01-07-2005, 06:16 AM
American Soldier Tries To Unveil Iraqi Girl By Force
Jan 04, 2005
By Omar Al-Faris, JUS And Muhammad Abu Nasr, Free Arab Voice
It has often been said that the Americans occupying Iraq have no understanding of Islam or the Iraqi culture. They blast music from their tanks which is haram, violate the holy places and fail to understand the high level of women within the culture. It has been widely broadcasted that “veiled” woman are oppressed which could not be further from the truth. The veil is a sign of piety and a command of Allah (swt) in order to protect the purity of woman. Woman have the opposite status in Islam than is publicized and this latest incident in Ramadi shows that US soldiers are either are ignorant of the deep meaning of Hijab or don’t care. Either way, it fused a division between local police and US occupation forces yesterday.
Clashes erupted between US troops and Iraqi police at a US checkpoint in the center of Ramadi on Monday morning. Eyewitnesses told Mafkarat al-Islam that the battles broke out at about 10am when a US solider insisted on searching a veiled Iraq girl who was with her mother. The US soldier was determined to lift her veil, claiming that resistance fighters could disguise themselves in women’s clothing.
Witnesses reported that the Iraqi girl refused to lift the veil from her face, causing the American soldier to try to pull it off by force. At that point the Iraqi policemen intervened and clashed with the Americans, sparking a battle that lasted 15 minutes.
The reporter said that the fighting ended with the Americans arresting five members of the local police force, while four others escaped together with the mother and the Iraqi girl who was never unveiled. The stand of the Ramadi policemen against the American occupiers brought them the strong sympathies of the local people.
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