On August 22, Israa Ghrayeb died. She was only 21 years old. Much to the circumstances of death is still unclear. But the case of the young woman has caused anger and horror in the West Bank and neighboring Arab states for days. Apparently, the woman from the village of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem was the victim of a crime that is considered "honor killing" in the West Bank.
Ghrayeb worked in a beauty salon and had more than 12,000 followers on Instagram as a beauty and fashion blogger. Before she died, she was familiar with a man in the social network who had previously stopped at her parents' with Ghrayeb's hand. The parents had agreed to the connection, but made the engagement initially not official.
Friends of the young woman report that then their brothers and cousins interfered. They allegedly intervened with the father because Ghrayeb allegedly polluted the family's honor when she showed up with a man before the official engagement.
Even in hospital, relatives should have mistreated the woman
On August 8, Ghrayeb was hospitalized with serious injuries. Friends report that the 21-year-old had been beaten up at home by her brother, who came from Canada, and several cousins. When trying to escape, she fell from the window on the second floor. Her family claims she jumped out of the window because demons seized her. An Islamic clergyman therefore "treated" them in the past.
From the hospital Ghrayeb published several Instagram stories. In it she announced that she had to cancel all appointments for August and September. She also wrote, "Do not send me any messages that I should be strong, I am strong, may God judge those who have oppressed and hurt me." Now she is waiting in the hospital for an upcoming operation on the spine.
Evidently, Ghrayeb was not even safe from her male relatives in the hospital. There is a recording circulating in social networks that a nurse should have made. You hear how a woman who is not to be seen screams in pain. Her family claims Ghrayeb started screaming after she woke up at the hospital because she was afraid of injections.
The spinal surgery should never be. Ghrayeb's family said after the death of the woman, they had considered the surgery because of their young age unnecessary. So the woman was released. Soon after, she died at home - a heart attack, says the family. As a result of her injuries, say her friends and supporters.
Abbas explains the clarification of the case as a matter of chief concern
An autopsy should clarify the circumstances of death. But many people in the West Bank doubt that the case will be fully informed and the possible perpetrators will be punished. On Monday, hundreds of people - mostly women - demonstrated in Bethlehem and Ramallah.
AP
Demonstration in Ramallah: Women put pressure on the National Authority
Amal Hamad, Minister of Women of the Palestinian Authority (PA), left prematurely the weekly Cabinet meeting and faced the demonstrators. "If there was a crime, the person responsible will be brought to justice," she promised. The head of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, declared the Enlightenment as a matter of chief concern. Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said that several suspects had been arrested.
Domestic violence against women is a widespread problem in the West Bank: according to the Palestinian Public Prosecutor's Office, a total of 14 women were killed in 2016 in areas of the West Bank where the PA has oversight over politics and justice. In eleven cases the perpetrator was a male relative.
For many years, Palestinian justice was indulgent. An investigation by the UN Human Rights Commissioner in 2014 concluded that in 29 out of 37 cases, judges reduced sentences to kill second-killers because the perpetrators claimed to have acted in the name of honor. Last year, PA President Abbas signed a law banning this penalty for so-called honor killings.
Women's rights activists complain that the police and the judiciary did not intervene in the case of violent crimes within the family, because they considered these as private matters to be regulated within the family.
The case is the dominant theme in social media
How young men in parts of the Arab world still define their honor and that of their family over the behavior of their sister, shows this road survey from the year 2017 of the "German wave" reporter Jaafar Abdul Karim in Amman. Among other things, a man says without hesitation that he would kill his sister in the name of honor.
In the social media of the Arab world, the Ghrayeb case is the dominant theme these days - especially among women. Among other things tweeted with Nancy Ajram and Elissa two of the most popular Arabian singers, each counting more than 13 million followers, about. "There is no justification for murder," they tweeted. And: "Honor is not killing, honor is not beat, torture and hurt."
The hashtag "We are all Israa Ghrayeb" has been one of the most used in the Arab world for days. The slogan is based on the campaign "We are all Khaled Said", in 2010, the hundreds of thousands of Egyptians protested online against deadly police violence. It formed the basis for the protest movement that led to the overthrow of head of state Husni Mubarak in early 2011.
Feminists hope that the campaign "We all are Israa Ghrayeb" lays the foundation for a social revolution for the protection of women. The way there is far.
