1. Introduction

The issue of women rights often causes uneasy discussions, particularly in the Arab world. Although the Arab woman has made great advances in the academic and professional fields during the last forty years, she still faces social discrimination, especially in traditional rural communities. In those societies, the woman is still treated in a traditional manner, with negligence to her basic rights. She is regarded as being inferior to man, and not deserving to enjoy the same rights. This belief is based and built upon a long series of customs and traditions. Despite the fact that the Arab woman has attained some of her rights in the last few decades, there are still some instances of discrimination and violence practiced against her. Some of those are reflected in the phenomenon of killing women on the background of the honor of the family. Honor killing is considered to be a crime that threatens the unity and harmony of the community, and it acts as a barrier preventing women from progressing in their lives.

It is necessary to admit that using the expressing ‘on the background of the honor of the family’ indirectly provides an excuse for the killer, and blames the victim without giving her the opportunity to defend herself. Therefore, some female writers suggest the phrase ‘the crime of killing women for family honor’. ( A. Khader, 1999, Page18, Abdo, 1999, Page 156 and Zaghbabeh, 1998, Page 11)  The social definition, that is acknowledged traditionally, is that honor killing has to do with the woman alone, the woman who has a (sexual) contact  with a man –outside the frame of marriage- is killed in order to maintain, and protect, the honor of the family.

Honor is one of the core values of Arab society. This fact supports the belief that this society devaalues the position of woman. The interests of the active powers within Middle Eastern society decide the definition of this value. The dominating powers or the higher class in the society determines the meaning of honor as suits their interests. (Al- Zayat, 1993, Page 66 and Abdo 1999, Page 13)

Once we realize this fact, we discover the misinterpretation of the meaning of honor. The noble values of dignity and seniority are neglected. Instead, the only focus is on the woman’s body and her virginity. According to this definition, the woman is an object owned by the man who assumes responsibility for her behavior and her life. The social traditions lead to the isolation of the woman in her home. She is required to cover her entire body in order to maintain the honor of the man. A decent honorable man has to have a decent honorable woman. The major factor in this theory is the body of the woman that is capable of bringing new members for the family, so that it can extend and live longer. Thus, the woman’s body is the private property of her husband. By maintaining and protecting it, there will be no confusion between families in the community. The family, and men in particular, have the responsibility to defend the honor of ‘their’ woman. (Al-Turki and Zuraiq, 1995, Page 104)

Killing of women on the basis of family honor is considered one of the forms of discrimination against woman and is a serious violation to her basic human rights. Yet it is a phenomenon that continues in the Arab world. It is a reflection of various social, psychological, economical and cultural factors. The value of a human being is measured by his ability to be creative and to have true love, and not measured by his wealth or social class.  Moreover, his intelligence and individual decide the role of a human being in a community, not by his gender. Therefore, man’s power to develop his society is the real factor that defines his value. (N. al-Sa’dawi, 1977)

Killing of women on the basis of the honor of the family is a crime committed by man against a woman who is very closely related to him. The motive for this crime, as defined by traditional factors, is defending the honor of the family. But the behavior itself that harms the honor is illegal sexual contact that brings shame to the family, as defined by the traditions of the community. (A. Khader, 1999, Page 8 and Zaghbabeh, 1998, Page 1)

Since Palestinian society is part of the Arab world the position and role of the Palestinian woman don’t differ from those of the woman in general. The Palestinian society is a traditional ‘paternalistic’ community that is based on traditional unwritten norms and rules that are used to affirm the degradation of the position of woman. Moreover, the circumstances that formed the Palestinian society; wars, loss of land and long suffering, caused the Palestinian people adhere more strongly to their costumes and traditions. (Abdo, 1999, Page 25)

Therefore, the phenomenon of killing Palestinian women on the basis of family honor  family exists, as shown clearly in cases available at women’s centers, police records and newspapers. This phenomenon represents a crime that is characterized as discrimination against women, who form half the society. This crime has been in existence in the Palestinian community for decades, but it hasn’t received much attention in the last few years because of the focus on the political conflict, and the first Uprising (Intifada, between December 1987 and September 1993) rather than the social difficulties. After the Oslo peace accords, the political situation was relatively stable. This led to having more centers open to look after women issues, especially to deal with problems of violence against women.