If you are a woman in America, just thank your lucky stars that you aren't living in Somalia. Al Shabaab, the al Qaeda franchise in Somalia, has decided to step up its oppression of women in the country by banning unrelated men and women in the country of shaking hands, speaking to each other and walking together in public. I guess al Shabaab feels that if they hate women just as much as Mohammed did, they'll get a leg up at paradise.
From the report at The Telegraph:
Islamic militants in southern Somalia have banned unrelated men and women from shaking hands, speaking or walking together in public.
People who break the rules could be imprisoned, whipped or even executed.
Al-Shabab, the Islamic extremists, have already banned women from working in public, leaving many mothers with a terrible choice: risk execution by going to sell some tea or vegetables in the marketplace, or stay safely at home and watch the children slowly starve.
"It's an awful rule. I feel like I'm under arrest. I've started to ignore the greetings of the women I know to avoid punishment," said Hussein Ali, a resident of the southern Somali town of Jowhar. The edict is also being enforced in the town of Elasha.
I gotta ask the question - wouldn't it just be easier for al Shabaab to simply make a ruling that women are not allowed outside of their home? They already have banned women from working and now, under this new ban, how would a woman even go out and buy food? If she were to say something to the merchant, she's toast.
Read the entire article below and you'll find even MORE restrictions on women in Somalia now.
In case anyone has forgotten, this is the year 2011 - these people in Somalia aren't even living in the Middle Ages, they are trying to pre-date that time period.
Somali militants ban handshakes between men and women
Islamic militants in southern Somalia have banned unrelated men and women from shaking hands, speaking or walking together in public.
People who break the rules could be imprisoned, whipped or even executed.
Al-Shabab, the Islamic extremists, have already banned women from working in public, leaving many mothers with a terrible choice: risk execution by going to sell some tea or vegetables in the marketplace, or stay safely at home and watch the children slowly starve.
"It's an awful rule. I feel like I'm under arrest. I've started to ignore the greetings of the women I know to avoid punishment," said Hussein Ali, a resident of the southern Somali town of Jowhar. The edict is also being enforced in the town of Elasha.
Gunmen are searching buses for improperly dressed women or women travelling alone, said student Hamdi Osman in Elasha. She said she was once beaten for wearing Somali traditional dress instead of the long, shapeless black robes favoured by the fighters.
The Islamists' insistence that women wear the long, heavy robes also forces many women to stay at home because they can't afford the new clothing.
Al-Shabab controls most of southern and central Somalia, and the group is trying to overthrow the weak UN-backed government.
Analysts believe that many Somalis don't support the insurgency because of the harsh punishments and severe restrictions it imposes, and because it often kidnaps children to use as fighters.
But after 20 years of civil war, the government is too weak, corrupt and divided to present a credible challenge to the insurgents. The Somali government is protected by 8,000 heavily armed African Union peacekeepers but has failed to deliver any security or services to the population.
The insurgents even control parts of the capital, brazenly carrying out amputations, whippings and stonings in public places. The list of forbidden things differs from town to town and commander to commander.
In Jowhar, the insurgents are now also insisting that men grow their beards but shave their moustaches, said another resident, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.
The Islamists have also banned the cinema, music, and bras because they say they are all un-Islamic.
]Such restrictions are influenced by foreign fighters practicing Wahhabi Islam, which is much stricter than Somalia's traditional Sufi Islam that incorporates a long tradition of poetry and song.
"The last time I listened a song or music, was two years ago, before the insurgents managed the full control of my village," said Bile Hassan. Now, he says, even the memory of music makes him feel afraid.
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