No, ISIS Isn’t Ordering Female Genital Mutilation In Iraq

[jeff47]

Source: Think Progress

Given the brutality seen so far from the militant group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), it’s easy to believe any act attributed to them must be true. But a United Nations officials’ statement on the group ordering female genital mutilation in one Iraqi city under their control seems to be less than accurate.

The story began on Thursday when the U.N.’s second senior most official, Jacqueline Badcock, told reporters of a new religious edict issued in ISIS’ name. The edict — or fatwa — ordered all girls and women in the city of Mosul between the ages of 11 and 46 to undergo female genital mutilation, Badcock told reporters in a teleconference from Iraq. “This is something very new for Iraq, particularly in this area, and is of grave concern and does need to be addressed,” Badcock, who serves as the U.N. humanitarian aid coordinator in Iraq, said.

(...)

The story quickly began to go viral, racking up hundreds of shares on social media. Soon thereafter, however, journalists with contacts in Iraq began reporting that the story didn’t hold up. “My contacts in #Mosul have NOT heard that ‘Islamic State’ ordered FGM for all females in their city,” Jenan Moussa, a reporter with Al Anan TV tweet out. “Iraqi contacts say #Mosul story is fake,” echoed freelance writer Shaista Aziz, adding: “Iraqi contact on #FGM story: “ISIS are responsible for many horrors, this story is fake and plays to western audience emotions.’”

NPR’s Cairo bureau chief also claimed that the story was false, tweeting “#UN statement that #ISIS issued fatwa calling 4 FGM 4 girls is false residents of Mosul say including a doctor, journalist and tribal leader.” Not long after a version of a document in Arabic, bearing the black logo that ISIS has adopted, began circulating on Twitter. The document, those who shared it said, is a hoax and the basis for the United Nations’ claim.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/07/24/3463683/no-isis-isnt-ordering-female-genital-mutilation-in-iraq/

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. "ISIS are responsible for many horrors, but..."

"...this story is fake and plays to Western audience emotions."

It is a relief that this particular horror story isn't true, but ISIS generates new ones by the day.

[KamaAina]

2. Derp. FGM is a traditional African practice.

Not Middle Eastern. Or Muslim, for that matter.

[Amonester]

3. So that Badcock fake wants to start WW3?

What is it? Why would she want to make the "west" go emotionally "wild" is she paid by the MIC??

[jeff47]

8. No, the person who published the hoax wants to hurt ISIS.

And it looks like Badcock believed the hoax.

Assuming this story is true...

[Amonester]

9. So many different agendas out there....

One day, the whole shebang's going to explode in our faces at this rate...

Mix in all these instant "social media" rumors, half-truths, and facts...

Which is which?

[riderinthestorm]

4. I fervently hope this is true. K&R! nt

[Kelvin Mace]

5. Cross off UN as reliable news source.

Thanks guys. Fox News probably has a job for you.

[magical thyme]

6. believe none of what is tweet

and only half of what you see?

[Marrah_G]

7. I hope this is true

[jamzrockz]

10. Next on the list

Thinkprogress will be defending the Nazi regime against smears from the evil MSM. There are some people that society should ignore no matter how much suffering or how much we misrepresented their views. ISIS is a top that list.

[jeff47]

12. If they are so evil, lying about them is not necessary.

And lying about them gets in the way of exposing what they're really doing. Why would people believe you about one atrocity when you lied about another?

[marble falls]

11. Well that just changes everything. But keeping things factual and accurate is a refreshing change...

I bet Fox got it wrong first and never corrects it.

[AtheistCrusader]

13. Probably tossing babies out of incubators too.

[countryjake]

14. Several MSM outlets are reporting the same...

Doubts grow over Isis 'FGM edict' in Iraq
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28466434?ocid=socialflow_twitter

A top UN official quoted from a statement saying that Isis wanted all females aged between 11 and 46 in the northern city to undergo the procedure.

Jacqueline Badcock said the decree was of grave concern.

But media analysts say the decree seen on social media may be a fake.

It has typos and language mistakes and is signed by "The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant", a name the group no longer uses, instead referring to itself as the Islamic State.

Some bloggers suggest that the alleged fatwa, which has been circulated on social media for about two days, may have been aimed at discrediting Isis.

Story About Mandatory Female Genital Mutilation in Iraq May Not Be True
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/07/24/isis_female_genital_mutilation_in_iraq_maybe_not.html

A number of news outlets reported this morning that ISIS jihadists had ordered the mandatory genital mutilation, aka "female circumcision" or FGM, of approximately 4 million women between the ages of 11 and 46 in Mosul, Iraq. One of the first reports seems to have come from the BBC, whose source was a United Nations official named Jacqueline Badcock...

Almost immediately, however, other reporters with sources in Mosul began writing that their contacts were not aware of ISIS having made any FGM edict.

Isis orders all girls and women in Mosul to undergo FGM, UN report says
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/24/isis-women-girls-fgm-mosul-un

The United Nations said on Thursday that militant group Islamic State (Isis) had ordered all girls and women in and around Iraq's northern city of Mosul to undergo female genital mutilation.

But doubts emerged on social media about the basis for the report. One document posted on Twitter suggested it may be a year old and have been issued by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, the group's previous name.

Other internet comments, including from Middle East analysts, questioned whether the order fitted with the cultural traditions of the region.

A UN spokesman in Geneva said that it was seeking clarity and trying to establish the facts.

[CrispyQ]

15. Kick for exposure. -nt