Islamaphobia sells.

[durutti]

http://scoop.agonist.org/story/2004/7/25/182520/391

The story has the makings of great tragedy. A woman is killed by her father because of an illicit affair, her childhood friend denounces the murder and flees her Middle Eastern homeland in fear for her life, the story is published and becomes a worldwide bestseller.

But now the Jordanian-born author Norma Khouri is battling claims that Forbidden Love, and the life story she has recounted to book groups and journalists on three continents, is a fake.

Far from being a Jordanian who fled her home in the late 1990s after the "honour" killing of her best friend, Khouri is accused of being an American passport-holder who lived in Chicago from the age of three.

"This women has ruined our cause," said Rana Husseini, a Jordanian journalist and human rights activist who has documented the country's "honour" killings for 10 years.

[Violet_Crumble]

1. Immigration department investigates Khouri

Author Norma Khouri was under investigation by the Immigration Department, the federal government said today.

Khouri's controversial book Forbidden Love was today withdrawn from sale amid allegations the book was a hoax.

Random House Australia withdrew the book from sale and advised booksellers to do the same after the Sydney Morning Herald published articles at the weekend exposing the book as a fraud.

The book purports to be a memoir of the author's life growing up in Jordan, and includes an account of a Muslim friend being murdered by her father in an "honour killing" because she fell in love with a Christian man.

"The Department of Immigration is investigating matters associated with the Migration Act in relation to allegations made over the weekend," Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/26/1090693888373.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. sounds like a hoax to me

I have Muslim friends with Christian spouses. No big deal, as Christians are people of the Book, and, according to the Qur'an, are to be respected and honored. The Beloved Prophet himself had two wives who were Jewish, and he did not make them convert. And 'honor killings' is a cultural thing-terrible for women, and one that progressive Muslims condemn.