Crack Down On Palesteenian Honor Killings

[JStone]

Seems the Arab Islamic tradition of "honor killing" family members who bring "dishonor" such as being raped, requesting divorce and dressing "too Westen," and other terrible acts have gotten out of control in the Palesteenian community forcing a governmental crack down on the horrific custom. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/19/palestinian-woman-aya-bar_n_864430.html

SURIF, West Bank -- A 20-year-old Palestinian woman who was thrown into a well and left to die in the name of "family honor" has not become just another statistic in one of the Middle East's most shameful practices.

The killing of Aya Baradiya – by an uncle who didn't like a potential suitor – sparked such outrage that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas scrapped laws this week that guaranteed sentences of six months or less for such killings.

On the day of the killing, the uncle and two accomplices snatched the woman and tied her hands and feet, Hebron police chief Ramadan Awad said. The suspects told interrogators she screamed and demanded to know why they wanted to kill her, but the uncle said only that she deserved to die, he said. She told them she had done nothing wrong, then her attackers dumped her into the well The water would have reached to her neck, Awad said, adding: "We can't be sure ... if she died immediately or it took her a long time to die."

So-called "honor killings" are committed regularly in traditional Arab societies that enforce strict separation between the sexes and view an unmarried woman's unsupervised contact with a man, even by telephone, as a stain on the family's reputation. There were nine such killings in the West Bank last year, and Jordan reports about 20 every year.

The police chief said suspects in honor killings often come forward immediately because they don't face serious punishment and a confession is part of the "cleansing" of family honor. However, Aya Baradiya's uncle remained silent, even saying at one point that his niece had called him and told him she just decided to go away.

Leniency for honor killings dates back to a 1960 Jordanian legal codex, parts of which are still in effect in the West Bank; the area was under Jordanian rule until it was captured by Israel in 1967. Awad, the Hebron police chief, said that under the old system, someone who killed for family honor would get a maximum of six months in prison.

In 2010, there were nine family honor killings in the West Bank, Awad said. In most cases, "family honor" was just a pretext, he added: Men would kill to clear the path for remarriage, get their wives' gold or because of problems in the family. The tougher new laws will likely reduce the number of such killings, he said.

In Hamas-ruled Gaza, at least 10 women were killed by male relatives over the past three years, according to a local activist, Majda Ibrahim. She said punishment is generally light, though in one case, a man was sentenced to death for killing his cousin after she rejected his marriage proposal. The man is on death row.

Under shariah law,the honor killing of Muslim children and grandchildren by their own parents and grandparents is, in effect, sanctioned in the religion of peace with the absence of punishment.

Who Is Subject To Retaliation For Injurious Crimes
Retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right.

The following are not subject to retaliation...
A father or mother (or their father and mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring

 

[JStone]

Instead of honor killing her, couldn't they just beat her like the religion of peace says allahu akbar?

Quran: Allah has made men superior to women because men spend their wealth to support them. Therefore, virtuous women are obedient, and they are to guard their unseen parts as Allah has guarded them. As for women whom you fear will rebel, admonish them first, and then send them to a separate bed, and then beat them. But if they are obedi-ent after that, then do nothing further; surely Allah is exalted and great!

 

[violet]

Sickening but what can you expect from a cult religion started by a murdering,woman hating,pedo thief? If they were allowed to challenge their religion instead of follwing it like sheeple they would see how distorted this Islam is.

 

[theliq]

Sickening but what can you expect from a cult religion started by a murdering,woman hating,pedo thief? If they were allowed to challenge their religion instead of follwing it like sheeple they would see how distorted this Islam is.

I don't agree with this either(honour killings,MADNESS) WHAT I DO ALSO FIND TOTALLY ABHORRENT is hypocrites like you mouthing off,when in your own country...the amount of rapes,bashings and murders is appaulling.

You sit in your Ivory Tower,yet you are no better........it makes YOU WORSE

I'm the liq and can't stomach hypocrisy

 

[JStone]

Sickening but what can you expect from a cult religion started by a murdering,woman hating,pedo thief? If they were allowed to challenge their religion instead of follwing it like sheeple they would see how distorted this Islam is.

I don't agree with this either(honour killings,MADNESS) WHAT I DO ALSO FIND TOTALLY ABHORRENT is hypocrites like you mouthing off,when in your own country...the amount of rapes,bashings and murders is appaulling.

You sit in your Ivory Tower,yet you are no better........it makes YOU WORSE

I'm the liq and can't stomach hypocrisy

Fuckwad, only the heinous scourge of islime sanctions family members murdering their own wives and children and grandchildren in the name of their barbaric cult.

 

[JStone]

Palesteenians are such wonderful people

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk6DCGCfAOo]West Bank murder smashes lie of 'honour killings' - YouTube[/ame]

 

[JStone]

Justice For Palesteenian Women!

Honour-based killing in Palestine -is changing the law enough? | Women's Views on News

In this week’s Guardian, Harriet Sherwood profiles the horrific honour killing of 20 year old university student Aya Baradiya, who was murdered by her uncle in April 2010.

Aya’s murder was not uncovered by the police until the remains of her body were discovered in a well near the family home last month, ending her family’s hopes that their missing daughter would return home.

“According to reports,” writes Sherwood, Aya’s uncle “told police that he disapproved of (Aya’s) relationship with her fiancé.”

Aya’s death is one of an estimated 20 honour killings committed in the West Bank and Gaza each year, although the measurement of such crimes is incredibly difficult.

Some feminist activists believe that these figures represent only a small number of the honour based crimes carried out against women.

The alleged “justifications” for honour killings vary, but include rape, sexual assault and even incest – all of which are seen to bring shame on the young woman and her family, and for which the woman bears the blame.

In effect this constitutes a double assault.

A recent change in Palestinian law has seen the scrapping of a previous rule dictating leniency in the sentencing of honour crimes.

Under this law – supported by the previous Jordanian penal code and a 1936 British Mandate law – perpetrators of honour killings could only receive a sentence of six months.

According to the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), the maximum sentence given for honour killings is two years.

The leniency law was removed by the Palestinian president in May this year, and has been hailed by women’s rights activists – including Suha Arafat, widow of the former Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat – as a great start in the struggle for greater rights for Palestinian women.

As ever, law reform is just the tip of the iceberg. Applying the law is where the underlying problem of profound gender inequality comes home to roost.

The PWWSD point to real problems in investigating such cases in the past:

“Rahma Mansour, a feminist activist…doubts the credibility of the number of women killed and (believes there are many cases where)…the family says that the victim died because of sickness, accident or committed suicide. Moreover, the police do not investigate these cases.”

Under the previous law, perpetrators were frequently released from prison after only a couple of days, regardless of the sentence they received. A recent report over at the Huffington Post quotes a police chief who stated openly that:

“(S)uspects in honour killings often come forward immediately because they don’t face serious punishment and a confession is part of the “cleansing” of family honour.”

In their campaign to change the law, the PWWSD was increasingly concerned about the changing pattern of honour violence, where “nowadays…women are killed if a man has doubts concerning her behaviour or if he hears rumours about her.”

The Society has been campaigning for a change in the law for many years, believing that it represents the broader social and legal inequality of women in Palestine.

On its website, it states that:

“Feminist activists accuse the law of encouraging women killing, they also blame the patriarchal society that believe any action that might tackle the family honour should be considered a crime and this woman deserves to be killed.”

The recent change in the law is undoubtedly a step forward, however, its implementation may prove a bigger challenge.

It is hard to track down details on what the reform might mean in terms of sentencing.

Removing the code of leniency on honour based killings does nothing to address the underlying social attitudes that prevent police from investigating such cases, or indeed, that lead to their occurrence in the first place.

In the international struggle to achieve justice for the Palestinian people, the broader social inequalities that exist within the population are often easily overlooked.

The death of Aya Baridaya does much to remind us all that for Palestinian women, the long walk to justice will be a far lengthier journey than for their brothers.