An e-mail:

With all the fuse over the Marine singing JIHADI GIRL you would think the someone would raise the subject of family mercy killings that do happen in the muslim world. When I heard the song besides finding it funny I thought to myself, “well sure it’s plausible the girls family members would shoot to kill no matter the safety of Jihadi Girl.” Am I wrong?

My mind turns to women like young Nazanin in Iran. Nazanin was sentenced to death for killing a man in self-defense as she and her cousin were being raped. (One wonders if she would have been allowed to live even if she had not killed him.)

The latest news on Nazanin, by the way, though while she remains in prison, is facing a retrial. Her international guardian, an Iranian native and former Miss World who shares her name, reports yesterday that she has been placed in solitary confinement. (My interview with Nazanin Afshin-Jam is here.)

This post is a bit off the point of the thread. Although come to think of it, it’s not really.