Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: honor killing

Showing posts with label honor killing. Show all posts

Sunday, September 07, 2014

Abbas lied: "Honor killings" still treated leniently in PA

In 2010, the PA cabinet reclassified "honor killings" to be considered murder. It is unclear if this made any difference in the actual law.

In 2011, to much fanfare, Abbas claimed to remove the leniencies in existing PA law (based on Jordan's penal code) that would make "honor killing" a reason for a lighter sentence when killing a family member. Significantly, it still allowed leniency in sentencing if the victim had committed adultery or "other acts of sexual impropriety." It merely removed the leniency if the killer claimed he or she did it for "honor" reasons.

In other words, Palestinian Arabs who killed their sisters and daughters and wives could get shorter sentences as long as they claimed that the victims deserved it.

In 2012, it was revealed that the law that Abbas had modified was not the one that lawyers had used to get leniency for "honor killings" anyway. In fact, any attempt to repeal the real laws would have caused serious domestic problems among the people who support the barbaric law.

Now, it is proven that Abbas' PR stunt has done literally nothing to stem "honor killings" in the PA:

Despite a 2011 decision by Abbas to end the practice, the director of a major Palestinian forensic institute told Ma'an in a recent interview that killers were receiving leniency by claiming reasons of "honor" in the slaying deaths of young women.

Dr. Sabir al-Aloul, director of Al-Quds University's Institute of Forensic Medicine, said that examinations of the bodies of the vast majority of women who were slain by family members in so-called "honor crimes" showed no signs of previous sexual activity.

"It seems the killers use family honor as a pretext to benefit from an article in the Palestinian laws that suggests leniency for men who kill to protect their family honor," al-Aloul said.

In 2011, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ordered a legal amendment to end leniency in courts for men who kill women from their families under the pretext that they "dishonored" their families, presumably through sexual activity.

Abbas' announcement was made by his secretary-general al-Tayyib Abd al-Rahim during a live talk show on satellite channel Palestine TV to discuss the murder of 20-year-old university student Ayah Barad'iyya from the southern West Bank town of Surif by her uncle.

However, legal experts say Abbas' move was not enough to prevent the killing of women over issues of so-called family "honor." They say that there are other gaps in the law through which killers have managed to gain leniency by claiming reasons of honor.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 37% of Palestinian wives - and over half of those in Gaza - had experienced physical violence by their husbands in just the year 2011. Yet NGOs, the UN and even The Lancet have placed the blame for Palestinian men beating their wives on - Israel!

As long as the irrational hate for Israel is considered mainstream, real problems in Palestinian society can be swept under the rug. And indeed they are. Which goes to show that the reflexive, and unthinking tendency by so many to blame Israel for everything is not only stupid, but it actually contributes to violence against Arab women.

"Honor killings" increasing dramatically in PalArab areas

The rate of women being murdered in the West Bank and Gaza has increased dramatically even over last year's high numbers.

In 2013, there were 27 women killed, which was double the number killed in 2012.

In less than five months this year, however, 18 women have been murdered - 13 in the West Bank and 5 in Gaza. At this rate, the number of women killed - usually under the excuse of "family honor" - may double again this year.

Last December, the Palestinian women's affairs minister blamed Israel for Arabs killing Arab women.

European NGO blames Israel for Gaza men beating, abusing their wives

The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights has released a laughably biased and inaccurate report about the situation of women in Gaza.

As we have seen before, anti-Israel NGOs like to use any hook they can find to blame Israel and only Israel. The Goldstone Report said no less than eight times that Israel, by attacking Gaza in response to Hamas rockets, was violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which is beyond absurd.

This report by Euro-Mid shows the same type of bias, specifically using the issue of women's rights - something Hamas is not exactly known for - as an excuse to condemn Israel.

Some lowlights:

Access to services in Gaza has been significantly curtailed by the 7 years long Israeli blockade. The ban on the private sector to import construction materials, medical equipment, and machinery impacts every aspect of life in Gaza, which is already highly affected by the frequent Israeli military operations.

There are no Israeli restrictions on medical equipment into Gaza outside of some paperwork. Even anti-Israel groups admit this. Euro-Mid is lying.

Frequent Israeli military attacks have left a large number of women in Gaza on their own to raise their families. Pal-Think for Strategic Studies estimates that in just the aftermath of the 23-day Israeli military operation called “Cast Lead” in 2008-2009, more than 800 new widows were created. These widows suffer from insecure incomes and constant feelings of threat and insecurity, high levels of anxiety and concern about lack of access to education and other services for them and their children.

Given that over 700 of those killed in Cast Lead were terrorists, this means that Euro-Mid is blaming Israel for defending itself because killing terrorists creates widows!

Such stresses increasingly contribute to tension within the family, with 90 per cent of the women describing the blockade and frequent Israeli military attacks as directly triggering higher levels of nervousness, tension and anxiety. A result of these growing tensions is a rise in the divorce rate (perceived as increasing by 24.6 per cent of the interviewees) and violence against women and girls. More than half (58.9 per cent) of the women in the study said they believe domestic violence is a growing problem in Gaza, and an even larger proportion (61.3 per cent) think their children are more at risk. An earlier survey (2011) by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics corroborated the women’s concerns. It found that approximately 37 per cent of Palestinian women in both the West Bank and Gaza had experienced physical or sexual abuse by their husbands in the previous 12 months. A larger 51 per cent in Gaza reported violence within the household directed against at least one member (including children).

Yes, when a Gaza man beats or sexually abuses his wife, he is blameless - it is all Israel's fault!

I'm surprised that Euro-Mid doesn't take this to the next logical step - since Israel's existence is an affront to the Arab world by existing and thriving, it is causing more rape and wife beatings than would occur if Israel would be destroyed. Maybe next year they can put this in their report. (Just give me a hat tip, okay?)

Pregnant women are particularly at risk. A report on the “Situation of and Assistance to Palestinian Women,” produced in December 2012 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Commission on the Status of Women, estimates that 45 per cent of pregnant women in the Gaza Strip suffer from anemia.

Additionally, a June 2012 joint report by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and Save the Children notes that anemia affects 36.8 percent of pregnant women in Gaza and that anemia can result in “poor pregnancy outcome, reduced work 9 productivity in adults,” and “contributes to 20 percent of all maternal deaths.”

And how does that compare to women throughout the world? Well, according to WHO, about 42% of pregnant women worldwide are anemic.

To prevent anemia, women should take pre-natal vitamins including iron. There are no restrictions on such vitamins in Gaza from Israel. But who gets blamed?

Of course, the report must mention the fuel shortages in Gaza:

The latest crisis in Gaza was triggered on June 30, when the Egyptian military halted all but a trickle of traffic into and out of Gaza, adding more agony to the already crippling blockade imposed by Israel since 2007. The Egyptian actions have created an acute shortage of fuel, construction materials and a variety of essential medicines within Gaza.

On November 1, Gaza’s power plant ran out of fuel, causing power outages averaging 16 hours a day, paralyzing all facets of daily life in the Gaza Strip from families maintaining their incomes to hospitals running properly.

Yet do the recommendations mention Egypt or Hamas or anything else to alleviate the problems in Gaza? Well, why should it?

The recommendation given:

The only answer to the suffering of the people of Gaza, including its neglected women, is for the international community to hold Israel accountable and force it to lift the blockade, allowing the Palestinian society to evolve and develop in a healthy way and grant Palestinians their right to gradually heal from this injustice.

This report, like many of the other reports by NGOs working in the Middle East, is little more than an excuse to blame Israel for everything (and to justify receiving grants from governments so "researchers" can keep churning out more biased reports like these.)

One more thing: this report does not mention Hamas or the PA once, even though their hate for each other are the major reason for any lack of medicines, medical equipment and fuel in Gaza today.

25 Palestinian Arab women reportedly murdered in "honor killings" this year. So far.

From Ma'an:

Twenty-five women have been killed so far this year in Palestine in so-called honor crimes, the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling says.

The latest victim, Thamar Zeidan, was found strangled on Saturday in the Tulkarem village of Deir al-Ghosoun, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported.

Her father allegedly admitted that he killed her.

[An activist] said that in 2012, 13 women were murdered in 'honor killings' while in 2011 four women were killed.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights on Sunday issued a statement condemning the killing of Zeidan and calling for a serious investigation into the murder.

I read the Arabic media daily and this number is a complete surprise. Nowhere near 25 "honor killings" were reported in the Arab media this year. In fact, PCHR counts only 3 - two of them this month:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, on Saturday afternoon, 21 September 2013, the body of (S. M. Z.), 30, from Deir al-Ghosoun village, north of Tulkarm, in the northern West Bank, who was killed by strangulation, was brought to Tulkarm Hospital. The victim's father surrendered to the Palestinian police claiming he committed the crime. The Attorney General’s office opened an investigation into the crime and issued an order to keep the body and refer it to the Forensic Medicine Department.

In the same context, on 12 September 2013, the body of (S. 'E. A.), 21, from Beit Omra village, west of Yatta, to the south of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, who was killed by strangulation as well, was brought to Abu al-Hassan al-Qasem Hospital in Yatta. The Palestinian police arrived at the Hospital and opened an investigation. Moreover, the police referred the body to the Forensic Medicine Department in al-Quds University – Abu Dees. According to the police, the victim's mother was arrested as she claimed she had committed the crime.

It should be noted that a similar crime was committed in al-Nusairat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on 08 March 2013, as a result of which (H. S. 'E), 23, was killed. Thus, the number of crimes to "maintain family honor" in 2013 has mounted to 3.

Assuming that the Women's Center is being accurate, this means that the vast majority of "honor killings" in the territories are now being hidden as accidental deaths.

(h/t Barry)

Many Jordanian teens justify "honor killings"

From AFP:

Belief that so-called honor killings are justified is still common among Jordanian teenagers, a Cambridge University study revealed on Thursday.

The study by researchers from the university's Institute of Criminology found that almost half of boys and one in five girls interviewed in the capital, Amman, believe that killing a daughter, sister or wife who has "dishonored" or shamed the family is justified.

"Researchers surveyed over 850 students, and found that attitudes in support of honor killing are far more likely in adolescent boys with low education backgrounds," a statement said, adding that the research is published in the criminology journal Aggressive Behavior.

"Importantly, the study found that these disturbing attitudes were not connected to religious beliefs."

Between 15 and 20 women die in so-called "honor" murders each year in the Arab kingdom, despite government efforts to curb such crimes.

Keep in mind that the same Arab attachment to "honor" that justifies murdering their own daughters and wives also justifies lifelong dedication to destroying Israel. Erasing shame is the most powerful motive in the Arab world, and nothing short of annihilation of the source of the shame can be effective.

Which is reason #7492 why peace is impossible.

A new twist on "honor killing," and how it relates to peace

From Ma'an:

Israeli police on Wednesday identified a 19-year-old Palestinian as the main suspect in the murder of a woman from Jerusalem.

Police spokeswoman Luba al-Samari said 19-year-old Mohammad Shweiki was suspected of choking Minas Qasim to death because her family rejected his marriage proposal.

The body of Qasim, 21, was found near a dump in East Jerusalem's al-Eizariya area on May 6, three days after she disappeared on her way home from work. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangling.

Police found Qasim's belongings at the suspect's home, including a necklace and her mobile phone, al-Samari said in a statement.

Is there any difference between "family honor" and the "honor" of a spurned beau?

Not really. In both cases, men decide that when they are embarrassed by a woman for whatever reason, she must be killed. Saying it is to defend "honor" is a deflection, but one that gullible observers swallow.

After all, one major reason there is no Palestinian Arab state now is, indeed, "honor."

Compromise, to an extent, involves swallowing one's pride for the greater good. Since "everyone knows" that Arabs value their honor more than Israeli Jews, it seems logical to push the Israelis to make concessions while justifying Arab intransigence. It is a cultural thing, and to decry Arab culture seems vaguely colonialist.

The same logic that allows Arab nations to minimize punishments for "honor crimes" allows Western nations to give them a free pass for prioritizing "honor" over peace.

"Honor killing" in Gaza

From PCHR:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 02:00 on Friday, 08 March 2013, the body of the young woman was brought to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. The body was later transferred to the Forensic Medicine Department in al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

According to police sources, the Palestinian police opened an investigation into the crime and arrested the victim's father and two of her brothers on suspicion of murder. The police sources added that one of the victim's brothers had confessed to strangling his sister with the motive of protecting “family honour”.

PCHR documented the murder of 3 women in “honour killings” in 2012; 2 women were killed in the Gaza Strip and 1 woman was killed in the West Bank.

According to other sources, there were at least 12 "honor killings" in the territories in 2012, not 3.

Stop the presses: Syrian sheikh declares honor killings wrong!

What does it say that when an ounce of sanity comes to the Muslim world - it is newsworthy?

Following are excerpts from an address by Syrian Sunni cleric Karim Rajeh, which aired on Al-Hiwar TV on January 27, 2013.

Karim Rajeh: It has come to my attention that some of those who claim to manifest manhood and honor, upon learning that one of their daughters has been raped by criminals and shabiha during this revolution, permit the killing of that daughter. They consider such killings to be a matter of honor, and they believe that if they allow these daughters to remain alive, they themselves will be left without honor.

I hereby issue a religious ruling, and declare, loud and clear, that anybody who does such a thing is himself without honor. He lacks reason, and is a fool, who understands nothing, while the girl is one of the more noble people – if not the most noble of all. She heroically defended her honor and her dignity, but the rapists were stronger than her. Then she returned, broken-spirited and in pain.

Will you reward her, oh honorable one, by killing her? You are a murderer, to whom the following words of Allah apply: “If a man intentionally kills a believer, his recompense is eternal Hellfire. Allah’s wrath and curse are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him.”

I urge young men to marry these girls, for they are honorable. There are no girls more honorable than them. These girls were unwillingly harmed. It was rape. The blame lies with those who gave the order and who carried it out. If they had even a shred of dignity, they would not have done such things.

Dear people, respect your daughters.

Abbas has no plans to outlaw "honor killings"

In May 2011, to much fanfare, Mahmoud Abbas announced that he removed leniencies to the Palestinian Arab laws that reduced murder sentences in the case of "honor killings," if a woman is murdered for reasons of "family honor."

I noted at the time that he didn't bother to get rid of the law, but sort of amended it a little with still lots of loopholes.

It was even worse than I interpreted it. Abbas did literally nothing.

President Mahmoud Abbas has no plans to amend laws that reduce sentences for suspects who claim an "honor" defense for murdering women, his legal adviser says.

"Why change it? This would cause serious problems," Hassan al-Ouri told Ma’an, adding that such a reform would "not benefit women."

In May 2011, the president pledged to amend the law to guarantee maximum penalties for "honor killing" in response to protests over the killing of university student Aya Baradiya in Hebron.

The decision was announced in a phone call to a primetime show on state TV, drawing tears among crowds of mourners shown in a live link-up from the Ramallah studio to Baradiya’s hometown.

Abbas suspended Article 340, which offers a pardon for murder if the perpetrator committed the crime on finding his wife in bed with another man.

The reform was cosmetic: Article 340 had never been used in Palestinian courts since it was legislated in 1960.

"So why did we change the law? To garner public opinion," al-Ouri said in an interview in the presidential compound in Ramallah.

"I, personally, was against the amendment because the crimes that happen in the street have no relevance to Article 340," the legal adviser added.

Al-Ouri says the president will not change the go-to clauses for lawyers seeking leniency for clients who claim they committed murder to defend family "honor."

Articles 97 to 100 of the Jordanian Penal Code, in force in the West Bank, still offer reduced sentences for any act of battery or murder committed in a "state of rage."

In 2009, Abbas ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, but al-Ouri, the legal adviser, says it will only be implemented "so long as it doesn’t contravene Islamic code."

"Look, we are for total equality but if there is a basic tenet of Islamic code that we would be forced to change under CEDAW, then people would revolt and brand us as non-believers," al-Ouri said.

It's still open season on Palestinian Arab women, thanks to Mahmoud Abbas, the darling of the the Left!

I'd love to hear what the anti-Israel Code Pink group has to say about this....

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Now, THIS is an "honor killing!"

From Ma'an:

Unidentified gunmen killed a 43-year-old man in Gaza days after his release from jail, local sources said Thursday.

The man was jailed after confessing to raping his 16-year-old daughter. Police had launched an investigation after the man's daughter gave birth to a daughter.

He was in jail awaiting a trial, but was released on Aug. 16 along with 98 other prisoners as a gesture by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to celebrate the Muslim festival Eid al-Fitr.

Days later, a group of gunmen dragged him from his home in the Nuseirat refugee camp and killed him on the outskirts of the camp, local sources told Ma'an.

The assailants then called the police who took the body for burial, the sources said.

Arabic media says that the father took advantage of his naive daughter and repeatedly raped her whenever his wife was away from the house. When she became pregnant, he did not let her go to a doctor; only when she was in labor did her mother take her to the hospital and find out the truth.

While this is hardly indicative of a functioning justice system in Gaza, at least in this "honor killing" it is the rapist who was killed, not the victim.

Honor killing after years of abuse

Practically every sentence in this Ma'an article is more outrageous than the one before.

A man is being charged for the murder of his sister, who he is suspected of killing after he was released on bail facing charges of beating her.

Days before the death of Randa al-Mahareq, aged 34, her brother and father were detained after she complained to police that they beat her.

The men, from al-Samu near Hebron, were detained for four days, but a court released them on bail on July 18.

Randa's brother has told south Hebron prosecutor Mohammad Gaboon that on his release he returned home and beat Randa on her face and chest. "She lost her conscious and I left the room at that time," he said.

On July 21, Randa's father took her body to a clinic, where a doctor issued a death certificate.

Suspicions were raised by the family's failure to give Randa a proper funeral, said Atta Jawabra, who works at the family protection unit of Hebron police.

"As a result, we immediately informed Hebron police chief Ramadan Awad, about this matter as it might be a murder," he told Ma'an.

Police exhumed Randa's body on July 23 and a pathologist found seven fractures in her ribs.

Police detained the doctor that had issued Randa's death certificate, and after many hours of questioning the doctor said he issued the certificate without examining the body because Randa's father told him she suffered from epilepsy, the prosecutor in the case said.

Several months before her death, Randa had sought police protection from her father and her brother, said Farid al-Atrash, the regional director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights told Ma'an.

In January, she filed complaints with the family protection unit and at police stations in al-Samu, where she lived, and Yatta, a nearby town. Police made her father sign a "pledge" to stop beating her.

The beatings continued and Randa approached the Independent Commission of Human Rights on Feb. 4.

"We called the family protection department to find her a safe house, but family protection said that her father and brother promised to find her a job," al-Atrash said.

Randa was living with her family after her husband threw her out, Hiyan Qaqour, a lawyer for the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling told Ma'an.

Aged 28, Randa was forced to marry a 78-year-old man from Beersheba, in Israel, her mother told Ma'an.

They were married for six years and he regularly beat her, the lawyer said. Randa complained to Israeli police, who arrested him. On her husband's release, he sent her back to her family in as-Samu in the southern West Bank, Qaqour added.

The Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling provided Randa legal support to divorce her husband, but the process was complicated by Randa's family's refusal to stand as witnesses in the case.

After four months, her brother finally agreed to stand in court and she was able to get a divorce, the lawyer said.

This is horrifying, even worse than the usual honor killings. Randa did everything she was supposed to and yet the people who should have protected her were the ones who punished her, repeatedly.

(I am also wondering how many other Palestinian Arab girls are forced to marry people in Israel. There is some evidence that there is a conscious decision by some either to try to overwhelm Israel demographically or simply to become Israeli citizens.)

Honor killing in Gaza

A 17-year old girl from the al-Shati camp in northern Gaza was strangled early this morning.

Police say that she was killed by her father and brother.

Sources say that she was killed for reasons of "honor."

So the dead girl's family can now hold their heads up high.

"Honor killing" in Gaza

From PCHR:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 21:00 on Thursday, 22 March 2012, K. K., 22, from Khan Yunis refugee camp, was admitted into Nasser Hospital in a very critical condition because of having had a poisonous material, allegedly when she attempted suicide. She was placed in the intensive care unit and her condition relatively improved. At approximately 01:30 on Friday, 23 March 2012, a relative of her arrived at the intensive care unit. The doctor on duty informed him that her condition improved. The relative pointed a pistol attempting to kill her. When the doctor and a nurse attempted to stop him, he threatened to shoot them. Soon after, he shot the woman in the head, and she immediately died. The murderer turned himself in to the police.

According to police sources, the suspect and one of the victim’s brothers, have been detained, and investigations are ongoing.

There is a backstory here, but chances are no one will ever find out what it is.

A heinous honor killing in Hebron reported in Arab media

From Emirates 24/7:

A Palestinian mother waited for her 16-year-old daughter to go to bed, tied a rope around her neck and strangled her to death. The woman murdered her own daughter after neighbours lied to her that the girl had an affair with their son.

The crime, which moved local residents, had remained underground for a while before it was revealed by police and a Palestinian female activist, who described it as “one of the most heinous criminal acts” in Palestine.

The crime took place in Bait Oula, a tiny village in the West Bank town of Hebron and it was publicized several weeks after it was perpetrated by the mother.

Residents, who spoke to the Palestinian Arabic language daily Donia Al Watan, said the mother had already been cruel to her daughter as she used to force her to do all household work because she does not like female offspring.

It was this cruelty that made her rush and murder the girl without bothering to check if what neighbours said about her daughter was true.

“Just go and see your daughter’s pictures on my son’s mobile phone,” the neighbouring woman told the mother after an argument, according to the paper.

“The mother then started her plan to kill her daughter…residents said she had made her daughter clean the house for two days so the family will be prepared to receive would-be mourners on their daughter’s death.”

After the murder, the family left the girl in her bed all the night. In the morning, they went straight to hospital and said their daughter had died of heart attack.

“But doctors noticed the swelling in her neck and that her body was bluish….they informed the authorities, who later wrested a confession about the murder…the mother said she killed her to wash off shame and clean the family’s honour….a day later, hospital tests showed the girl was still virgin and pure….it was a hasty crime of honour, which has never been marred or even touched.”

It is hard to confirm this story. It is attributed to a PalArab women's rights activist who revealed it while visiting Jordan. The earliest mention I found was from Albawaba on January 26th.

I couldn't find anything about it on Palestinian Arab human rights sites.

(h/t jzaik)

An honor killing in Gaza

From PCHR:

At approximately 02:30 on Friday 23 December 2011, the body of M. A., 45, from Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, who was killed by strangulation, was brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. According to the Forensic Medicine Department, M. A. was killed by strangulation using hands. According to Chief Ayman al-Batniji, Spokesman of the Palestinian Police, the victim's nephew, who is accused of committing the crime, turned himself in to the police. During interrogation, he said that he killed M. A. to "maintain his family’s honor." Investigations are still ongoing.

The good news is that the number of such crimes in the territories has decreased this year.

Honor killing in Gaza

From Ma'an:

A man in the northern Gaza Strip fatally shot his daughter on Wednesday morning, police said.

Locals said the girl was shot inside the family home in Jabalia, adding that her father was recently released from prison in Gaza.

Abbas sort of removes leniencies for "honor-killers"

From Ma'an:

President Mahmoud Abbas signed into law two articles by presidential decree eliminating laws allowing leniency for civilians found guilty of assault or murder "in defense of family honor."

The move, welcomed by women's rights activists, came in the wake of the grisly discovery of a Hebron woman drowned by her uncle because he disagreed with her choice of fiancee.

Until Sunday evening, personal status laws in the West Bank were those of the 1957 Jordan Penal Code, which operated in the area from 1948, when Jordan administered the area. Under international law, statutes and legal codes remain in place when a territory is occupied by a foreign power, and remain in place until new legislation is created to replace them.

The bad news? First of all, that this took so long.

Secondly, the exact nature of the amended law:

The amendment adds "this does not include the killing of women for issues of family honor," to Article 240 of the Jordanian penal code mandates that leniency in sentencing is available to those who beat or kill their wives, mothers, sisters or women within the family if they commit adultery or other acts of sexual impropriety.

He didn't remove the law altogether, he just added that there shouldn't be leniency if the killing was made for "honor" reasons. Which means that as long as people who do "honor" killing claim that they killed their victims for some other reason, or if they beat them to within inches of death for honor reasons, then they still can get lenient sentences.

He could have removed this leniency law altogether, and didn't. Why the hell not?

Honor killing in the West Bank: A slight twist and a light sentence

Firas Press reports that a West Bank man who murdered his daughter for "honor" has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

His sentence was reduced from life imprisonment because he is older and the head of a large family, as well as (if I am interpreting it correctly) his "fury" showed that it was a real honor crime, a crime of passion and not just an ordinary murder.

One twist: Not only did he kill his daughter because of his suspicion that she was involved with a man who was not her husband, but he also thought that she was involved in giving intelligence to Israel!

I'm not sure if that was a factor in the light sentence, though.

"Honor killing" in Gaza

Firas Press reports that a 21-year old man killed and buried his 20-year old sister for reasons of "family honor" in the northern Gaza strip.

He confessed to the crime. Police are still looking for the body.

By my count, this is the eleventh woman murdered this year in the territories.

PA declares honor killings to be murder

Long overdue:

[PA] ministers voted to alter the penal code on "family honor" killings, upgrading the crime to murder.

"No one can take the law into his own hands," the cabinet said, adding that they agreed to the change "to ensure that the principles of equality and justice are in line with the Palestinian Basic Law, the Declaration of Independence, and the Palestinian Authority's commitment to national conventions and international treaties."

I find it interesting that this news item was buried inside a completely different story, and that the PA does not appear to want to make a big deal out if this, perhaps in fear of traditionalist reaction. Based on the wording, it might be that they are making this law more for Western consumption than for any real moral reasons.

We will see if it gets implemented.