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Email this article Murdered in name of family honour 24/06/2005 The Guardian - By Chris McGreal Chris McGreal in Ramallah reports on a rise in killings of Palestinian wo men Faten Habashs father wept as he assured his daughter there would be no m ore beatings, no more threats to her life and that she was free to marry the man she loved, even if he was a Muslim. Hassan Habash even gave his word to an emissary from a Bedouin tribe trad itionally brought in to mediate in matters of family honour, a commitmen t regarded as sacrosanct in Palestinian society. But the next weekend, a s Faten watched a Boy Scouts parade from the balcony of her Ramallah hom e, the 22-year-old Christian Palestinian was dragged into the living roo m and bludgeoned to death with an iron bar. "He gave me his word she would not be harmed," said Ibrahim Abu Dahouq, t he Bedouin mediator. They w ere even telling me that for their daughter to leave their house as a br ide would be an honour for them. We never believed that love would lead to death in this ugly way." Two days later, another ritual of killing unfolded a few miles away in Je rusalem. Maher Shakirat summoned three of his sisters to discuss a family uproar a fter one of them, Rudaina, was thrown out by her husband for an alleged affair. Maher listened to Rudainas denials, and her sisters pleas that they were not covering up the affair. Then he forced the three women to drink bleach before strangling Rudaina, who was eight months pregnant. The other sisters tried to flee but Maher caught and strangled Amani, 20 . The third, Leila, escaped but was badly injured by the bleach. Maher, a bus driver in his 30s, is in hiding but his parents were arreste d for allegedly ordering the murders and his wife was detained as an acc omplice. As he was taken into custody, Rudainas father, Amin, was asked why his daughters were killed. 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 Pale stinian community over recent weeks. The deaths have prompted demands fo r a change to laws inherited from the days of Jordanian rule that deem a ll women to be "minors" under the authority of male relatives and that p rovide a maximum of six months in prison for killings in defence of "fam ily honour." But those calls have met with resistance in parliament where religious Pa lestinian MPs argue that reform will lead to a collapse in the moral fab ric of society. According to the Palestinian womens affairs ministry, 2 0 girls and women were murdered in honour killings last year and about 5 0 committed suicide - often under coercion - for "shaming" the family th rough sex outside marriage, refusing an arranged marriage or seeking a d ivorce. The ministry says that dozens of other killings are covered up each year. "We had one woman of 26 who was certified as dying of old age," said Ma ha Abu Dayyeh Shamas, director of the Womens Centre for Legal Aid and C ounselling. "Putting falling into well on the death certificate is ver y common. We find that the women were strangled and then dumped in the w ell." Faten Habashs murder was unusual because she came from the Christian min ority in the Palestinian territories. Her desire to marry a young Muslim , Samer Hamis, so infuriated her family that the couple decided to elope to Jordan. Fatens father enlisted the family priest to stop his daughter on the gro unds that, even though she was 22, all women are legally regarded as min ors under the authority of their male relatives. The Palestinian authori ties returned Faten to her home where she was beaten and her pelvis brok en as she was either thrown from a window or jumped trying to escape. She sought protection under an ancient Be douin formula for resolving disputes, known as Tanebeh. Abu Dahouq, a la wyer for the Dawakuk tribe, negotiated with the Habash family. Mr Dahouq said: "Faten believed she had received a guarantee of security. "This family had no honour, no manner s, no ethics," he said. I think the people in he r church also have responsibility for this killing. They told this famil y that their daughter brought shame, so that makes them part of the crim e" The family priest, Father Ibrahim Hijazin, declined to talk about Fatens killing other than to say he called the Palestinian authorities to prev ent her from reaching Jordan. But he says other families would have reac ted as hers did. Catholics here are Christian by faith and Muslim by culture, and in this communit y it is forbidden for Christians to marry Muslims. After Fatens murder, several hundred Palestinian women held a vigil in R amallah to demand an end to honour killings. The Palestinian womens affairs minister, Zuhaira Kamal, called for a cha nge to the law to allow women over 18 to marry without the consent of a male relative and reform of the old Jordanian legislation that frees the killers after a few months. "Theyre very traditional there," said Mrs Abu Dayyeh Shamas. "They say t hese are our traditions, that a man who is in a moment of anger is drive n to do these things. It gives a message to the community that you can k ill without punishment. We have a lot of complaints from women that thei r husbands are having affairs. We ask these MPs if they think these wome n should be allowed to kill their husbands. Although honour killings have a long history in Palestinian society, wome ns rights groups say the rise in these murders cannot be separated from the resurgent violence of the past four years of the Israeli-Palestinia n conflict. "Things are breaking down because of the changing relationsh ip 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 familys honour. Weve noticed recent cases are much more violent in nature; Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud murdered her daughter, Rafayda, because she became pregnant after being raped by two of her brothers. I took her to hospital and the re the doctor told me she was pregnant. Its as simple as that," said Mrs Qaoud on her doorstep in Ramallah. Mrs Qaoud waited u ntil the baby was born and given up for adoption. Then she presented her 22 year-old daughter with a razor blade and told her to slash her wrist s She refused so her mother pulled a plastic bag over her head, sliced her wrists and beat her head with a stick. Mrs Qaoud spent two years in prison for killing her daughter. She has purged her home of all pictures of her older children , and declines to discuss the killing, saying all she wants is to forget about it. The repercussions of Faten Habashs murder are still being felt; the man she loved is in protective custody after threats from the Habash family. The Bedouin mediator says the Habashes have dishonoured his tribe by brea ching the pledge that Faten would not be harmed. "The crime is not again st the girl, the crime is against our family," said Mr Abu Dahouq. "Sinc e they have broken their word, we have the right to retaliate. There wil l be a reaction for betraying their religion and betraying us."
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