Is the Timing Any Accident?

The Iranian Islamic government is about to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Teheran for the crime of committing “adultery” (which presumably occurred after her husband’s death). She was also charged for allegedly conspiring in the death of her husband.

Sakineh’s death is set for tomorrow, November 3. After torturing her for four long years, including lashing her 99 times in the presence of her 17-year-old son, Sakineh’s death is now set for a time when Americans will be totally occupied with our own midterm elections.

The story of her legal ordeal is as byzantine and treacherous as that of Alfred Dreyfus who was falsely accused of treason in France and sentenced to life on Devil’s Island.

Her so-called “confession” was obtained under torture. She was lashed 99 times—twice. Sakineh’s family has been threatened. Her lawyer had to go into hiding. Her sentence: Death by stoning. Her Sharia-compliant death verdict has merely been delayed—never countermanded. How they plan to kill her remains unknown.

Muslim and ex-Muslim feminist activists, including Maryam Namazie and Mina Ahadi, have just gathered at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Paris; they are now marching to the European Parliament in Brussels. Namazie says: “We must save Sakineh’s life and secure her freedom and that of her son, lawyer and the two German journalists. And we must end stoning now!”

The anti-Islamist Muslim and ex-Muslim feminists are marching. The American government under President Obama is doing nothing.

This President’s record on Iran is as bad as—no, it is even worse than—President Carter’s, on whose watch American diplomats were held hostage for 444 brutal days by Khomeini’s thugs; Ahmadinejad was among the young thugs.

Human rights for the very Muslims Obama claims to champion, whose favor he seeks, matters little.

President Obama has not said anything significant about the incessant persecution of Christians by Islamists in Muslim countries. The latest outrage: Al Qaeda’s suicide mission in a Catholic Church in Iraq. On Sunday, October 31, al Qaeda terrorists took over a Catholic Church in Baghdad; they took 100-150 Christians hostage. When Iraqi forces stormed the church, the terrorists exploded their vests, killing 58, including two priests and six terrorists, and wounded at least 78 people. A group linked to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, claimed responsibility and said that the attack "marked a beginning of a campaign to eliminate Christian minorities from Iraq.”

They are very clear. Islamic terrorists despise and wish to kill Christians—even, or especially, at prayer because the reason for their “racist” hatred is simply the fact that Christians are not Muslims, have not converted to Islam; their presence, like the Jews before them, will not be tolerated by Islamist terrorists or even by Islamic regimes.

A Baghdad priest apparently tried to “reason” with the armed terrorists. They immediately killed him.

Look: The pope has condemned this “ferocious” attack. The pope knows that his ability to protect his flock has been compromised.

President Obama, concerned voters of America -- are you paying attention?

Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. is professor emerita of psychology and the author of thirteen books including "Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman" and "The New Anti-Semitism." She has written extensively about Islamic gender apartheid and about honor killings. She once lived in Kabul, Afghanistan. She may be reached through her website: www.phyllis-chesler.com.