CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 2:41

CIRCUMCISION INFORMATION NETWORK
Volume 2, Number 41, 21 December 1995
E-mail:  CircInfoNe@aol.com

The purpose of this weekly bulletin is to educate the public about and to
protect children and other non-consenting persons from genital mutilation.
 Readers are encouraged to copy and redistribute it, and to contribute
written material.  --Rich Angell, Editor.

A LETTER TO THE NY TIMES
In the last issue of the CIN, there were excerpts from and article of 10
Dec. of the New York Times on female genital mutilation.  Following is
Barry Ellsworth's response as it appeared in today's issue.  Thanks to
Barry Ellsworth, BarryBE@aol.com.

NY Times, 19 Dec. 95, Letters to the Editor, Page A24
Circumcising Babies

Meserak Ramsey, an Ethiopian nurse, is leading the battle to eliminate the
practice of female genital mutilation both in this country and abroad.
(News Article, Dec. 10th)

It will be difficult for the United States to influence the international
debate on genital mutilation so long as the routine circumcision of baby
boys is widely practiced in our hospitals.

Although many Americans may feel that male and female circumcision are
unrelated, the rest of the world sees the connection.  In a canny move, the
government of Egypt recently sought to defuse western criticism of female
genital mutilation by prescribing that it be performed by doctors, in
hospitals and under sanitary conditions.

When over one million boys are circumcised here annually, many without
anaesthesia  and with occasionally fatal results, how can we impugn other
peoples' attachment to this ancient rite?

GENITAL MUTILATION OF CHILDREN: IT IS A CRIME
By sami.aldeeb@isdc-dfjp.unil.ch (Sami Aldeeb)
Forwarded by jai@mantra.com (Dr. Jai Maharaj)

Female circumcision is ignored in many if not most of the Arab and Muslim
countries; it is practised in Sudan (98%), Somalia (98%) Egypt (more than
92%, among Muslims and Christians) and few other Arab and Muslim countries.
It is also practiced by some Jews (the Fellachah).  It has triggered a
passionate public debate in the West. This debate has found somewhat of an
echo in the Arab and Muslim world but some Muslim religious circles as
Al-Azhar (Egypt), the most important Islamic Center in the World, try to
justify it in the form called sunnah [conform with the tradition of the
prophet Mohammed].

Male circumcision is practised by all Muslims and Jews and also by some
Christians (100% in Egypt, 60% in the U.S.A). This practice among Muslims
derives from the practice of the Jews:  Each Muslim must be circumcised
like Abraham, who is considered a model man. For different reasons, the
debate against male circumcision is still taboo in Western and in Arab and
Muslim countries for the following reasons:
:
1) Doctors and other paramedical groups profit by the operation of
circumcision and one can hardly expect them to willingly reduce their
income. Circumcision and the commerce of the foreskin constitutes a
lucrative industry in the United States.

2) Opposition of the Religious communities, in particular the Jewish
community: the Western world has passed laws prohibiting female
circumcision, but dares not to do the same for male circumcision for fear
that they will be considered anti-Semitic by the Jews. The so-called
"medical" justifications for Male circumcision were formulated principally
by Jewish doctors. One must note, however, that even the voice of American
Jews is being added to the cry against the practice of circumcision.

3) International organisations refuse to involve themselves in this issue.
They are also afraid of being considered anti-Semitic. These organisations,
responsible for overseeing the respect of human rights, are always ready to
criticise --correctly so -- female circumcision, but have become
accomplices in the violation of the rights of male infants to an intact body.

There is no reason to distinguish between Male and Female circumcision:
both are mutilations of healthy sexual organs of non-consenting children.
There is no justification for such mutilations.  If the clitoris and the
foreskin were useless, Nature would not have made them. Furthermore,
concerning Muslims, both practices violate the Koran: "Our Lord, You did
not create all this in vain" (3:191); "[He] perfected everything He
created" (32:7).

It is imperative to leave the child, female or male, intact until the age
of 18 when he will have the freedom to decide for himself whether he wants
to be circumcised or not.  He is then even free to have her/his ears
amputated if he chooses, but one does not have the right for forcibly
remove her/his body parts when s/he is a baby.

In my opinion, a God who demands that his believers be mutilated and
branded on their genitals the same as cattle, is a God of questionable
ethics. It could be legitimate to perform either male or female
circumcision, as any other surgery, for specific, extremely rare, medical
reasons on specific individuals. But to arbitrarily mutilate children, boys
or girls, under the pretext that it is for their own good, shows an
influence of cynicism and fanaticism.

Sami Aldeeb
Doctor of Law; Graduate in Political Sciences
Staff Legal Advisor in charge of Arab and Islamic Law
Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Lausanne, Switzerland

I developed this question in a recent article "To mutilate in the
Name of Jehovah or Allah," published by the International Journal
Medicine and Law. (vol. 13, no 7/8 1994, pp. 574-622)

End of article by Sami Aldeeb

DOGGONE MUTILATION
Bottom Line/Personal, 15 December 1995 issue, P5.

"Did you know that...docking dogs' tails and cropping their ears serves no
health purpose and causes puppies unnecessary pain?  The operations are
usually done without anesthetic during the first days of a dog's life--for
purely cosmetic reasons.  Nearly 50 dog breeds are customarily docked."

Editor's note:  "Serves no health purpose.  Causes unnecessary pain.
 Operations usually done without anesthetic during the first days of life.
 Done customarily for purely cosmetic reasons..."  Gee whiz.  Where have I
heard that before?

SCREAM OF THE WEEK
(Statements Documenting Infant Circumcision Pain)
Submitted by Johnny4444@aol.com

"The pain of [infant] circumcision is not a debatable question; it is a
fact." ("Circumcision: Ritual Surgery or Surgical Ritual?," by Edward
Wallerstein, Medicine and Law, Springer-Verlag, 1983)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION call NOCIRC, the National Organization of
Circumcision Information Resource Centers at (415) 488-9883, fax (415)
488-9660.  Ask about the resource provider nearest you.  For written
information, write NOCIRC, PO Box 2512, San Anselmo, CA 94979, with SASE
and/or donation if possible.
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