Murdered in name of family honour

[drdon326]

The murders of Faten Habash and the Shakirat sisters last month were the latest in a series of brutal "honour killings" that have shaken the Palestinian community over recent weeks. The deaths have prompted demands for a change to laws inherited from the days of Jordanian rule that deem all women to be "minors" under the authority of male relatives and that provide a maximum of six months in prison for killings in defence of "family honour."

But those calls have met with resistance in parliament where religious Palestinian MPs argue that reform will lead to a collapse in the moral fabric of society. According to the Palestinian women's affairs ministry, 20 girls and women were murdered in honour killings last year and about 50 committed suicide - often under coercion - for "shaming" the family through sex outside marriage, refusing an arranged marriage or seeking a divorce. Another 15 women survived attempts to kill them.

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Although honour killings have a long history in Palestinian society, women's rights groups say the rise in these murders cannot be separated from the resurgent violence of the past four years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Things are breaking down because of the changing relationship between men and women. Increased numbers of women are the main source of income while her husband sits around. That is the kiss of death for that family," said Mrs Abu Dayyeh Shamas.

"Men feel they have lost their dignity and that they can somehow restore it by upholding the family's honour. We've noticed recent cases are much more violent in nature; attempts to kill, rape, incest. There is an incredible amount of incest."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1512394,00.html

[rodeodance]

1. unspeakable horror for these women

[drdon326]

4. I agree....

one wonders when people of good conscience will speak out against this sad history for these women.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

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[drdon326]

3. I cannot fathom why my post was deleted...I will try again..

My favorite part....

But those calls have met with resistance in parliament where religious Palestinian MPs argue that reform will lead to a collapse in the moral fabric of society.

Does anyone find it ironic that stopping HONOR KILLINGS will lead to a collapse in the moral fabric of the palestinian society???

[madeline_con]

6. Stopping honor killings...

"Palestinian MPs argue that reform will lead ..."

What they are arguing is that if adultery is decriminalized in the eyes of the community, it will lead to the breakdown of the nuclear family.

Bear in mind, some men kill their wives for infidelity all over the world, including here in the U.S. Also, Middle Easterners get divorces, so it depends on the individual situation as to how it's handled by those involved.

[drdon326]

5. It seems they are not alone......Man stones wife to death

A man stoned his 45-year-old wife to death on suspicion of having an affair with a man in the same area at Jalalpur Pirwala late on Wednesday night.

Jalalpur Pirwala Saddar Police said Asghar had reported that his sister Jannat Mai (45) was married to Bashir for about 30 years. He said she allegedly had an affair with Kammu and that offended Bashir. Bashir stoned his wife to death on Wednesday night, he added. app

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-6-2005_pg7_5

[madeline_con]

7. "Increased numbers of women are the main source of income ...

... while her husband sits around. That is the kiss of death for that family," said Mrs Abu Dayyeh Shamas. "

I wonder how much of it is 'sitting around' and how much is an inadequate number of jobs for grown men.

In some places, children work to support their parents because no one will hire the adults.

I wish their was more detail on that particular point.