Tulkarem (Ma'an) – A Palestinian NGO forum on Violence against Women held a conference at the Tulkarem Chamber of Commerce Building Tuesday.
The conference discussed the death of women in honor killings.
The Mufti of Tulkarem, Ammar Badawi, said that honor has great value in Islam but Islam also considers life to be the most important thing.
Lawyer Thawrah Nazzal of the Jenin Women's Society said that Palestinian honor killing laws derive from old Jordanian laws. She said that Palestine must create modern laws to address the issue.
Academic Husni Awad said that according to statistics, 38 women died in honor killings between 1966 and 1999. He noted that during the period obetween 2004 and 2005, 12 women were killed and 11 raped.
A representative of the Social Affairs Ministry, Fawwaz Hanzah, said that the Ministry works with police in order to address the issue. Police official, Sameh Samha, said that the police deal very secretly and strictly with these issues.