22 July 2017

News Agencies

Christian man 'kills teenage daughter over relationship with Muslim prisoner' in Israel

Prosecutors say father felt relationship 'damaged the honour of the family'

A Christian man has been charged with murdering his daughter over her relationship with a Muslim man in Israel.

Sami Karra denies killing his 17-year-old daughter, Henriette, in what prosecutors describe as a suspected “honour” killing.

An indictment seen by local media said the Israeli Arab family objected to her relationship with the man, who was serving time in prison, and intention to convert to Islam for him.

Their year-long relationship had sparked “vehement opposition” from relatives, whose threats allegedly forced her to flee her home in May and send messages to friend fearing “they are sending people to kill me”.

Police and social services had intervened in the case, summoning Henriette and her parents to a joint meeting on 11 June – two days before she was killed – and suggesting she enter a women’s shelter.

Officials said the teenager refused the offer and asked for help to rent a flat instead, returning to her parents’ home and attending a graduation party at her Jewish school the next day.

On 13 June, Henriette deposited 400 shekels (£86) into her boyfriend's prison canteen account before returning home and telling a relative he would be released at the end of the week, and that she intended on converting to Islam.

Haaretz reported that the relative called Henriette’s father and told him of her plans.

She was found dead with stab wounds to the neck in the kitchen of her parents’ home in the town on Ramle on 13 June.

According to documents seen by the Jerusalem Post, the father believed Henriette’s actions “damaged the honour of the family and made him feel ashamed”.

“The defendant decided to cause the death of the deceased and in order to realise his goal he was equipped with a knife,” the indictment said.

“The defendant stabbed the deceased three times, causing her death on the spot.”

Lawyers representing Karra said he was not guilty and claimed the bad relationship between Henriette and her family was “no secret”, adding: “This did not lead to murder and could not lead to murder. The complaints against [Henriette] were only to reunite the family.”

Muslim attacked by knife-wielding robber in mosque calms him down and makes him breakfast

The thief stole two mobile phones

A Muslim who was attacked by a knife-wielding robber in a mosque cooked him breakfast to calm him down and then sat to hear his life story.

Ali Yassine spotted Stefan Boyle, 28, hiding under a table in a mosque in Dundrum, Dublin, and told him to leave.

Boyle lunged at him and nicked him with a knife before trying to escape out of a window, the Irish Independent reported in May.

Mr Yassine, who works as a caretaker in the mosque, kicked the burglar in self defence and then told him to relax.

He went on to make him scrambled eggs and sat down to let Boyle tell him about he he was homeless, had been in and out of prison and was having problems with his girlfriend.

Boyle pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the burglary of Ali Hussain House on 2 November, 2016. He has 110 previous convictions, of those, 63 are for burglary.

He will be allowed to attend residential drug treatment before he is sentenced, the Irish Times reports.

The prosecution heard that Mr Yassine did not realise until after the robber had left that he had stolen two phones from his bedroom in a building attached to the mosque.

When Mr Yassine was in the city centre organising for his phones to be blocked the next day, he bumped into Boyle, who handed the phones back to him and apologised.

Boyle told police he got on well with the victim, describing him as a "good guy," and apologised.

He said he wanted to get money for drugs and had forgotten he had taken the phones during his 30-minute conversation over breakfast.

He also said he did not have the €30 (£27) needed to unlock both phones.

Judge Karen O'Connor told Boyle: “This is your very very final chance.”

Man leaves large painting of Jesus outside mosque in New York

A large green and white painting of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross was left outside the Hillside Islamic Centre in Long Island, New York on Friday.

The Nassau County Police Department is now investigating the incident as a “hate crime”, reported Daily Mail.

“A worker there had found this large painting of Christ on a cross on the property,” reported an anchor for NBC 4. “The anti-Muslim message was found hanging from a fence, deemed to be so obviously because it was a mosque.”

The worker then alerted the police who arrived at the mosque around 5:45 pm. “Nassau County police said they were investigating the incident as a possible hate crime,” said the reporter. The “anti-Muslim message”, as the NBC 4 anchor labeleld it, was a green and white painting of Jesus’ silhouette hanging on the cross, reported CNS New York.

reaction was kind of surprised, that in this community, we’ve been here since 2002, this is the first time it has happened,” said a member of the Hillsdale Mosque.

Another member said although Jesus was considered a prophet in Islam, “that’s not what he [the man who placed it there] meant” when he hung the painting out on the fence. “He meant something else, you know. We don’t believe in image. We don’t have an image for Jesus, you know. We don’t have an image for Muhammad (PBUH).”

The president of the mosque, Abdul Aziz Bhuyian, told The Island Now, “I’m sure… he wanted to provoke. Had he had good intentions he would have come to us. We’re always here.”

He further told the website, “We want to make sure the person doesn’t do the same thing to anybody else.” He also added, “The man, wearing a dark shirt and white shorts, then hung the painting on a fence outside the building at 301 Covert Ave.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the incident but also suggested it could provide a learning opportunity for members of the community.

Hate crime against Muslims witness ‘slight uplift’ after Westminster attack

“Bias may have motivated this incident, but it could serve as a teaching moment for the perpetrator and for the community if it leads to greater understanding of the love Muslims have for Jesus, peace be upon him,” the CAIR said in a statement on its website.

The statement added: “The Quran, Islam’s revealed text, states, ‘Behold! The angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and in [the company of] those nearest to God’.”

News 21 Long Island concluded its coverage of the incident by reporting that the Islamic Center will soon host an “interfaith barbeque” on July 21 in “hopes of building trust and understanding in the community”. 

©  EsinIslam.Com

Add Comments