Palestine: Femicide highlights need for domestic violence law
Palestinian women hold a banner that reads “Palestinian Woman’s General Union, we need a law to protect us and to protect the Palestinian family”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) police found Khweira’s body inside her home in the village of Kufr Ni’ma.
Her husband also attacked his own mother, 75, who suffered injuries and was transferred to the nearest hospital in Ramallah. She sustained injuries, but is in stable condition.
The suspect, identified as Amer Rabee, fled the scene but was arrested later that same morning, while Khweira’s body was transferred for a forensic medical examination as part of an investigation into the killing.
The Khweira family are now calling on authorities to execute Rabee as a punishment for the gruesome killing – a demand also backed by Rabee’s family.
Khweira’s murder came as the world marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25 and launched a 16-day global campaign demanding an end to gender-based violence (GBV), including in Palestine where awareness activities are being held.
The killing has caused an uproar among Palestinians about the persistence of domestic violence and patriarchal norms in Palestinian society. So far in 2021, more than 20 women have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territories in domestic violence, while at least 15 other Palestinian women were killed inside Israel.