Over the weekend, Al Sumaria News TV reported that cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr declared the emos are “fools” and “experts must finish them.” The Al Akhbar newspaper, based in Egypt, claims that the Iraqi interior ministry gave permission to religious or moral police to go after emo youth. The Shiite militia has announced, "We warn in the strongest terms to every male and female debauchee; if you do not stop this dirty act within four days, then the punishment of God will fall on you at the hands of Mujahedeen." Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric, called the emos “Crazy fools; a lesion on the Muslim community.” While stopping short of condoning the violence, he calls upon his followers to end the rise of the emos in a legal way.
One Kurdish lawmaker, Khalid Shwani, referred to the targeting as “A growing intolerance of Iraqis' civil rights.” Shwani has said, “Those people are free to choose what they wear, or to believe in, or how they choose their clothes or the way they think."
It is estimated that in the past five or six years about 750 gay Iraqis have been killed in this way; about 40 in recent weeks, in what is now a growing anti-emo movement.
Article comments
1 - Dr Dreadful
What a charming country we liberated.
2 - Ric
Saddam is gone! So now they find another way to Fuck stuff up!
One day soon, their Oil Production will commence, and with it, tons of money and influence!
The Ford Fusion gets 105 MPG. SUPPORT ENERGY INDEPENDENCE.
Strip these Maniacs of their power!
3 - peter petterson
Easy targets for the rightwing religious nuts. Those rightwing so-called Christians in the American bible-belt would kill gays too, if they could get away with it. And we are expected to bend over backwards in NZ to tolerate Muslims, knowing that the so-called peaceful religion refuses to condemn actions by radicals within the religion.
4 - Jet Gardner
It's better than central Africa where they're pushing through the death penalty for just being gay.
Good solid writing John
5 - Jet Gardner
Salem Mass. comes to mind. You don't like someone you call them a witch, they're tortured and killed.
Same with the Spanish Inquisition and being branded a heathen.
Those poor kids live like jews in germany
6 - Jet Gardner
May I recommend my Africa and Middle east sections of my Jet’s Global
Gay Headlines for the latest developments?
7 - Glenn Contrarian
The tragic thing is that the mainstream 'Christians' in America don't see (or won't acknowledge) the parallels between what they've done in the past and what the far-right conservative Muslims are doing in Iraq.
8 - Jet Gardner
In the name of god Glenn... damage in the name of god. The powerless need to feed superior to aomeone-anyone in order to not acknowledge their own ignorance.
9 - Igor
Persecution of an identifiable minority gives the small ruling clique a means to recruit support from the most ignorant and backward in the masses.
It's even done in America where people harbor the conceit that they are above such manipulations.
10 - peter petterson
Remember they are the modern day Persians - the murderous bunch from history.