Barbie Celebrates 50 Years with Burka Barbie?

Wow, you all knew it was coming.

Let's all rejoice at the notion of Barbie embracing the symbol of oppressed women in Islamic society.

One of the world's most famous children's toys, Barbie, has been given a makeover - wearing a burkha.
Wearing the traditional Islamic dress, the iconic doll is going undercover for a charity auction in connection with Sotheby's for Save The Children.
More than 500 Barbies went on show yesterday at the Salone dei Cinquecento, in Florence, Italy.

Burkha Barbie: The iconic doll wearing traditional Islamic dress

Makers Mattel are backing the exhibition which is the work of Italian designer Eliana Lorena.

The auction is part of Barbie celebrations for her 50th anniversary this year. The UK's biggest Barbie fan Angela Ellis, 35, has a collection of more than 250 dolls. READ MORE>>

It's one thing to have Barbie in traditional Japanese or Indian dress, but a burka?

The embrace of the burka by the fashion industry is one trend that has not been received well.

Burka Hits the Catwalk

One fashion commentator poignantly adds (fashionindie.com--Take it off: Designers Exalt Burka):

And if pimping out religious and cultural symbols isn’t bad enough, the fact that a burka is a sign of women’s oppression in Islam picks up the slack. Since when is it right to glorify something that persecutes women worldwide?

This isn’t fashion. This is a cotton prison.

First Honor Killing in U.S.?

'Honor Killing' Motive for Slain Sisters?

It's been one week since two teen sisters were found shot to death inside a cab outside a Texas hotel, and their father, who police say is the sole suspect in the New Year's Day killings, remains at large. . .

Before the funeral Saturday, Patricia Said made a public appeal for her husband to turn himself in. "We will not quit until we find you," she said. "If it's the last thing I do, I promise, I will find you."

The couple's son... spoke to the media, saying that his father had "messed everything up" by murdering his sisters, who have been described as popular students at Lewisville High School and inseparable siblings.

At the vigil Thursday, Islam Said also tried to squash rumors that the family's Muslim heritage may have had something to do with his sisters' murders.

"Religion has nothing to do with this and it was very wrong," Islam Said said, according to the Star-Telegram in Texas. "Islam is not a bad religion."

Still, the case has generated significant speculation — including by some friends of the girls — that the father's motive may have been some sort of an "honor killing" in the Muslim tradition. Specifically, the reported Westernized behavior of the teens, including the boys they dated, may have brought shame to a father said to be strict and religious, prompting the killings.

There are several things that prompt me to believe that this is an honor killing:

• First of all, both sisters were murdered. There doesn't seem to be any indication that this murder was a robbery gone wrong.
• Secondly, the father who happens to be the prime suspect has gone missing since the murder.
• Next, the slain's brother admitted that his father "messed everything up" by murdering his sisters.
• Lastly, the family's Muslim heritage cannot be forgotten. After all, honor killings aren't associated with Zoroastrianism.

I hope and pray that the police are able to find and capture the father so that they can ascertain the motives of the killing. However, if the father is found to be guilty of murdering his daughter in an honor killing he needs to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

We cannot tolerate murder under the guise of cultural differences.

PBS values $ over fair reporting

Unfortunately, I first found out about PBS' new series (America at a Crossroads) when I learned that they've decided to cut the one segment that would've set this documentary apart from the rest, the clash between the fundamentalist Muslims and the moderate Muslims of the Western World.

Arizona Republic: Silencing Muslim moderates

The segment was titled, Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center. By and large, the clashes it depicted involved people like [Dr. Zuhdi] Jasser condemning violence perpetrated in the name of Islam, and fundamentalist imams condemning the ...[moderates] of the world as false Muslims.

The producers cite contexual issues as the main cause for pulling the segment, but the truth is a little more nefarious.

Then, the PBS producers hired a five-member team of consultants to review all the segments of the Crossroads series - among them a university professor who teaches a course on Islam in the United States.

That academic . . . screened a cut of Islam vs. Islamists for a group of Nation of Islam leaders - a rather serious breach of journalism protocol, considering that the Nation of Islam was a major part of Burke's Islam vs. Islamists investigation. According to an e-mail from McCloud to Burke, "These representatives (of the Nation of Islam) were outraged at the implications here and assert that if this airs, they will promptly pursue litigation."

But that's not the end of the story.

Apparently, the producer and one of the moderate Muslims in the segment are out of the closet conservatives. (Gasp!) PBS is funded by the American public via mandatory donation (i.e. your federal income tax), so as far as I can figure with the Democratic majority they don't want to hurt any feelings and risk their main source of funding, the United States Government.

The newest reports are that PBS cancelled the show on political grounds.

The producer of a tax-financed documentary on Islamic extremism claims his film has been dropped for political reasons from a television series that airs next week...

Key portions of the documentary focus on Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser of Phoenix and his American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a non-profit organization of Muslim Americans who advocate patriotism, constitutional democracy and a separation of church and state.

..."I was ordered to fire my two partners (who brought me into this project) on political grounds," Burke said in a complaint letter to PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...

It appears that life and PBS isn't without a sense of irony.

Burke wrote that his documentary depicts the plight of moderate Muslims who are silenced by Islamic extremists, adding, "Now it appears to be PBS and CPB who are silencing them."