Outrage at “Honor Killing” Spurs Anthology

Two months ago, a mob of Iraqi men stoned and beat Dua Khalil Aswad to death because the 17-year-old Yazidi girl had been seen in public with a young Sunni man; members of her own family were among her murderers, all of whom were recorded on video from mobile phones (unsettling, graphic images from Wikipedia) as armed policemen stood by; their inaction tacit approval of the so-called “honor killing.” About a month ago, after learning of the murder, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon wrote an online essay, expressing his despair that “the footage of the murder was taken—by more than one phone—from the front row. Which means whoever shot it did so not to record the horror of the event, but to commemorate it. To share it. Because it was cool.”

Whedon’s call for an activist response inspired several writers to set down their own reactions to Khalil’s murder, which will be collected in an anthology called Nothing But Red (the title comes from Whedon’s decription of the girl’s face after the repeated blows). They invite other writers and artists to submit their own contributions between August and November, aiming towards Lulu.com-produced trade paperback and electronic editions to be published next April on the one-year anniversary of Khalil’s death.

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