By Micah Halpern
Column:
Murder is wrong and murder must be punished. It is a fundamental
principle and should be a basic tenet of all societies, cultures and
religions. But it is not. There are those who justify murder under a
rubric called honor.
Justifying murder under the rubric called honor is neither honor nor is it justified.
For centuries the Islamic world has practiced what they called honor
killings. Even supposedly secular governments in the Muslim world
treated honor killings differently than they did murder. The excuse was
that honor killings are part and parcel of Middle East tradition.
But there is no honor in murdering defenseless women and there is no way to justify the actions of the men who murder them.
So-called honor killings are most often perpetrated by men who are
out of control - angry and shamed by the actions of their female victim.
They murder the objects of their anger and absolve themselves of shame.
The numbers are staggering. Since 2007, forty-two women have been
murdered in the Palestinian Authority in honor killings. In 2011 alone
thirteen women were murdered. So far, in 2012, twelve women have been
murdered by their husbands.
The Palestinian Authority has done almost nothing to stop this epidemic.
Last year PA president Abbas signed a new law changing the status of
honor killers. On paper, men who murder in the name of honor are to be
treated like all other murderers. In practice, the new law has never
been in effect. Palestinian men who kill their wives or daughters are
seldom convicted and if they are sentenced, they are given a mere six
months. In Gaza under Hamas the maximum sentence for honor killing is
twenty-four months.
The most recent and a very blatant example of honor killing took
place in Bethlehem just steps away from the Church of the Nativity, the
traditional birthplace of Jesus. The victim was Nancy Zaboun, a
twenty-seven year old mother of three who had been was abused by her
husband for ten years and was finally filing for divorce. After a court
hearing Nancy left the courthouse and walked up the steps through the
open air market in Bethlehem, extremely close to the Church. He husband
then stabbed her multiple times in the chest and slit her throat. It
happened in broad daylight, in the open air market, and everyone
watched.
Over the years Nancy Zaboun had been hospitalized because of the
beatings and yet, her husband was never charged. Instead, the police had
him sign a document saying that he would no longer beat his wife. In
this case he did not beat her, he stabbed her and slit her and murdered
her. And now her five, eight and eighteen year old children have no one
to look after and protect them.
A silent march was organized in Bethlehem to memorialize Nancy
Zaboun, victim of an honor killing, and to truly honor her. Marchers
carried signs that read: "No to murder, yes to life" and "Shame on us
Palestinians who kill our women." But the protest, not surprisingly, had
very little impact.
Even the term used to describe these murderous acts is wrong. Calling
them honor killings bestows an ill placed and even false sense of honor
upon men who have premeditatedly murdered a relative. Using the term
killing buys in to the erroneous belief that what they have done is a
justifiable act and it lessens the degree of criminality.
These murders are not justified - not in the Koran and not even in
post-Koranic Islamic law. The Koran actually forbids the murder of
another believer. That explains why these murders have been swept under
the category of tradition or, as it is sometimes called, culture.
Islam, especially the Islam of the Middle East, is heavily influenced
by tribal customs and this is one of those examples. When someone
brought dishonor to the family/ tribe they were killed and through their
death honor was restored to the family or tribe.
Traditionalists, on the other hand, actually argue that holding the
threat of death over a family member protects the family unit from
breakdown.
They argue that the knowledge that if you shame your family you will
be killed and justifiably, by the person shamed - is an essential part
of family and tribal life.
This issue is not going away. During the month of July there were two
more horrific examples of honor killing in the Palestinian Authority
during which fathers beat their daughters to death, one in the city of
Tulkaram and the other in Hebron. Imagine beating your child to death.
If there is any good news it is that this year, in Gaza, a husband
was executed for murdering his wife and Nancy Zaboun's estranged husband
was arrested at the scene of her murder. Nancy was killed because she
sought a divorce.
After the murder Nancy's family refused to bury her. They said they
would bury her only after justice was carried out and her murderer was
himself convicted and executed. But soon after making those statements
the family succumbed to Islamic law and tradition and community pressure
and laid her to rest.
The PA has not yet decided how to proceed with charges, but
Palestinian leadership is sensitive to world opinion and Palestinian
leadership might respond to pressure if the non-Islamic world pays
attention to this murder and other honor killings. The PA wants to join
the community of nations and the community of nations should not look
away and neither should they condone this behavior.
What disturbs me is how, in the aftermath of these murders, the
feminist movement and almost all women's organizations have remained
silent. There has been no audible outcry to protect these women by the
organizations whose very reason for existing is to defend women. One
excuse that I have heard is that these women's groups are caught between
the proverbial rock and a hard place: how can they attack the
Palestinians, the group that they so vehemently defend against Israeli
oppression.
It seems to me that their lack of response is a clear message saying
that they are more true to their hatred of Israel than they are to their
defense of Women's Rights. I say to them, there are other organizations
to champion the case of Israeli Palestinian relations, these women have
no one else.
These women need you now, before another woman is senselessly and unjustifiably murdered in the name of false honor.
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