by Phyllis Chesler

One is the 17th son; the other is the 16th son. Neither are the sons of a first wife. One is an engineer; the other was an engineering student. Both have ancestral roots in Yemen. Both are educated and come from wealthy families.

I am talking about Osama bin Laden — the 17th son among 57 children whose father is Yemeni — and the Christmas Day Bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab — the 16th and youngest son, whose mother is Yemeni. Both men were born “shamed,” disadvantaged, because their mothers were not “first,” or high-status wives. Continue reading…