Gates of Vienna has been reporting recently on the trial, conviction, and sentencing of the family of Ghazala Khan for her honor-killing murder in Slagelse, Denmark. During a 36-hour period on Wednesday and Thursday I noticed that a lot of internet searchers were finding their way here, looking for Ghazala Khan. Out of 295 searches during that time, 119 (more than 40%) were trying to find out more information about her.
Re-creating some of the searches showed that Gates of Vienna was indeed in the top three sites listed, in most instances.
I’ve standardized the spelling and punctuation of the search strings involved in order to consolidate the statistics in the table below:
| Search string | # | Pct | ||
| denmark ghazala | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| denmark honor-killing | 2 | 0.7% | ||
| denmark killing women | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| father jail danish honor killing | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khan | 23 | 7.8% | ||
| ghazala khan abu laban | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khan blog | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khan convicted | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala denmark | 25 | 8.5% | ||
| ghazala father brother denmark prison aunt in law years | 2 | 0.7% | ||
| ghazala khan ghulam abbas | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khan honor | 2 | 0.7% | ||
| ghazala khan denmark honor killing | 4 | 1.4% | ||
| ghazala khan kill | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khan killing | 3 | 1.0% | ||
| ghazala khan malkin | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khan murder | 3 | 1.0% | ||
| ghazala khan site:.com | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khans | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| ghazala khans husband | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| honor killing case denmark | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| danish honor killing | 30 | 10.2% | ||
| honor killing ghazala | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| honor killing of ghazala khan | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| honor killing sentence denmark | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| honor killing slagelse | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| honor killing trial in denmark | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| honor killings viking | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| news ghazala khan | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| nine family member denmark | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| sentence killing daughter denmark | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| stories of honor killings ghazala khan | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| symbols of courage in denmark | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| true story about murder of ghazala khan in copenhagen | 1 | 0.3% | ||
| Totals | 119 | 40.3% |
Most of the searches seemed to originate from within Denmark. I couldn’t pull the countries of origin for the ISPs directly from the site meter statistics, since I was dealing with a subset of all the searches; instead, I had to go through the details of each search individually. It was a laborious and time-consuming process, and I ran out of steam after doing 58 of them, but here’s the breakdown for those:
| Location | # | Pct | ||
| Denmark | 33 | 56.9% | ||
| The rest of Europe | 6 | 10.3% | ||
| Other | 19 | 32.8% |
Of the non-Danish Europeans, three were from Sweden. Most of the “other” locations were in the USA and Australia, but there was one from the UAE and one from Turkey.
What puzzles me is why the Danish searchers were looking in English-language sources for information about the case. On Wednesday and Thursday, when I was looking for information in the online Danish newspapers, there seemed to be plenty of stories available about Ghazala Khan and the trial; there was no news blackout. So why would Danish readers need to do English-based searches in Google?
Do the Danes doubt the accuracy or completeness of information in their own media? Or are there other reasons for these searches? Scandinavian readers are welcome to venture their opinions in the comments.
Dymphna’s theory is that the Danes want to see how the news media in the Anglosphere are handling the story. If that’s the case, they must have noticed by now that our MSM outlets — the keepers of Truth, the guardians of the portals to all news worth reading — were almost completely silent on the topic.
There could also be people in Denmark who don’t speak Danish for one reason or another.
There’s a lot of english and english-speaking people in denmark these days, working for various large companies and multinationals. I expect more than a few danes are also looking to see how the rest of the world is reacting.
I do have to admit that I am amazed at how well Danes, Swedes and Dutch speak English. Yes, I realize that they have access to a lot of American popular culture, but so do many other European nations where people do not speak English so well.
Their English is a heckuva lot better than my Spanish.
Most young danes speak some english as they have been taught english since the third grade.
I suspect some danes are just curious as to how this event is seen outside Denmark, especially after the Muhammad cartoon crisis when we saw what a huge impact something taking place in Denmark could have in the larger world.
And then there is the few, like myself and some others, who are closely following the changes in politics regarding Islam on an international basis.
I suppose I am hoping that every little breakthrough, whereever it takes place can have an impact in the rest of the world as well.
But anyway. I have known your site for some time, so I was not one of those doing a search on the subject, allthough I am a Dane and allthough I have followed your coverage of the story.
To me the most interesting part about this blog, are the discussions in the comments regarding the subjects. Particularly of course when the subject is my own country.
I see the battle against islamism as a global battle against chaos in a changing world. I see the PC ideology of the left based on marxism and multiculturalism, as an example of flawed logic due to weakness and cowardness.
I believe I have enough knowledge of human nature and the history of mankind to understand, at least to some degree, the constant evolving of mankind through the interplay of order and chaos, sense and nonsense, goodnes and evil.
Seeing the world as I do, as a global community, I naturally want to follow how the good fight for civilization is fought elsewhere, and since America at least for the time being has a central role, I find it useful to know how americans view my own role in the battle.
I hope I am making sense here?
Baron
the one search from the UAE was likely mine. I googled for more info on Ms. Khan after reading your post. Don’t recall the exact searc phrase though.
Mackety —
Yes, you are making complete sense, and I thank you for your input. It’s good to have Danes involved in these discussions.
Dymphna is pleased that you essentially agree with her!
Starling —
Well, that’s interesting! And here I thought someone was searching for items for their “Jihad News From Abroad” column in a local UAE paper… 😉
Baron,
Even tho’ it doesn’t cover all the cases, Dymphna’s theory that the Danes want to see how the news media in the Anglosphere are handling the story is certainly very true.
Danes (Scandinavians in general), like people in Minnesota (the upper midwest of USA in general), are obsessed with how “outsiders” feel about them and their area.
It hasn’t really sunk in yet in the
EU, at least amongst the elites,
but the plain fact is history was
made today at ‘Graceland’.
The Japanese PM, leader of a nation
as large as Britain and France put
together, came to the US and sang
about the US/Japan relationship, “I
want you, I need, I love you” as
Bush beamed.
Combine that with two factoids.
First, the Provincial Government of
Alberta announced that their oil
sands contain 174 billion barrels
of oil.
Two, the US economy grew, during
the 1st quarter by some 5.6%.
Toss in the growing strategic
alliance between India and the US
and Europe is losing its lustre.
Europeans had best get a grip on
reality or they might find the next
time American troops land they will
not be dispensing Camels and candy.
They are interested in how WE think about things, My blog is not in your league at all but
Denmark the Netherlands and Germany together split 3% of my traffic almost equally between them
at #s 3, 4 and 5
Scott,
I agree with you about the decline of Europe in general. As everyone here has read, I’m no fan of the continent, but I know that my views on this are not in sync with most knowldgeable Americans. Those who do think and care about this issue share my disdain for “Old” Europe but would like to see a successful “New” Europe.
Most American Jews have very negative feelings about Poland. Most other Americans admire them.
… our MSM outlets … were almost completely silent on the topic.
… which is why I come here and to other worthy Internet sites. Keep up the good work. I sure there are many silent readers who share my feelings.
I guess the demographics of whom is following this story are important, but more important still is making sure that everyone is aware that (a) honor killings still occur in this culture, (b) the practice of honor killing will not be tolerated, and (c) punishment will not be withheld because of perceived cultural differences.
It’s not a ‘family thing’–it’s murder. Civilized people do not allow murder. If followers of Islam wish to take advantage of the benefits of civilization and live among the rest of us, they must abide by the rules that allow civilization to flourish. There cannot be separate rules for disparate people.
Many who travel these halls are aware of Europe’s precarious position, but woefully few Americans are aware of this at all. Generally, anything terror related will be well-reported, but the family practices of immigrants are largely unknown here because of the fact that those who’ve immigrated to these shores before have been eager to assimilate.