The website Shalom Toronto reports that the Canadian Supreme Court has accepted the appeal of Iman Musa and Majida Mugrabi, an Israeli Muslim lesbian couple who sought refugee status in Canada. The judge ordered further hearings on the request due to the possibility that they would be honor-murdered if deported to Israel
Iman and Jada came to Toronto in 2007 and shortly thereafter applied for refugee status, claiming that their lives were in danger in Israel because they maintain a lesbian relationship, which is considered an affront to their Muslim family and would surely result in their being murdered by a family member.
Their plea was rejected by the Canadian Immigration Service and the couple was ordered deported to Israel. The two women filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, to include a personal letter in which they listed the dangers to their lives from their families. They wrote:
“The reality is that if we go back home (to Israel), we will be in danger of being murdered. Same-sex relationships are not allowed in Arab countries. There were many instances of honor killings and we are the victims of that reality. We have a lesbian relationship which is prohibited in our home (in Israel). Having damaged the reputation of our families, we were forced to flee from homes, in an effort to retain a relationship with each other.”.
