Honor Killings in Texas

The above video is a tribute that was put together in memory of two lovely young American girls who were allegedly slain by their own father. Their beautiful eyes and happy smiles cannot help but haunt the hearts of all who abhor senseless violence.

According to WFAA News, Dallas, Texas, nine months ago on New Year’s Day, seventeen-year-old Sarah Said and her 18-year old sister Amina, were discovered dead in their father’s taxi, which was parked in a Las Colinas, Texas hotel parking lot.

At the time, the girls' relatives said that their father killed them for disgracing the family because they were acting too western and dating non-Muslims.

Now, the FBI has officially stated that the girls were allegedly murdered by their own father and they may have been the victims of an honor killing.

One of the girls was recorded in her final call telling 911 that her father had shot them.

Their Egyptian-born father, Yaser Abdel Said, has been the subject of a nation-wide manhunt.

Here is the FBI Official Wanted poster

According to FOX News the FBI has recently made Yaser Abdel Said the "featured fugitive" on its Web site.

The father had made many threats against both of the girls and their friends, family, and classmates knew that their father wanted them dead.

After he threatened to kill one daughter in December 2007 — documented in text messages Sarah Said sent to a friend — the girls and their mother, Patricia, fled from their home in Lewisville, Texas, to Tulsa, Okla. But the mother soon had a change of heart and went back, leading to the tragedy on January 1. Some, including Gartrell, believe the mother may even have been complicit in the murders.

Some Muslims, however, are not happy about the FBI’s calling the case an honor killing.

"As far as we're concerned, until the motive is proven in a court of law, this is [just] a homicide," Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Dallas, told FOXNews.com.

He said he worries that terms like "honor killing" may stigmatize the Islamic community. “We (Muslims) don’t have the market on jealous husbands ... or domestic violence,” Carroll said.

The United Nations has reported that 5,000 women are killed worldwide yearly in honor killings. Dr. Phyllis Chesler, author of several books and expert on honor killings, said that the case fits the description of honor killings.

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