AP: "Al-Qaida's stance on women sparks extremist debate"

Whenas in niqab Fullah goes
Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows
The Fard effacement
of her nose

When next I spy
th'accoutrement
All of a sudden bravely rent
I sigh, "Alas, work accident."

The male monopoly on the work-accident has been a thing of the past for some time, but there are evidently still some chauvinist hold-outs:

Muslim extremist women are challenging al-Qaida's refusal to include — or at least acknowledge — women in its ranks, in an emotional debate that gives rare insight into the gender conflicts lurking beneath one of the strictest strains of Islam.

In other words, there's a bomb under that Burkha, or bomb-aspirations, anyway.

In response to a female questioner, al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman's role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of al-Qaida fighters.

His remarks have since prompted an outcry from fundamentalist women, who are fighting or pleading for the right to be terrorists . . .

Anyone who pleads for the right to be a terrorist probably isn't terrorist material to begin with.

A'eeda Dahsheh is a Palestinian mother of four in Lebanon who said she supports al-Zawahri and has chosen to raise children at home as her form of jihad. However, she said, she also supports any woman who chooses instead to take part in terror attacks.

Another woman signed a more than 2,000-word essay of protest online as Rabeebat al-Silah, Arabic for "Companion of Weapons."

"How many times have I wished I were a man ... When Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri said there are no women in al-Qaida, he saddened and hurt me," wrote "Companion of Weapons," who said she listened to the speech 10 times. "I felt that my heart was about to explode in my chest...I am powerless." [...]

Poor dear, but there's hope--more progressive terrorists:

Hamas, another militant group, is open about using women fighters and disagrees with al-Qaida's stated stance. At least 11 Palestinian women have launched suicide attacks in recent years.

"A lot of the girls I speak to ... want to carry weapons. They live with this great frustration and oppression," said Huda Naim, a prominent women's leader, Hamas member and Palestinian lawmaker in Gaza. "We don't have a special militant wing for women ... but that doesn't mean that we strip women of the right to go to jihad." [...]

They're moderate extremists. (Hat Tip: Tim Blair)

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Tags: terror, Al Qaeda, feminism, irony