The Murder of Palestinian Women: Amid Patriarchal Authority
and Israeli Authority
Maryam Hawari*
On November 26, 2012, Aisha Ala’asam, a 15-year-old girl from the town of Tal
Al-Sabe’, was murdered by her brother. The Israeli police had known that Aisha’s
life was at risk. They had been informed that she had been threatened by her
family. She had filed several complaints regarding the danger she was exposed
to, but nevertheless, the Israeli police returned her home after a stay with her
uncle, who assured her that he would protect her. The police stood silent as
Aisha fell victim first to social laws characterized by patriarchal authority, and
second to the lack of enforcement of the Israeli law.
Aisha’s story is one of many stories of Palestinian women and girls who
were threatened with death and then were in fact murdered, regardless of their
appeal to the Israeli authorities in charge.
This paper presents the interactive relationship between the structure of
Palestinian society and the Israeli bureaucracy practice regarding the
intimidation and murder of Palestinian women. I will focus on the Israeli police’s
approach to this matter, and the way in which they deal with complaints filed by
Palestinian women in danger.
Jadal
Jadal, Issue 19, March 2014
1
Mada al-Carmel
www.mada-research.org
Patriarchal Authority
The Palestinian society, like many others, is patriarchal. It is built on power
relations that marginalize women and treat them as inferior.1 These relations
shape every aspect of women’s daily lives—be it in the personal or public
sphere2—and empower male hegemony in society. These relations similarly
exclude women from decision-making positions by depriving women of having
economic or social independence, and expose women to male custody in all
stages of life.
One mechanism that society adopts to ensure that this structure prevails
is through what is known as “honor laws.”3 Honor laws are unwritten laws
directed towards women, thus determining their behavior in all areas of life,
including mobility, dress, and sexuality. From the patriarchal perspective, nonobedience or law-breaking warrants a penalty, with the utmost in its brutality
being murder, which is generally carried out by one of the close family
members.4
Honor laws are nothing but a pretext or motive used by society and its
perpetrators to lessen the brutality of the crime. Such excuses are similarly used
in the media, and by the police and judicial system. This “culture-based”
treatment turns a blind eye to the real motive behind the murder.5 From a
feminist perspective, Femicide is a global phenomenon: It is the killing of women
for being women; it is murder on gender grounds; and it is a form of sexual
Shalhoub-Kervorkian, N. and Daher-Nashif, S. (2013). Femicide and Colonization: Between the
Politics of Exclusion and the Culture of Control. Violence against Women, 19(3), 295-513.
2 Haj-Yahia, M.M. (2005). On the Characteristics of Patriarchal Societies, Gender Inequality, and Wife
Abuse: The Case of Palestinian Society. Adalah Newsletter, 20.
3 Manar, H. (2002). The Politics of Honor: Patriarchy, the State and the Murder of Women in the
Name of Family Honor. Journal of Israeli History, 21(1-2), 1-37.
4 Touma-Sliman, A. (2005). Culture, National Minority And The State: Working Against The ‘Crime Of
Family Honour’ Within The Palestinian Community In Israel. In L. Welchman & S. Hossain (Eds.),
‘Honour’: Crimes, Paradigms and Violence Against Women (pp. 181-197). New York: Zed Books.
5 Shalhoub-Kevorkian & Daher-Nashif, 2013
1
Jadal
Jadal, Issue 19, March 2014
2
Mada al-Carmel
www.mada-research.org
abuse.6 The motive behind killing women is the same as the one that allowed
society to invent honor laws in the first place, and it is the same as the one that
blesses polygamy or the marriage of minors. It is a mere extension of patriarchal
authority and male dominance in society. From a patriarchal perspective, when a
woman violates honor laws, she destabilizes the social system by questioning
male dominance and is therefore prone to death so as to preserve society.
Israeli Authority
Paragraph 5 of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly, dictates that
the countries that have ratified the convention (to which Israel is a signatory)
are legally bound to ensure the effective protection of women against
discrimination, including taking measures to alter social structures and
behaviors. In addition, paragraph 4 of the “Human Dignity and Liberty in Israel”
law states that all persons are entitled to protection of their life, body, and
dignity. In light of such laws and treaties, there is ample responsibility on Israel
to ensure that proper measures are taken to protect the life of the Palestinian
women in the state. However, when the ideals expressed by the aforementioned
are compared to the facts on the ground, we see that the Israeli judicial system
(and, in particular, the police) do not provide protection for Palestinian women.
In fact, the Israeli legal system takes reluctant or unfair steps, and instead
assumes the role of a spectator, relates crime to customs, traditions, and culture,
ignores complaints filed by women, and returns women to dangerous
environments knowing that their life is in danger.7
Radford, J. and Russel, D.E.H. (1992). Femicide: The Politics of Woman Killing. New York: Twayne
Pub.
7 Shalhoub‐Kevorkian, N. (2004). Racism, militarisation and policing: police reactions to violence
against Palestinian women in Israel. Social Identities, 10(2), 171-193.
6
Jadal
Jadal, Issue 19, March 2014
3
Mada al-Carmel
www.mada-research.org
With respect to procedures and directives internal to the police, there
exist clear differences between the way complaints filed by Palestinian women
are dealt with compared to the claims filed by Israeli women. For example,
violence and murder by the husband is a common issue in the Israeli
community.8 In comparison, in the Palestinian community living in Israel,
violence and murder generally occur at the hands of the father or brother of the
victim. Whereas the Israeli police treat husband violence within the legal section
presiding over domestic violence, they treat violence by other family members—
which, in the case of Palestinian women, is more common—in the general
section of the law.9 As such, the Israeli police restrict domestic violence to
violence conducted by the spousal partner, whereas according to paragraph 1 of
the “Prevention of Family Violence” law, the father and the brother are included
in the definition of family members. This means that the law should apply to
violence executed by father and brother as well. According to this law, murder
cases involving Palestinian women should be treated by Israeli police in the
same manner as other crimes committed under the domestic violence section. As
they are not, it is evident that discrimination persists in the way the police deal
with violence against Palestinian women.
The Israeli judiciary effort is restricted to after the crime occurs. In the
verdicts that address murder crimes, the court condemns the murder and
punishes the killer with a prison sentence. Nevertheless, the language of the
verdict relate the murder to the workings of a given society and culture instead
of dealing with the matter of gender-based murder as a global phenomenon.10
Regarding cases of assault against women that could have resulted in murder,
Kamir, O. (2002).Feminism, Rights and Law in Israel. Retrieved from
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/Orit_Kamir/files/bookhebrew.pdf (in Hebrew)
9 Israeli police responses to questions on domestic violence against Palestinian women, through a
questionnaire submitted by the project, “To prevent the killing of Arab women,” in the feminist-legal
clinic of the faculty of Law at the University of Haifa and in collaboration with Women Against
Violence and al-Siwar, and later (in 2010-2011) Kayan Feminist Organization.
10 See, for example, the criminal appeal to the Supreme Court 08/10358.
8
Jadal
Jadal, Issue 19, March 2014
4
Mada al-Carmel
www.mada-research.org
the court’s verdicts find it sufficient to impose light sanctions that do not fit the
dreadful crime. In these verdicts, the courts discuss considerations that in fact
reinforce patriarchal authority, such as the woman’s plea to cancel the complaint
or claims by the defense of reconciliation (Sulha)11 between the two parties. The
Israeli courts do not take into account the power relations that are at play when
they deliver their verdicts, and they entirely ignore the real motives behind the
violence and, in some cases, the murder that women are exposed to.
The police’s reluctance and even failure to protect Palestinian women, as
well as the courts’ statements and verdicts, only strengthen patriarchal authority
in Palestinian society. Police inaction and judicial decisions allow this male
authority to continue to control the lives of women and unfortunately implies
that no law guarantees a Palestinian woman’s right to life. This neglect is a
manifestation of the colonial occupation and racial discrimination against
Palestinians in general and Palestinian women in particular, as it ensures that
the state of exclusion is doubly experienced by Palestinian women.
*Maryam Hawari is a feminist activist who is currently studying for her bachelor’s
degree in law at the University of Haifa.
“Sulha” is a term given to an agreement between arguing parties that effectively ends the conflict.
In the vast majority of cases, participants in a “Sulha” are men.
11
Jadal
Jadal, Issue 19, March 2014
5
Mada al-Carmel
www.mada-research.org