When Dignity Becomes a Death Sentence

Posted on July 29, 2025 by First.One.Through

In many societies around the world, the concepts of honor and dignity are considered sacred. They are meant to reflect integrity, courage, and the moral fabric of individuals and communities. But in some cultures, the language of honor has been twisted into a tool of control, oppression, and even justification for murder—particularly against women.

“Honor killings” represent one of the most brutal manifestations of this warped morality. These acts of violence—often carried out by family members—are meant to “restore” honor allegedly tarnished by a relative’s behavior. In this framework, dignity is no longer something inherent in the individual, but something projected onto them by a society steeped in twisted religious patriarchy and fear of shame.

Honor killing by West Bank Muslim man

Across the world, honor killings persist, especially in parts of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Gaza regularly report killings tied to perceived slights like refusing an arranged marriage, or even being a victim of rape. In such societies, a woman’s body and choices are not her own. They are just tools in a selfish calculus.

It is especially revolting to note that some societies legally protect these “honor killings.” The Palestinian Authority still has the Jordanian Penal Code No. (16) of 1960, and the Palestinian Penal Code No. (74) of 1936 in the Gaza Strip which provide reduced sentences for such family murders of girls.

Unsurprisingly, societies that bless the murder of women and girls for “honor,” have no compunction about sacrificing them for the dignity of everyone. Gaza’s leaders send women and children into harm’s way while they hide underground. They have even less regard for female enemies: Gazan soldiers and civilians marched into Israel on October 7, 2023 and raped women in front of their families and burned girls alive.

The radical jihadists in Gaza have a vastly different definition about honor than people in the Global North. Insisting that a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict meet Gazan’s measure of dignity is a death sentence for women, girls and Jews in the Middle East.

“Occupation”-Washing Honor Killings

Posted on September 4, 2019 by First.One.Through

“Occupation”-washing, the defense of any of the vile attitudes and actions of Palestinian Arabs by portraying them as victims of Jews living and controlling their holy land, took another turn this week as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives claimed that Arab men kill women in their families because of Jews.

Israa Ghrayeb, a 21-year-old Bethlehem resident, was reportedly tortured and beaten to death by her male relatives after posting an Instagram video showing her with her fiancé. The post incensed her family members, who regarded Israa’s being seen with a man before marriage as dishonorable.

Noted anti-Zionist and Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) tweeted in response that the heinous murder stemmed from “ever-present toxic masculinity” and linked to an article which opened that “Honor killings are not Muslim and they are not Arab. This is a universal phenomenon which takes places in nearly all corners of the globe, from the United States to Europe.” The comment was clearly designed to reorient the analysis to one about men generally, rather than men from the Muslim world.

According to the United Nations, roughly 5,000 women each year are killed in “honor killings,” the act of killing a female family member because they did something that was perceived to bring dishonor to the family. Roughly 40% of these killings occur in India and Pakistan. The vast majority of all of the world’s honor killings come from around southeast Asia – not “the United States and Europe” mentioned above – in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Palestinian territories, as well as people who come from those regions but now live in other countries, including the United Kingdom.

It cannot be a coincidence that the men from these same southeast Asian countries pour acid on women’s faces and cut off their noses and ears if they “dishonor” or embarrass men. Men from Pakistan now living in England raped 1,400 girls over 13 years, in a systematic attack on women which was not prosecuted by police because of direction that this was a matter of culture.

There’s a similar matter of female genital mutilation, which is practiced in 29 countries in Africa as well as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian Authority territories.

The “ever-present toxic masculinity” which Tlaib called out is over-weighted in Muslim-majority lands (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Palestinian Authority-ruled territories) as well as southeast Asian neighbor India (majority Hindu and 15% Muslim). But the redirection towards “the United States and Europe” was more soul-soothing to fellow Muslims than pointing the finger at the male preachers of radical Islam like those from the Taliban and Hamas.

The article’s deflection was followed by a defense, using the time-dishonored poisoned Kool-Aid of “occupation”-washing. For Tlaib, the grotesque crimes committed by Palestinian men is because they too are victims: a poor, subjugated group who have suffered under 500 years of foreign occupation dating back to the early 1500’s when the Ottomans took over Palestine:

“Now, here’s why Isra’s murderers stand to walk away from this untouched by the law. In Palestine, our legal system is the result of a century of occupation and political turmoil. It is a combination of Ottoman, British, Egyptian (in Gaza), Jordanian (in the West bank), and even no system (Area C). Despite various and continued efforts over the last decade, there has been very little reform to this outdated and dysfunctional legal system for two reasons: Israeli military occupation and a corrupt Palestinian Authority both hinder any legal, economic, and social progress…. Right now there are Arabic articles (this story has rightfully taken the Arab world by storm) and doubtless some Hebrew articles being published by some Zionist news outlets to try and pink-wash occupation (again lol).”

Palestinian toxic masculinity and violence against women is excused. These Palestinian men would be peaceful and wonderful husbands and fathers, if it weren’t for colonial invaders. Why isn’t the problem as bad in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq which were also under the mandate system? Please don’t ask. The Taliban probably only cuts the ears and noses off of women because of the Russian and US invasions of their lands according to the twisted logic.

Perhaps one could defend Tlaib by noting that the United Nations engages in “occupation”-washing all of the time, even on the issue of violence against women.

In March 2018, the U.N. held a session titled “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls,” but only issued a paper for women in one part of the world: Palestinian women who suffer from Israeli “occupation.” The paper noted that:

Palestinian Arabs place a “high value placed on “honour”, with 47 percent of men and 38 percent of women believing that women and girls deserve punishment from their families when “honour” is perceived to have been breached. Thirty-five percent of men and 22 percent of women also indicated that “honour” killings should not be punished by law. In addition, one third of men and one quarter of women surveyed believed that some violence against women can be justified, and the majority of men and women believed that women should tolerate such violence.”

However, the 17-page report made clear that the over-riding issue for the suffering of Arab women was not their internal cultural background, but external factors, especially their new Jewish neighbors.

“Occupation”-washing has often been used to defend Palestinians from the charge of widespread antisemitism and the murder of Jews. It has now become mainstream to use it to excuse Muslim-Muslim family violence.

Related First.One.Through articles:

Honor Killings in Gaza

The UN Hates Israel More Than it Cares About Women

Is Israel Reforming the Muslim Middle East? Impossible According to The NY Times

The Sad Assault on Women in the Middle and Far East

First the Attackers Were Radical Islamic Extremists

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Honor Killings in Gaza

Posted on December 2, 2014 by First.One.Through

The Unmentioned Murders of the Middle East

Honor killings have a sad history throughout the Muslim world. Many families deliberately and systematically kill wives and daughters if there is any suspicion of the women bringing “dishonor” to the family. The cause of such shame may come from actual or feared adultery, refusal to marry a designated spouse, or even dressing inappropriately. The cultural rationale for the honor killings is that by murdering the offending women, honor is restored to the families.

Gaza and the West Bank are similar to other parts of the Muslim world regarding the reasons for honor killings. However, the recent spike in the number of killings in the territories has been very dramatic and atypical. In 2011, there were five such murders in the territories. The number of homicides jumped to 13 in 2012, and doubled again to 27 in 2013. In just the first two months of 2014, 8 honor killings were reported by Palestinian media sources, a pace that would have put it on course for nearly doubling again.

By comparison, in Afghanistan an estimated 150 women are killed each year in honor killings. Afghanistan has over eight times the population of Gaza and West Bank, and 18 times Gaza alone. Therefore, on a proportionate basis, the Palestinians now kill twice as many women in honor killings as Afghanistan (or over three times as many if one only counts Gaza where most of the murders take place).

Adding insult to these horrific murders increasing popularity, was the lax way such murders were treated in Palestinian courts. According to the Palestinian Law (Article 340), the killers were not subject to any punishment.

“He who discovers his wife or female relative committing adultery and kills,
wounds or injuries one or both of them is exempted from any penalty,
and he who discovers his wife, or one of his female ascendants or descendants
or sisters with another in an unlawful bed and he kills, wounds or injures one
or both of them, benefits from a reduction of penalty.”

The terrible jump in honor killing of women in Gaza and the West Bank did not make it to the pages of The New York Times. The courts absolution granted to the murderers was not a subject that the Times decided to cover. In 2011. In 2012. In 2013. In 2014.

The closest the New York Times came to an article about the Palestinians’ disregard for a woman’s life in the territories was in an article by Jodi Rudoren in October 2012. That article was about a particular women’s rights advocate. While one would imagine some specifics about the lack of women’s rights and a review of honor killings being covered in such an article, there was barely any mention.

There was no description of honor killings
No report on the increasing number of killings
No review of Palestinian Law absolving the murderers

Instead, Roduren chose to describe the difficulty of a specific woman acting as a rights advocate in Gaza (as opposed to the hardship all women face in Gaza). Of course, according to Roduren, the main source of the hardship was Israel:

““psychological siege” imposed by a combination of Israeli restrictions on travel and trade”
“lost a personal battle last month when Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition by her and three other women to study in the West Bank.”
“the resistance of the Israeli occupation as a priority,”
Israeli court ruled, 2 to 1, against the four women
“Israeli warplane hit an apartment building”

So what does a reader take-away from the New York Times?

While the New York Times occasionally covered stories of honor killings in Afghanistan or Pakistan, it never covered those killings in Gaza, despite the greater prevalence in Gaza.
When the paper had a chance to describe the honor killings in Gaza in an article about a woman’s rights advocates, it opted not to do so.
The thrust of the sole article on the morbid topic laid most of the blame on Israel, as opposed to the Palestinians themselves

Hooray New York Times. You gave a pass for Mulim misogyny and murder meted out by Palestinians. Absolution of the Arab sins came from Jews just across the Green Line.

It would be much more convenient for the left-wing fringe if Israel bordered Pakistan and Afghanistan as well, so they could blame Jews for the entire reprehensible ritual.