Demonstration Against Palestinian Honor Killings

In Honor and in Memory of
Reem Abu Ghanem (murdered in 2006)
Halima Ahmed (murdered in 2009)
Abeer Abu Damous (murdered in 2010)
and too many others


Sixty Israeli Bedouin women came in busloads from the Negev to join a total of 500 Israeli Arabs in a protest against honor killings in their communities. They constituted the largest continent of women, thanks to the work of Hind el Sana, a lobbyist in Shatil’s Bedouin Women’s Leadership Project. The demonstration was held in the city of Nazareth.

Israeli MKs (Members of Parliament)and the mayor of Nazareth attended this rare demonstration for Women's rights. A diverse and multi-generational group carried signs and banners in Arabic, many bearing the names of murdered women.

The demonstrators called for an “end to the murder of women who are thought to sully the honor of their families by violating traditional, patriarchal restrictions on relationships between men and women. A young woman who dates a young man without her parents’ consent falls into this category.”

“There is no honor in this crime” declared MK Masoud Ghanayem.
MK Muhammad Baraka added: “Whenever someone kills his sister, his daughter, his wife, he does not become more honorable, but he becomes a murderer and villain.”

Seven women were killed to protect "family honor" in the Palestinian territories in the first month of the year 2010. The Palestinian Authority applies the Jordanian Penal Code in the West Bank , but this reduces the penalty if a murder is committed under the pretext of "issues of honor".

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas committed to changing this law by International Women's Day of 2010. It has not yet happened