Where’s the Coverage? Dis-Honor Killing in Gaza on International Women’s Day
In the run-up to President Obama’s visit to Israel, The New York Times found room on the front page to write about how Jews living in Jerusalem “fundamentally undermine” the so-called “peace process.” The newspaper also found place for an 8,000-word New York Times Magazine cover story celebrating violent Palestinian protesters. What editors didn’t find room for was any mention of the brutal murder of a young woman at the hands of her brother and father in Gaza.
Al-Monitor reports on Hiyam’s murder, after a young man was found in the house:
According to the police and the family, the father and brother strangled Hiyam. The young man, Ahmed, was beaten and thrown from a high structure and presumed dead. Neighbors were asked to witness the act and reported it to the police.
[Hiyam’s 13-year-old brother] Mohammed added, sadly, “The police came too late. They arrived after one and a half hours. If they had come earlier, they would have saved my sister Hiyam.” […]It was later revealed that the father and his son had first strangled Hiyam with a rope, and when that failed to kill her, they used a double wire instead.
The murder took place on March 8. That also happened to be International Women’s Day. While The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post and other news outlets commendably covered the day, neither these nor other news media found time or space to report on Hiyam’s murder. Other than Al-Monitor, only blogger Elder of Ziyon mentioned it.
The United Nations Web site declares the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women,” yet it seems that most major media won’t take the most minimal action, reporting.
According to the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights:
Regrettably, women still suffer gender based discrimination in the Palestinian society. In 2012, ICHR registered (24) death cases of women, including (5) cases against the so called (honor killing) and (15) deaths under mysterious conditions. It still also monitors several patterns of violations against women, especially gender based violence.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a report last year revealing that 37 percent of married women in Gaza and the West Bank admit to experiencing violence at the hands of their husbands. Over 65 percent say they never told anyone of the violence. (Isn’t that the media’s job?)
Where are the boycotters? Where are the flotillas? Where are the days of rage? And for the sake of decency… Where’s the coverage?
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