Saturday, May 17, 2014

"These are our sisters" Sarasota/Manatee NOW Rally

On Thursday, May 15, 2014 about 15 of us from Sarasota/Manatee NOW gathered in downtown Sarasota with a strong message for our community:  the jihad on women must stop!  We waved signs, chanted slogans and fielded questions from curious passersby.  Many drivers honked as they passed and gave us the thumbs up, male and female alike.

We were there to stand in solidarity with our African sisters. A month ago, thuggish jihadists who call themselves "Western education is forbidden," aka Boko Haram, kidnapped over 300 schoolgirls from a Nigerian boarding school and threatened on video to sell them into sexual slavery.

What better organization to start pushing back against this global jihad on women than the National Organization for Women?

For more information, see our earlier Press Release and Information Sheet.


Saturday, May 10, 2014

Bill Maher links Boko Haram kidnappings to Islam


On May 9, 2014, Bill Maher discussed Boko Haram and focused on what he believed was the most important aspect of the story: the religion of Islam itself influences this kind of brutality and is therefore a serious problem.

"There is no mention here of connecting this to the religion, which is always what I am seeking to do, because I think that's the elephant in the room.  And in that religion at large, women are seen as property, second-class at best, often as property.  Shouldn't that be brought to light in this debate as well?"
Women are treated as if they were property because that is how they are defined by Islam. For example, if a young girl runs away from home to marry her true love, she has in effect stolen the property that is herself from her family and the family will often try to kill her to negate the theft and to assuage the shame and humiliation suffered by the family for not being in full control of their daughter’s body as is required by Islam. In this way, Islamic doctrine is utterly materialistic and control of the body is everything. 

Here is the full video:






Monday, May 5, 2014

STOP THE JIHAD ON WOMEN: Slogans for May 15th Solidarity Rally




Women need Sharia like

fish need a bicycle!

SHARIA: a problem that's 
not allowed to have a name

Culture is no excuse for abuse
Stop the jihad on women!

Injustice to women anywhere 
is injustice to women everywhere
Stop the jihad on women!

If 200 kidnapped African girls 
were on a missing plane,
they'd be rescued by now!

IMAGINE
200 school girls 
kidnapped
 from Sarasota

200 African sisters 
get kidnapped and
 sold into sex slavery 
by Islamic extremists 
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

DONATE TO
SARASOTA NOW


BECOME A MEMBER OF
SARASOTA NOW

STOP THE JIHAD ON WOMEN: May 15th Solidarity Rally Information Sheet


WHAT IS HAPPENING?
More than 200 girls, ages 15-18, were abducted on April 14, 2014 in the northeast of Nigeria, with gunmen storming their boarding school as they slept. News reports suggest the girls are now being sold into marriage for as much as $12 US and forced to convert to Islam, with the remainder likely to be sold off as sex slaves by their abductors from the militant Islamists group, Boko Haram.

WHAT IS BOKO HARAM?
Translated as "Western education is sinful," Boko Haram is an Islamic jihadist and terrorist organization based in the northeast of Nigeria, north Cameroon and Niger. It seeks to establish a "pure" Islamic state ruled by Sharia law, putting a stop to what it deems "westernization." The group is known for attacking Christians and government targets, bombing churches, schools, and police stations, and kidnapping western tourists. Violence linked to the Boko Haram has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.

WHAT IS SHARIA LAW?
Sharia is a strict, patriarchal Islamic law governing all aspects of day-to-day life, including crime, politics, business and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, everyday etiquette and fasting. Its stark differences with secular law in the concept of justice, judicial process, crime, and punishment makes Sharia incompatible with secular democracy, freedom of thought, and especially women's rights.

There are many ways in which women do not have full stature under Sharia. Not only are their human rights violated by such "sacred" patriarchal laws as polygamy, forced marriages, child marriages, gender-biased inheritance rules, and being worth half that of a man in a court testimony; their very lives are threatened by such practices as honor killings at the hands of their relatives, death as punishment for adultery or for leaving Islam, and, in some countries, female genital mutilation.

The introduction of Sharia globally is a longstanding goal for Islamist movements, including in Western countries. Attempts to impose Sharia, which many believers perceive to be the only sacred law for all humanity, have been accompanied by conflicts, violence, and warfare.


INJUSTICE TO WOMEN ANYWHERE IS INJUSTICE TO WOMEN EVERYWHERE!
STOP THE JIHAD ON WOMEN!

BECOME A MEMBER OR DONATE TO SARASOTA/MANATEE N.O.W.

nowsaramana@gmail.com | 941-257-3211

PRESS RELEASE: Local chapter joins global protesters calling for release of Nigerian girls

PRESS RELEASE
N.O.W. (National Org. for Women)
May 5, 2014
Contact: Connie Goldstein 941-966-9715

"THESE ARE OUR SISTERS"
Local chapter joins global protesters
calling for release of Nigerian girls

Saying, "These are our sisters," the Sarasota/Manatee Chapter of the National Organization for Women," (N.O.W.), is hosting a solidarity rally at 5:30 p.m. on May 15 at Five Points Park to raise awareness within the Sarasota community about the kidnapping of hundreds of girls by Boko Haram, whose brutal treatment of women under Sharia law is legendary, and to help apply international pressure on the Nigerian government to step up their rescue efforts.

Any member of the community is invited to join them in this action.

According to accounts, armed members of Boko Haram overwhelmed security guards at the all-girls school in Chibok, pulled 276 girls out of bed and forced them into trucks. The convoy of trucks then disappeared into the dense forest bordering Cameroon. At least 53 of the girls escaped, leaving 223 in the hands of their captors, police said.

Boko Haram's name translates to "Western education is a sin" and the group especially opposes the education of women. Speaking during a visit to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on the Nigerian government to bring those responsible to justice.

If you would like to join N.O.W.'s action on behalf of the kidnapped Nigerian girls at 5:30 on May 15 near Marina Jack's, please contact Ann Jordan at ann.jordan.now@gmail.com; phone:727-259-5994.


BECOME A MEMBER OR DONATE TO SARASOTA/MANATEE N.O.W.
nowsaramana@gmail.com | 941-257-3211