GAZA — “Rejected,” Asmaa’s family responded, when young Ahmed proposed to their daughter. According to Palestinian tradition, which Asmaa’s family has followed for decades, daughters should not marry men from outside the family for fear that the family's property and real estate will be transferred to others. Ahmed does not belong to Asmaa's family.

Ahmed and Asmaa, who did not want to disclose their surnames, are colleagues who majored in construction engineering. They had liked each other since their college days and had been intending to get married since that time. They did not expect, however, that this desire would come to an end or that their hopes of building a married life filled with love and happiness would fail to materialize.

Asmaa cursed her bad luck. She told Al-Monitor, “I belong to a rich family that owns real estate. They fear that these properties will be transferred to other families, so they oppose marrying off their daughters to young men from outside the family.” Asmaa confessed that she had tried to get around her family's objection, with support from her female cousins, but ended up “disappointed.”

Asmaa explained that her family offers any girl who wants to get married two options — marry a family member and retain her rights to property and inheritance or marry a man from outside the family and sign a waiver relinquishing all rights to her inheritance upon the death of her father.