Forbidden Lies vs. Forbidden Love

Forbidden Lies movie poster.

The documentary exposes a book entitled Forbidden Love by Norma Khouri, a Jordanian writer. Khouri won fame and fortune through her shocking bestseller novel about honor killings in Jordan.

She claims that that her book is based on a real crime that took place in Amman. But in 2004, her book was exposed by Malcolm Knox, an Australian journalist, who proved that the book is nothing but a work of fiction. Knox joined forces with  Jordanian journalist Rana Husseini and Dr. Amal Alsabagh, a Jordanian political activist. They all proved that Khouri had lied about the women's social status in Jordan.

During the festival, IslamOnline.net (IOL) conducted an interview with Jordanian journalist and human rights defender Rana Husseini.

IOL: How did you know about Norma Khoury's book Forbidden Love? When did you decide to investigate its subject?

Husseini: An Iraqi journalist living in the US told me about the book, Forbidden Love, describing it as "horrible." From the first page, I noticed that there is a problem with the book. I started collecting the factual errors and I sent all of my findings to all the newspapers that wrote about Norma Khoury's book. Then, I went to the US on one occasion and contacted some NGOs and they told me that the book is a fraud and I need to do something about it. So, I sent my findings to the publishing house in the US, but they ignored my request.

I went back to Jordan and spoke with Dr. Amal Alsabagh about joining efforts. Afterwards, an Australian journalist, Malcolm Knox, contacted me and joined us in our campaign.

After compiling a list of 75 factual errors in the book, we sent it to the publishing house, but once again they said that it's a matter of freedom of expression and it's her right to express her views.

In Australia, they said that they believed her story.

In the meantime, Dr. Alsabagh made a lot of investigations and she discovered from the passport department that Khouri had never lived in Jordan, and she sent these information to Knox. He travelled to the US and found out that she had lied about a lot of details about her own life. He wrote a big story in the Sydney Morning Herald and based on his story, they pulled the book.

After the book was exposed, I received an e-mail from Ana Broinowski, the director of the documentary, saying that she is doing a film about Khouri and asking if I want to be part of it. So I said yes because I was part of the group that exposed her book.

IOL: Director Ana Broinowski chose to divide her film into parts, each has its own subtitle. Do you think that this had served the film in anyway?

Husseini: I think that the director worked very hard on the documentary. My only reservation was that at the last part she chose to show that Norma was sexually abused by her father. I felt in a way that she was justifying what Norma did. But it's very difficult for me to comment on that because I'm into press, not filmmaking.

All in all, I think there was a big effort put into the making of this documentary. The director travelled the globe from one country to another to grab all the elements and put things together and interviewed many people.

Rana Husseini

Husseini: Of course, she is not an artist. She is a person who was writing poetry and became a big writer out of the blue. I truly think that she is a con. I don't think she is mentally sick. She maybe had some problems during her childhood, but the majority of people usually suffer at some stages in their life. People had hard circumstances, but this does not justify doing all this lying and producing a book like that. Although I'm against conspiracy theories, I really think that there was a big force behind the book and Norma was just there on the front.

IOL: Forbidden Love was translated into multiple languages. Therefore, It has reached many people. Did the documentary achieve the same popularity?

Husseini: I don't think so. The director is trying her best to publicize the film and to make it reach wider audience. I think it's very important for the people who live in the Middle East to see the documentary and observe how the West almost all of the time use the media against us. The documentary will show people that if they make an effort, they can stop these actions and make a difference.

Unfortunately, many books and publications come out that are against us (Arabs and Muslims) and nobody says or does anything. I think this was the first time that we were able to move and make a difference.

IOL: Honor crimes are a problem that exist in Jordan as well as other parts of the world. Khouri has pointed out in her book that no one is moving or exerting any effort to stop such actions. How do you respond to that?

Husseini: Nobody can say that nothing is being done in Jordan to stop this. This is how Khouri made the situation look like. She pictures herself as the rescuer who comes to save the women from their doom.

There has been public campaigns against honor crimes in 1999, 2000, and 2001. The women's groups in Jordan had done a lot of efforts and the government suggested changing some laws to control this problem. Things have changed in Jordan. Changing the law is not going work alone. The issue has been tackled extensively in Jordan. Now, every body knows about honor crimes. It is no longer a hidden issue. These movements created a public outcry and it helped in raising awareness.

Even the government admits now that there is problem that needs to be solved. In the past, they used to deny its existence. This is the beginning of the real change.

IOL: How do you, as a journalist, intend to fight honor crimes in Jordan?

Husseini: I am working on a book right now about the so-called honor crimes. It deals with the issue in an objective and comprehensive manner. It shows the problem from all its aspects as it explains the rules of the three main religions and what is the stand on this. It deals with the problem from its roots in the three religions. It also talks about the problem from the social aspect with some examples of some cases in the world. It tackles the issue, but not in a sensational way. There is a problem, and we have to face it.

Nesma Abd El-Aziz is an assistant editor in the art and culture page. She is a  recent graduate of the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. You may contact her at nesma.elaziz@iolteam.com.