Souad
Encyclopedia
Burned Alive: a Victim of the Law of Men is a best-selling book, ostensibly a first-person account of an attempted honor killing
. The author, Souad, is described as a Palestinian
woman now living in Europe who survived an attempted murder
by her brother-in-law, who doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, at the urging of her family. The book was written as a result of repressed memory
therapy.
therapy. Thérèse Taylor, an Australian historian, has pointed out numerous medical, historical and cultural inconsistencies in the book that put its authenticity in doubt.
Souad claims to have survived the attempt without medical assistance despite having burns to 70 percent of her body - a medical impossibility (a press release by the publisher of the US edition increased that figure to an even less plausible 90 percent). Soaud also recalls her sister being choked with a telephone cord at a time when Palestinian villages did not have telephones. So far, there is no independent evidence to support the publisher's claim that the book is based on a true story or even that Souad exists at all. Taylor concludes her analysis by saying that she thinks it is likely that Souad no longer knows who she is or how she came to be burned.
Honor killing
An honor killing or honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community...
. The author, Souad, is described as a Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
woman now living in Europe who survived an attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
by her brother-in-law, who doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, at the urging of her family. The book was written as a result of repressed memory
Repressed memory
Repressed memory is a hypothetical concept used to describe a significant memory, usually of a traumatic nature, that has become unavailable for recall; also called motivated forgetting in which a subject blocks out painful or traumatic times in one's life...
therapy.
Controversy
According to the book, she forgot about the incident for two decades until it was recovered through repressed memoryRepressed memory
Repressed memory is a hypothetical concept used to describe a significant memory, usually of a traumatic nature, that has become unavailable for recall; also called motivated forgetting in which a subject blocks out painful or traumatic times in one's life...
therapy. Thérèse Taylor, an Australian historian, has pointed out numerous medical, historical and cultural inconsistencies in the book that put its authenticity in doubt.
Souad claims to have survived the attempt without medical assistance despite having burns to 70 percent of her body - a medical impossibility (a press release by the publisher of the US edition increased that figure to an even less plausible 90 percent). Soaud also recalls her sister being choked with a telephone cord at a time when Palestinian villages did not have telephones. So far, there is no independent evidence to support the publisher's claim that the book is based on a true story or even that Souad exists at all. Taylor concludes her analysis by saying that she thinks it is likely that Souad no longer knows who she is or how she came to be burned.
External links
- Truth, History, and Honor Killing — A skeptical review of the book by Thérèse Taylor (Antiwar.com)