Hamas MP Entangled In Palestinian Honor Killing

Palestinian rights groups have urged President Mahmoud Abbas to act after two more women were killed in honor crimes.
RAMALLAH, -: Palestinian women hold up banners reading "No to killing, yes to life" as they demonstrate against the "crimes of honor" in some traditional and rural Palestinian communities in which female vitue and virginity still defines a family's reputation, 10 September 2005 in Ramallah. Honor killing in some Arab societies occurrs when women accused in sexual misconduct are murdered by close relatives who are encourged by their families to "cleanse" the honor of the family that has been "disgraced." AF
Palestinian women hold up banners reading "No to killing, yes to life" as they demonstrate against "crimes of honor" in Ramallah, Sept. 10, 2005. - AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Abbas Momani
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Naela Khalil
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — Chronicle of a Death Foretold, a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, may be an apt description for the most recent honor killing in the West Bank. The entire village of Deir al-Ghusun in the Tulkarem district was aware of the story of the "foretold death" before it actually occurred.

On Friday, Sept. 20, 51 members of the Zeidan family signed a statement condemning the behavior of a female family member, 33-year-old Thamar Zeidan, for "disgraceful and outrageous acts."

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