On July 8, the media was taken by storm when Nada Al-Ahdal, an 11-year-old schoolgirl from Yemen confessed on video that she had run away from her parents’ home to escape the horrors of a forced marriage.Plagued by unrest, poverty and deep social divisions, Yemen, the most populous and poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has battled issues related to child marriages for well over a decade. Activists are working tirelessly toward the establishment of legislation that would ensure children’s protection and still fall in line with clerical interpretation of the Holy Scriptures on marriage and consent.

Needless to say, Nada’s bold testimony hit a nerve, sending shockwaves across Yemen’s human rights circles and the media, as once again the country found itself caught in a storm of controversy.Within days of the uploading of her video, Nada’s story had gone viral. At time of writing, her YouTube video has been viewed 7,772,156 times. News organizations across the world vilified her parents for having attempted to sell their little girl to a man who was willing to stoop so low he would consider a marital union with a child. Her uncle, Abdel Salam Al-Ahdal, a montage and graphics technician at a TV station, was held up as a hero for having offered Nada a safe haven in his home, away from harm and abuse.
In the video, translated by MEMRI, a Middle East media watchdog, Nada talks of her escape from her parents’ home after they tried to marry her to a much older man. She said: “I can’t live with them anymore. Enough! . . . What about the innocence of childhood? What have the children done wrong? Why do you marry them off like that?”Recalling how her 14-year-old aunt endured a year of abuse at the hands of her older husband before she was driven to suicide, Nada defiantly warned she would never let herself become another statistic on child marriage.
My mother, my family, believe me when I say: I’m done with you, you’ve ruined my dreams,” she declared, decrying the threats her parents made against her person if she resisted their decision.In truth, child marriage is a very serious issue indeed—one which deserves and requires much attention because it involves a harrowing and despicable form of abuse. Any allegation or report of such abuse should be treated with care and diligence, so as not to allow false reports to trivialize the issue.Too busy reporting on a trend very few news organizations previously thought to investigate, many forgot to do any fact-checking on Nada’s allegations. As it turned out, they should have.Alerted by Seyaj—Yemen’s most prominent children’s rights organization—the authorities immediately assigned a task force to investigate the claims of child abuse, not willing to take Nada’ statement at face value.

The interior ministry confirmed that its preliminary investigation has established that, contrary to her claims, Nada had never approached the authorities with regard to her abuse.Moreover, for the past 18 months, Nada has been living with her paternal uncle, Abdel Salam Al-Ahdal. She never ran away to his house, as she stated in the video—she was already under his care.Most disturbingly yet, Seyaj says its investigations indicate that Nada had been coerced by her uncle into making the video as part of a scam to turn the young school girl into Yemen’s new Nujood, gain fame and make a profit. Nujood was a young girl who rose to fame in 2008 when, at the age of 8, she bravely refused to tolerate abuse from her husband and asked a judge to grant her a divorce.Well-versed in the way the media operates, Nada’s uncle sought to cash in on his niece’s fabricated plight, hoping she would become the country’s new poster child against child marriage.Now in the care of the Yemen Women’s Union, the authorities are looking to transfer Nada back into her parents’ custody, away from the prying eye of the media.Ramizia Al-Eryani, the president of the Yemen Women’s Union said that Nada had been pressed to falsely accuse her parents. She said she was angry with the media, as their irresponsible reporting would harm real victims of abuse by raising some questions over the veracity of others’ claims. She worried that it would not only empower abusers, but potentially prevent victims from coming forward out of fear of both the media and social stigma.Seyaj issued the following statement on Thursday: “Nada’s claims that she was to be married are not real. Nada tried to exploit the public’s opinion for personal and financial gain, hoping that, like Nujood before her, her story would grant her status. Nada is not a victim of child marriage!”Officials from the interior ministry also categorically rejected Nada’s claims, declaring that the evidence points to the same conclusion: Nada lied

http://www.majalla.com/eng/2013/07/article55243853?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer684bc&utm_medium=twitter

OP
Please post this on this thread

https://www.nairaland.com/1177010/hoaxes-fabrications-islam-muslims/7

la furia:
In the video, translated by MEMRI, a Middle East media watchdog,

http://www.majalla.com/eng/2013/07/article55243853?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer684bc&utm_medium=twitter

MEMRI is not a watchdog
It is site designed to ridicule muslims or portray them in bad light
It is stories like this that they like to publicise

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/12/worlddispatch.brianwhitaker

la furia:
The second thing that makes me uneasy is that the stories selected by Memri for translation follow a familiar pattern: either they reflect badly on the character of Arabs or they in some way further the political agenda of Israel. I am not alone in this unease.

Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations told the Washington Times: "Memri's intent is to find the worst possible quotes from the Muslim world and disseminate them as widely as possible."

Memri might, of course, argue that it is seeking to encourage moderation by highlighting the blatant examples of intolerance and extremism. But if so, one would expect it - for the sake of non-partisanship - to publicise extremist articles in the Hebrew media too.

Although Memri claims that it does provide translations from Hebrew media, I can't recall receiving any.

Evidence from Memri's website also casts doubt on its non-partisan status. Besides supporting liberal democracy, civil society, and the free market, the institute also emphasises "the continuing relevance of Zionism to the Jewish people and to the state of Israel".

That is what its website used to say, but the words about Zionism have now been deleted. The original page, however, can still be found in internet archives.

The reason for Memri's air of secrecy becomes clearer when we look at the people behind it. The co-founder and president of Memri, and the registered owner of its website, is an Israeli called Yigal Carmon.

Mr - or rather, Colonel - Carmon spent 22 years in Israeli military intelligence and later served as counter-terrorism adviser to two Israeli prime ministers, Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin.
These incidents involving Saudi Arabia should not be viewed in isolation. They are part of building a case against the kingdom and persuading the United States to treat it as an enemy, rather than an ally.

It's a campaign that the Israeli government and American neo-conservatives have been pushing since early this year - one aspect of which was the bizarre anti-Saudi briefing at the Pentagon, hosted last month by Richard Perle.

To anyone who reads Arabic newspapers regularly, it should be obvious that the items highlighted by Memri are those that suit its agenda and are not representative of the newspapers' content as a whole.

The danger is that many of the senators, congressmen and "opinion formers" who don't read Arabic but receive Memri's emails may get the idea that these extreme examples are not only truly representative but also reflect the policies of Arab governments.

Thanks for the info, and have posted the article on the other thread.

Did anyone think it WASNT a hoax?

the fox news organization of the 'aussie' billionaire and memri tv didnt think it was a hoax. you know, any evil has to be put on islam first. but if it doesnt fit after tremendous effort, then you must acquit. but islam makes the slightest mistakes, throw the books at it and put it where it belongs, because that where you were hoping it belonged in the first place. different rule when it comes to islam, while even atheism has the same rule as the rest.

i guess when the monotheist rattles the cages of other monotheists, let the law drop its shoes on it.

Most of the "stories that touch" on nl are hoaxes in one way or another, i guess people dont realize some folks have it as a full time job to come up with and disseminate these write ups?

Quite a lot of effort goes into the acting, script writing, etc.

Video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7_TKgw1To

^^^^^
I am not sure it is such a cool idea to post the video here
Some implacables will just take the video and post it elsewhere where there are not aware of the refutation
were that not possible we would not have "hoaxes and fabrications"

BTW don't you find striking the way they have damaged that girl
11 and full of so much bile and lies?
That scheming uncle needs to be hosted by the government

imo, it takes a great leap of imagination to believe the girl is not acting out a script?

of course i could be wrong, and of course child marriage is reputed to be common practice in yemen, but for me, the clip somehow seems coached.

besides, the girl looks like she's from an educated, well off and exposed family, not the type who would be into child marriage.

her words:

What happened to the innocence of childhood?

what does a child know about innocence in childhood? This is adult lingo.

a child is supposed to be innocent, but they (children) wouldnt understand what that is, much less use it in a sentence.


She also said her family ruined her dreams.

what dreams does an 11 year old have, or am i missing something? Dream?

that's again adult lingo.

i stand corrected if wrong, of course.

Doesnt mean I'm in support of child marriage either.

Some people are in the business of tarnishing the image of Islam anyway anyhow. Hmmmn.

tpia@:
her words:



what does a child know about innocence in childhood? This is adult lingo.

a child is supposed to be innocent, but they (children) wouldnt understand what that is, much less use it in a sentence.


She also said her family ruined her dreams.

what dreams does an 11 year old have, or am i missing something? Dream?

that's again adult lingo.

i stand corrected if wrong, of course.

Doesnt mean I'm in support of child marriage either.

You are right. How can a child know the meaning to those?

tpia@:
imo, it takes a great leap of imagination to believe the girl is not acting out a script?

of course i could be wrong, and of course child marriage is reputed to be common practice in yemen, but for me, the clip somehow seems coached.

some can view things dispassionately
But not all and even MEMRITV does not belive it, it sure knows that some people will lap it up
When Plain was interviewed in 2008, it was clear she thought Africa was a country
That was the governor of a state that was physically separated from the rest of the US
Who else would you think should have mastered Geography?
Some people really believe that Africans cohabit with apes

I recall a personal experience related by Mrs Akerele-Bucknor. She was in Europe and when she spoke to them, some exclaimed
"it talks"
She is alive and less than 80. So how long ago could that be. Perhaps she was in her 20s then

deols: Some people are in the business of tarnishing the image of Islam anyway anyhow. Hmmmn.

^ its a general thing, not necessarily a religious one.

I feel for the young lady. May she leave to see her dreams accomplished

BetaThings: ^^^^^
I am not sure it is such a cool idea to post the video here
Some implacables will just take the video and post it elsewhere where there are not aware of the refutation
were that not possible we would not have "hoaxes and fabrications"

BTW don't you find striking the way they have damaged that girl
11 and full of so much bile and lies?
That scheming uncle needs to be hosted by the government

Editorial considerations mean that you cannot report on an item without referencing it. People need to know what you are talking about. Your point is understood but it is already widely circulated.

^ I wanted to comment on that, I think betathings is correct.

If it is already popular why give it more publicity?

tbaba1234: ^ I wanted to comment on that, I think betathings is correct.

If it is already popular why give it more publicity?

Look at it this way: I have greater responsibility here and see things you don't see.