Palestinians' affair, 'honor killing' reflect Christian, Muslim divide

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Palestinians' affair, 'honor killing' reflect Christian, Muslim divide

By Lara Sukhtian
ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 6, 2005

TAIBEH, West Bank – It began as yet another "honor killing," still relatively common in the Arab world: A young Muslim woman was poisoned, allegedly by her family, over an extramarital affair.

In a twist, her lover was a Christian – and 13 of his relatives' homes were burned by an angry mob, all Muslims from the dead woman's clan.

The woman's family insist they were dispensing tribal justice. Some Christians say they were targeted because of their religion, reflecting growing worries about a rise in sectarianism after decades of tolerance between Palestinians' Muslim majority and a Christian minority.

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Last year, more than 30 women are known to have been killed in the name of family honor in the West Bank and Gaza. Women's rights groups say it is hard to count the actual number of "honor killings" in the Palestinian territories or in other Arab societies where women are slain for having sex outside marriage, dating, talking to men or for being raped.


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