Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

RIFQA BARY GAINS PERMANENT RESIDENCY IN THE U.S.

News item here.   Good news!! 

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A lawyer for a runaway Christian convert from Ohio who was also an  illegal immigrant says the 18-year-old woman has gained permanent residency in the United States.

Kort Gatterdam, a lawyer for Rifqa Bary, said Tuesday the news means Bary can now start applying for a driver's license, Medicaid coverage and college scholarships.

Gatterdam says Bary, a native of Sri Lanka, received her permanent residency card last week and can apply for citizenship in five years.

Bary had sought the green card as she argued in court she could not reunite with her Muslim parents, whom she alleged threatened her with harm for converting.

Bary also sought legal residency to achieve health coverage as she battles uterine cancer.

JUDGE OPENS PATH FOR RIFQA BARY TO STAY IN U.S.

Meretith Heagney reports:   (HT: AtlasShrugs)

A ruling by a Franklin County Juvenile Court magistrate this afternoon will allow Rifqa Bary to apply for an immigration status that her attorneys hope will keep her in the U.S. after her 18th birthday on Tuesday.

Magistrate Mary Goodrich ruled that reunification between Rifqa and her parents is not viable by Tuesday and that it is not in Rifqa's best interest to be returned to her native Sri Lanka at this time.

Rifqa's attorneys had filed a motion saying those findings were necessary for her to apply for an immigrant juvenile status that would allow her to apply for a green card to stay in the country. The special status provides a potential path to citizenship for children separated from their parents. . .

Me: Wonderful news!

RIFQA GRADUATES!

News via Atlas Shrugs:

Pamela Gellar says:

Finally some sweet, happy news to report on Rifqa Bary, the besieged Christian convert out of Islam who was dogged and hounded for her apostasy. The straight-A student graduated with honors.

She turns 18 in August, still without the immigration status that her lawyers have been promising her for months, but her life will be her own and we will continue to pray for her health.

Me:  This announcement leaves me with a lot of questions.  I had assumed she was doing her school work independently.  Maybe she was.  I just wish Pamela had posted more information.

THE LATEST ON RIFQA BARY

Posted by Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugged:  (I suggest clicking through to read the comments. Some are informative - e.g. many have offered her a home when she turns 18 in August).

            Headling: Rifqa Bary's lawyer charged with illegally disclosing confidential information

Deeply, deeply troubling. Rifqa Bary's legal team continues to work against her. The teenage Christian convert out of Islam who fled the death threats of her father has been saddled with the inept, self-promoting, failed legal strategy of John Stemberger.

From the beginning of her court case, Stemberger ignored experts in the field. He refused to enter into evidence

Deeply, deeply troubling. Rifqa Bary's legal team continues to work against her. The teenage Christian convert out of Islam who fled the death threats of her father has been saddled with the inept, self-promoting, failed legal strategy of John Stemberger.

From the beginning of her court case, Stemberger ignored experts in the field. He refused to enter into evidence

RIFQA BARY HAS CANCER!

Update 5/27/10 - Post-op report on Rifqa Bary's surgery.

Jamal Jivanjee was kind enough to send me [Pamela Geller] the following update: on the recent tragic news of cancer diagnosis.

Rifqa Bary has been released from the hospital after this morning's  surgery. Cancerous growths were removed and further action will be determined upon pathology tests. Chemotherapy treatments are expected in the near future.

Rifqa  is thankful for the prayers and support that she has received.

Update: 5/25/10 - Geller defends her reporting on Rifqa Bary.

- Pamela Geller headlines her report: "RIFQA BARY SUFFERING FROM CANCER, HER LAWYERS BRING IN HER PARENTS." 

This is wrenching. 

Geller writes:

There has been a terrible development in the case of Rifqa Bary. According to Rifqa, she has been diagnosed with advanced uterine cancer

I ask all Atlas readers to put Rifqa in their prayers.

While this is a tragedy, how she is being victimized by her lawyers and her parents is an atrocity. Her lawyers kept her in the dark about her condition – cancer – for well over a week, while they conferred with her parents and their CAIR appointed lawyers about her treatment. While most cases like this result in a hysterectomy, she is only having the advanced malignancy removed. From what I understand, the survival rate in cases like these is 5%. Her surgery is Thursday. Pray.

Was she allowed to get a second opinion? No.

While she was lying ill, her lawyers brought her parents to her hospital bed. She was strapped in for treatment and became very agitated and upset, and they had to be removed. She has broken her silence, a silence mandated by her lawyers, that she could not talk to her friends such as Jamal Jivanjee and those of us who have been unwavering in our support for Rifqa Bary’s civil rights and religious liberty.

Now she is scared. Her entire legal strategy was directed at keeping her safe and securing her immigration status, and here we are at the end of May and she has no immigration status. Upon her birthday in August 2010, she will be an illegal alien, in need of serious chemotherapy and cancer treatment. This is a horror.

UPDATE: Sending cards and letters would provide succor. Rifqa Bary c/o Angela Lloyd 255C Drinko Hall 55 West 12th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210

Jamal Jivanjee was kind enough to send me [Pamela Geller] the following update: on the recent tragic news of cancer diagnosis.

Rifqa Bary has been released from the hospital after this morning's  surgery. Cancerous growths were removed and further action will be determined upon pathology tests. Chemotherapy treatments are expected in the near future.

Rifqa  is thankful for the prayers and support that she has received.

RIFQA BARRY UPDATE

Pamela Geller provides an extensive update.  She titles her post, "Legal Incompetence and a Ticking Clock."

Me:  If only Rifqa had better legal representation!!

REPORTS: JUDGE RULES THAT RIFQA BARY WILL REMAIN IN FOSTER CARE UNTIL AGE 18

Wintery Knight cites Fox Orlando and offers the following excerpt:

FOX affiliate WTTE-TV in Columbus, Ohio is reporting that Rifqa Bary, the teenage Christian convert who ran away from her Muslim parents to Florida because of claims that her life was in danger, has reached an agreement with her parents.  Reports indicate that they have agreed she will remain in the custody of the Ohio Office of Families and Children until she reaches 18 years of age, or the family, collectively, decides they want to go to counseling.

[...]The judge decided the teen would be able to receive third-party correspondence and that he would not force mediation between Bary and her parents. Bary did not make any public comments as she exited the court room.

Me: I am hesitant to post this story because it seems so incomplete.  Pamela Geller cites a report from an observer in the court room, and headlines her post, A deal was cut today in the trial of Rifqa Bary. In exchange for pleading guilty to the charge of being "unruly", Rifqa will not have to return home.

To me there remain a host of unanswered questions.  Many commenters on Geller's post agree.

RIFQA BARY - WHY HER CASE IS SO IMPORTANT

- Update 1/16/10 - Pamela Geller reviews all the news she herself has  broken in the Rifqa Bary case, none of which the major news organizations have reported. 

- (Original post) - Jamal Jivanjee (her close friend) says: [my emphases]

The next important date for you to put on your calendar is Thursday January 28’th.  This is the date that her trial for dependency is set to begin.  Obviously this date may change, but at this point this is the date that the Franklin County juvenile court has set for her trial regarding dependency.

 . . . I am convinced that God has elevated Rifqa’s case to one of the most significant cases in our nation today.  I am convinced that Rifqa’s life of tremendous love for Jesus and commitment to radical prayer in the face of tremendous suffering is a challenge and example to much of the sleeping institutional American church.  In addition to challenging the American church, Rifqa’s courage in standing up against the brutality and injustice that many other women and converts out of Islam face from Islamic ideology is breaking the dam of fear that millions of others currently live under.  Simply put, Rifqa’s courage to live will continue to give scores of people the courage to break free from this bondage as well.    

The key factor in all of this is Rifqa’s testimony.  Since the beginning of all of this, there has been a concerted effort to keep Rifqa quiet, and her testimony from getting out.  There has also been a concerted effort to direct attention away from what is really important in this case…Rifqa’s story!  The enemy knows that the more that Rifqa’s life is made known, the more that the truth will be exposed.  Groups like C.A.I.R. have an agenda to paint a positive picture of Islam at any cost, and that is why this powerful national organization is advising and directing Rifqa’s parent’s attorneys in their attack against her character and testimony, as well as an attack against those that have helped her.   

. . . Please pray for Rifqa to have wisdom and much courage in the days ahead regarding decisions that she will need to make, and please pray for an opportunity for Rifqa to get the truth out to the court and the nation regarding her true testimony of Jesus, and the threat and opposition that she faced as a result.  I believe this is very significant!

Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs has more.  Important stuff...  Rifqa remains isolated; she still has no visitor's list!  As Geller says,

This isolation is a form of psychological torture. I thought Obama said no torture for jihadists. So why is a girl in America, guilty only of freedom of religion, allowed to be psychologically tortured? This is mental abuse, and the fact that the parents are behind it with a terror organization as their hatchet man speaks volumes as to what would happen to Rifqa if they ever dared to send her home. . .

THE RIFQA BARY ISOLATION CONTINUES

I remain very concerned for Rifqa Bary.  Pamela Geller published a report today that continues to fuel my concern.  Jamal Jivanjee, a pastor and friend of Rifqa's, wrote a summary of the situation as it now stands.  He reiterated her isolation and the strategy being imposed against her by Muslims and C.A.I.R. (Council on American-Islamic Relations).  Jivanjee concluded,

In the past many of you have emailed Franklin County Children’s services. This may be necessary again because this isolation of Rifqa has gotten worse and simply cannot be allowed to continue. The director of Children’s services may be the best person to contact about the abusive restrictions that are being put on Rifqa. Emails should be polite, yet direct. His name is Eric Fenner, and he can be contacted at this address: [email protected]oh.us

I wrote a polite letter to Mr. Fenner a few moments ago.  But I remain concerned about the effectiveness of the legal help Rifqa Bary is receiving.  Are there not wise legal minds able to see through Islamic manipulations ready and willing to take up this case?  Will Muslim strategies succeed in diverting attention away from Islamic practices of killing apostates?  Where is the Alliance Defense Fund?  Where is the American Center for Law and Justice?  Is the Family Research Council on top of this case?  These organizations must recognize that the battle must not be limited to taking on secularists desiring to overrule the Constitution.  The battle must be taken to radical Muslims who would do the same for their own ends as well.  Come on, you guys. . .

My previous posts on Rifqa Bary may be found here.

PAMELA GELLER: RIFQA BARY BEING OUTLAWYERED, OUTFOXED, AND OUTGUNNED

  Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs is frustrated and angry that Rifqa Bary isn't getting better, wiser, and shrewder legal representation.  Rifqa's parents are being represented by a CAIR-appointed lawyer who is outmaneuvering Rifqa's lawyers.  Read about the developing situation here. 

Embedded in Geller's post is a plea from Wafa Sultan that was originally published here.  Sultan is an expert on Islam.  Of her Geller says:  "Author, writer, speaker, Sultan was born to a Sunni Muslim family in Baniyas, Syria. Sultan trained as a psychiatrist in Syria and is a US naturalized citizen."

Sultan writes:  (my bolding)

I was born and raised as a Muslim in Syria. I practiced Islam for thirty years of my life. Now I am a known human rights activist striving to save our future Muslim generations  from the impact of the violent, hateful Islamic doctrines embedded in the Sharia. My life is also threatened, not only by my own extended family, but by countless men who consider themselves devout Muslims. Under Sharia, if a Muslim leaves Islam or converts to another religion he / she is an “apostate,” to be killed. Under Sharia every Muslim has the right to kill such an apostate without any questions asked.  [more . .]

Me:  That American "educated elites" refuse to believe the universal testimony  of apostate killings under Sharia [Islamic law] is quite incredible.  Beyond that, it is disgusting.  Political correctness refuses to believe that a religion could be so barbaric.  Naivete and political correctness go together.  At some point, people will invariably recognize the politically correct for the fools they are, but by then it may be too late.  Let us hope and pray that Rifqa Bary survives her Muslim "apostasy" and that the U.S.legal system awakens to the danger in which she remains.

Incidentally, we may send New Year's cards to Rifqa at the following address: 

Rifqa Bary c/o Angela Lloyd 255C Drinko Hall 55 West 12th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210.

WHERE IS RIFQA BARRY? WHY IS SHE NOT ALLOWED CONTACT WITH FRIENDS?

Rifqa Barry, the teenage Muslim girl who embraced Christianity is being held in virtual house arrest.  Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs posts the following:

In the most egregious violation of Rifqa's Bary's civil rights, Rifqa is being denied essential contact with the outside world.

Her laptop has been confiscated. And now friends of hers are being denied the right to see her. And the couple of people who were allowed to see her in the past were fingerprinted.

She has been in Ohio for two weeks, and still there is no "pre-approved list" of visitors for Rifqa. On more than one occasion Rifqa has asked and been denied her request to see friends. At a previous almost covert hearing that was held, Mohamad and Aysha Bary moved to restrict her visitation, and it seems they succeeded.

Can any outside pressure be applied? How do we know she is all right? How do we know she is not being psychologically pressured?

She has not been granted pastoral care. She is being denied the freedom to practice her religion. Where are Rifqa's protectors? Who speaks for Rifqa? 

Inmates in prison get visits from their clergy. She is not being afforded the right of prisoners. She has not committed any crime. Why can't friends see her? One of the people who spoke to

PAMELA GELLER KEEPS US UP TO DATE ON RIFQA BARY

Geller writes:

Here's an excerpt from my latest at Newsmax:

Ohio Christian Girl Still Trying to Escape Muslim Parents Pamela Geller, Newsmax

Last Tuesday, Oct. 27, she was returned to Ohio and placed in foster care in Franklin County. Eric Fenner, the executive director of Franklin County Children Services, said that he has “no reason to believe Rifqa wouldn’t be safe with her parents” — with the father who according to Rifqa said, “If you have this Jesus in your heart, you’re dead to me. You’re not my daughter . . . I will kill you.”

And even now in Ohio, Rifqa Bary’s civil rights are being violated. She is being held prisoner: She is not allowed use of the phone or the Internet, unlike thousands of other children in foster care. Why? What is her crime?   [more . . .]

See also here.

ISLAMIC "HONOR KILLINGS" IN THE UNITED STATES

Robert Spencer writes on the Arizona Muslim who "ran down daughter for rejecting Iraqi values."  Spencer is interviewed below on Fox and Friends:

BREAKING:  Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs tells us that THE FLORIDA JUDGE HAS ORDERED RIFQA BARY BACK TO OHIO DESPITE ISLAMIC THREAT.

Geller writes:

UNBELIEVABLE: Judge Dawson has ordered Rifqa Bary back to her home state. This despite the horror described in her testimony in the FDLE report (here). The welfare of this child had nothing to do with the submission to sharia in this case. It was apostasy, and yet Islam was never put on trial. But it should have been.

This girl is not safe in Ohio. Period.  

Me:  This is terrible news.  Officials in the United States are unbelievably ignorant about Islam and honor killings.  For the history of the case and continual updates, see Pamela Geller.  Her post today includes photos of victims of honor killings from around the globe.

Update 10/24/09: Audio of Rifqa Bary's interview to FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) is available here.

RIFQA BARY UPDATE

Jamie Glazov interviews Pamela Geller for an up-to-date report on the Muslim apostate (now Christian) 17-year old, Rifqa Bary.  The interview explains why this case is hugely important.  Read it here.  My earlier posts on Rifqa can be found here.

IMPORTANT WEBSITE: "FORMER MUSLIMS UNITED"

Today I learned of the website, "Former Muslims United" from Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs which has been following the case of the young former Muslim, and now Christian,  Rifqa Bary (see also here). "Former Muslims United" plans a news conference for September 24th at which it will "call on the Department of Justice and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate possible hate crimes and civil rights violations against apostates from Islam, including the circumstances of the current Florida case of 17-year old Rifqa Bary, a former Muslim."  It also plans to release FMU's groundbreaking text, “Muslim Pledge for Religious Freedom and Safety from Harm for Former Muslims.”  These developments strike me as extraordinary.  May God bless these efforts which, properly understood, must be viewed as heroic. 

At the FormerMuslimsUnited website, one can find a link to Dr. Andrew Bostom's important article, Apostasy and the Islamic Nations which shows how the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam blatantly contradicts the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the United States Bill of Rights.   Bostom cites the Muslim texts that demand the killing of apostates, a chilling reality that has yet to penetrate the minds of uncomprehending Western multiculturalists.

(See my former post on Rifqa Bary here).

HAVE YOU HEARD OF RIFQA BARRY, THE YOUNG MUSLIM APOSTATE IN AMERICA?

Pamela Geller, whose blog, Atlas Shrugs, has been covering Rifqa Barry's story more extensively than any other, answers questions from Jamie Glazov of FrontPageMag.  It's a great introduction to an important story largely ignored by the MSM!!  It's the story of a an American teenage girl of Muslim background (Rifqa Barry) who became a Christian four years ago but who has had to flee her family because her life is in extreme danger due to the "honor killing" teachings of Islam.  Read Pamela Geller's explanation of Rifqa Barry's story here, and be sure to view the heart-rending video of Rifqa Barry.  Read the archives and keep following the story every day at Atlas Shrugs.