Good thing The Guardian published its piece blaming Israel for Palestinian wife-beating yesterday. Had the story waited another day, it would’ve directly competed with an ugly murder demolishing the paper’s it’s-all-Israel’s-fault mentality.
Nancy Zaboun, a 27-year-old Palestinian mother of three was killed by her husband. In Bethlehem’s busy open air market. Eyewitnesses — and there were plenty — were horrified as Shadi Abedallah slashed his wife’s throat.
Associated Press notes plenty of contributing factors. Note the absence of hot-button excuses like “the occupation.”
The case reverberated across Palestinian society because of the brutality of the attack. However, violence against women continues to be tolerated—similar to attitudes in other parts of the Arab world—and women’s rights activists say abusive husbands are rarely punished.
Zaboun was regularly beaten by her husband, 32-year-old Shadi Abedallah, at times so severely that she had to be hospitalized, said Khaula al-Azraq, who runs a West Bank counseling center where Zaboun sought help.
Even so, Abedallah was never arrested. Police only made him sign pledges he would stop hitting his wife . . . .
Women have scored some breakthroughs in traditional Palestinian society in recent years, including gaining a greater role in public life. However, tribal laws still remain strong, and violence against women is generally viewed by police as an internal family matter.
I don’t trust The Guardian to get this story right. I’ll be happier if they just republish AP’s dispatch.
UPDATE: Palestinian women rallied in Bethlehem against the Israeli occupation for tougher PA laws against domestic abuse. Tthis LA Times followup shows how badly The Guardian blew the story.
In just one month, a father allegedly killed his high school daughter in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, another father is accused of beating his daughter to death in the city of Hebron and a third allegedly killed a daughter in the Gaza Strip. All apparently were so-called honor killings;
