorts customized tours to Switzerland, France and Italy for groups of 12 or more. Inquiries for groups can be made at Peabod@aol.com Taylored Media has produced marketing videos for British Rail, Rail Europe, Switzerland Tourism, the Swedish Travel & Tourism Council, the Finnish Tourist Board, the Swiss Travel System and Japan Railways Group among others.

As author of The Century Club book, Peabod is now attempting to travel to 100 countries or more during his lifetime. To date he has visited 69 countries. Suggest someplace new for Bob to visit; if you want to know where he has been, check his list on Facebook. Bob plans to write a sequel to his book when he reaches his goal of 100 countries. He also played professional baseball for four years and was a sportscaster for 14 years at WBTV, the CBS affiliate in Charlotte.

 

 

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