Older Arab men in search of Syrian brides in Jordan refugee camps

Sounds like a bad personal ad, and it is, but that's what happens when women are treated like possesions:

ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan — Between bitter fall weather and unceasing war at home, Syrian refugees at this northern desert tent camp have enough problems. But fathers like Abu Yousef say they must also contend with something else: older Arab men in search of Syrian brides.

“Of course I would rather her marry a Syrian, someone from our community, but what can we do?” Abu Yousef said of his daughter, whose husband was killed in the Syrian uprising. Although he at first rejected the idea, Abu Yousef said he had consented to an arrangement proposed by a 55-year-old retired Saudi engineer as an opportunity to provide for his widowed daughter, 27, and her three children.

Because most of the hundreds of Syrians who cross into Jordan each day arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs, relief officials and refugees said, offers that include dowries of as much as $5,000 can be hard to resist. (Getty Images - A woman sits outside her tent at Al Zaatary camp in Jordan, near the border with Syria, on Aug. 6, 2012. Lately, the camp has seen a rise in matchmakers who infiltrate the camp by posing as aid workers in search of a Syrian bride.)

Proponents of the unions said they provide a humanitarian service to the more than 360,000 Syrians displaced throughout the region, often by arranging marriages for Syrian widows who would otherwise struggle to care for their families.

“This is not exploitation. This is generosity,” said Ziyad Hamad, whose charity, Kitab al-Sunna, is one of the largest organizations helping Syrian refugees in Jordan.

But many refugees here are vowing to defend their families against the practice, which is being driven in part by Web sites, classified advertisements and matchmaking networks that target wealthy men in countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.  (continue at Washington Post, hat tip Marcus Wilder)

 

Old geezers seek young wives.

Comments

[Susan Benton]

Typical Arabs - disgusting men and helpless/cludeless/vulnerable women.

And the liberals of course always treat the Middle East like the Mid-west. Imagine how much worse things will be if the repressive Syrian government loses control. Sharia will be in full force and Syria will turn on Israel even more agressively. ARRGH!

[PALADIN]

It is all part and parcel of the cult of Islam.

Nothing suprizes me about Islam anymore.

Absolutely nothing.

[AltonB]

Terrible shame and couldn't even image that happening to that extent in the UK

[Chavah]

Image it happening - it probably already does and you just don't know about it. Also cousin marriages are common among many of these people. The West was idiotic to let them in - we need to rid ourselves of them, and also to bomb them to smitherines - send the men to meet their 72 virgins and save the women from this evil men.

[SunnyD]

You are right of course. Better these women suffer and their children go unsupported then that they marry someone who could support them. But surely you can find even stronger language to denigrate these men. Your bias is obvious but surely not over the top yet. Perhaps other commenters can come up with even more names to call them since you ran out of expletives and insults.

[PALADIN]

@SunnyD I've got a few for ya-----> They are PEDOPHILES , MISOGYNISTS, A-HOLES, PERVERTS, DEGENERATES, IMMORAL, SICK, WEIRD, AND THEY are all part of the evil cult of Islime.
Want More ?

[SunnyD]

So Paladin you have met and talked to these people??? Or is this just blind bigotry. A lot of what goes on within Islam and in many of these Arab countries regardless of Islam are right out of the 12th century and many of the things in their culture are repulsive to us but this example doesn't even come close to that threshold. Imagine yourself in a refugee camp and all the scary things that go with that and you have three kids to boot. Then someone offers you a choice that would save you and your children. It's still her choice, no one forced her. But I suppose if you are 55 you have no right to get married and should be considered a pedophile and immoral...

[New Attitude]

That’s right Paladin, how dare you judge someone by their actions! I’ll bet you even think that Hitler or Stalin were evil, and you never talked with or got to know them did you? You should not judge them until you are in the position of ruthless dictator and know what it is like. You also shouldn’t judge their culture, you bigot! Just because you believe women are not property doesn’t mean the rest of us shouldn’t. My daughter knows her place, just below the dog. So why don’t you just admit SunnyD is right and apologize.

[SunnyD]

Attitude: Sure judge them by their actions. But what was the action you found so objectionable?? Was it that they are 55 and thus should never get married? Or was it that you don't think a 27 year old woman is capable of deciding who she would marry? maybe you just don't want anyone to escape the refugee camp. Exactly what action did you think was wrong and how would you regulate it???

[New Attitude]

@SunnyD: First of all let me state that if you are NOT a liberal then I apologize for any insult I may hurl in your direction. I enjoy a spirited debate. If you are a liberal then die in hell where you belong as I have no compassion, sympathy, or mercy for you.

There is plenty here to find objectionable and on multiple levels. First, as Paladin pointed out, any 50 something man specifically looking for a woman that much younger than himself isn’t looking for a “soul mate”. I am suspicious that he wants a sex slave or maid. I realize that in some cultures, particularly backward cultures, it is acceptable and even nominal practice for an older man to marry a younger woman. So be it. My opinion of that culture is one of disgust but not for that reason alone. Don’t you find it odd that coupled with that particular practice ‘those’ cultures are also the most repressive when it comes to women’s rights? That they consider women objects and not people with ‘unalienable rights’? The other part I find objectionable is these old geezers taking advantage of these refugees and their women. You stated in your last post “Or was it that you don't think a 27 year old woman is capable of deciding who she would marry?” HELLO! Did we read the same article? How did you draw the conclusion the woman had any choice??? The man mentioned in the article was talking about his daughter and basically selling her, no wait, excuse me, correction, RECEIVING A DOWRY, oh yea that’s different from selling. Human trafficking with women is alive and well because it is ingrained in these so called cultures of the Middle East. (Funny how we also call that stuff that grows in petri dish a culture) Did you notice the target group for these transactions? Arabs, or more specifically rich Arabs. I’m sure they want equal partner wives or maybe it is just the compassion in them and they will pay the dowry and set them free…..ha ha ha. I am sure the ‘elderly gentlemen’ simply want what is best for these young women and will expect nothing in return.

You are also jumping to the conclusion that she will be better off being sold and leaving the refugee camp. In line with that logic do you believe that blacks were better off as slaves in the US than they were living in huts in Africa? Do you believe that children who are fed and clothed but living with a child molester are better off than those who are hungry and have little in the way of material possessions?

I could go on but I will stop. In conclusion, if you agree with this practice, you are either amoral or a part of the culture. If you are part of that culture, why don’t you go on down to the refugee Wal-Mart and pick you out a sweet ‘young thang’ to take home.

[SunnyD]

So how much younger or older then their mate can a "man" be and still marry in your view? And does this ONLY apply to men or are women too restricted from free choice in your belief? Lets pass a law... say no one can marry someone more then 5 years older or younger. Oh, then we have to correct all those degenerates out there who are already married to someone too young or old so lets put them in jail because as you say I'm sure they aren't "soul mates". No punishment would be too severe for the crime of being, what did you so delicately call it... "old geezers" and wanting to marry. Would you feel the same if it were an "old spinsters" too??? After all we don't want to be "amoral" so they need to be punished too. And we can do this by pointing to totally unrelated acts of human trafficking as justification for our bigotry. And if that isn't enough then lets just accuse anyone who disagrees with us of thinking "that blacks were better off as slaves in the US than they were living in huts in Africa". That should scare them away from disagreeing with us...

[New Attitude (soon to be geezer)]

LOL! This is great! I love this argument. So you think I have a problem with the age of these ‘geezers’! No, no, no. I have a problem with them being ARAB/MUSLIM ‘geezers’! To understand why I have this problem, you have to answer this question.

Do you believe that men in Arab/Muslim countries treat women as human beings and support them as equals in society? Do these women have the same freedoms as men? Simple questions.

If you say yes, how do you explain all the news reports of abuses against women and all its forms? How do you explain the oppression of women in these countries? To what do you attribute this? Cultural? Do you refuse to see that these abuses happen in societies where women are treated as property instead of humans or do you just ignore that it exists? This extremely common in Arab/Muslim countries, is it not?

As far as ‘unrelated acts of human trafficking’…. A dowry is a sum of money brought into a marriage agreement from the women’s family. The article uses the term dowry in the reverse sense. These women are being purchased. How can you NOT call that human trafficking? Also, who is getting the money? The women? If you believe that I have some beach front property in Kansas I want to sell you.

Anyone, such as yourself, who thinks that this is taking place for the sole purpose of helping these poor unfortunate women is deluded and has no idea about base human nature.

One more thing, I do think it is strange for older men to seek marital relationships with younger women and visa-versa. Especially when the age difference is 10 years or more. Some people would agree with me. Some don’t. Having known people in those relationships, most have expressed having problems related to the age difference to me at some point. It becomes an issue. But not a legal one.

[SunnyD]

So it's 10 years or more that you object to. Show me where you posted your anger about Demi Moore marrying Ashton Kutcher. And who in the hell do you think you are telling anyone when and who they can marry!

[New Geezer Attitude]

This is great!!!! I'm loving every minute of this stupid moronic argument. You still won't answer the questions or address the real issue. You just want to go off on this tangent about age. Ha! Nothing about these women's fate. Oh well, I hope it has been as entertaining for you as it has been for me.

One last parting shot.... Did you notice how well it worked out for Ashton and Demi? LOL!!!

[SunnyD]

Exactly! That was my point from the beginning. The original post implies that just because of the age of the men then they must be bad people. I am not discussing or refuting any of the other claims in the story.