Age-to-Flag Determination Theory, Proved

AGE-TO-FLAG DETERMINATION THEORY, PROVED by Atlas Al

View Comments 10 November 2009

By Atlas Al

If you haven’t already heard about the tragedy of 20-year-old, Noor Faleh Almaleki of Arizona, Flagging Headquarters brings the story to you. According to the November 6, 2009 article in the nytimes.com, AZ ‘Honor Killing’ Victim Just Wanted To Be Normal, she chose not to follow the customs and traditions of her family’s native Iraq. On October 20, 2009, Noor and the mother of her boyfriend, were run over by Noor’s father driving the family car. His motive: an ‘honor killing’ to avenge the family from Noor’s decisions to act more American.

Noor and her family moved from Iraq to the United States when she was very young. If you’re surrounded by American customs and culture, even when the confines of your home may seem like a different country, most likely you’ll want to blend into and/or embrace the culture of the country you’re in. If Noor’s father didn’t want to her to be a modern, free-spirited woman, then he never should’ve moved his family to the United States. Sure, I’d rather live in the U.S. than a warzone. However, if you move from an oppressed/restricted Middle Eastern country to an extremely open, Western country like the United States, you have to take into consideration that your family, especially your kids, will be affected.

Noor just wanted to melt into the multi-cultural pot that is America. She may have looked like an Iraqi woman, but she didn’t think like one. According to the Constitution of Flagging’s Age-To-Flag Determination Theory, we must draw the line somewhere to determine one’s flag status. Noor moved to the U.S. when she was very young, under 13 years of age, therefore, she was more American than Iraqi. Her father wanting to kill her reinforces the belief that if you moved to a country at a young age, you are not the flag from the country you came from, rather the flag of the country you moved to.