One in five Israeli Arab students in one college support honor killings, survey finds

Students surveyed were between 19-25 years old, and 89% were women, says poll presenter.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON, LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Students wearing headscarves. (photo credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
Students wearing headscarves.
(photo credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
Twenty percent of Arab students in a college in Israel support so-called “honor” killings, according to survey results presented on Wednesday in the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women.
Janan Faraj Falah, a Druse woman professor of gender studies at the Academic Arab College for Education in Israel – Haifa, presented the survey results.
The results are based on a survey conducted in 2010 and was carried out after a student was murdered by her partner. The students surveyed were between 19 and 25 years old, 89% were women.
“The survey results shocked us no less than the murder itself,” said Falah.
“We must all come together to prevent the next murder,” said committee chairwoman Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid).
“The voice of Arab religious leaders was not heard on this matter,” she said. The Yesh Atid MK said that to eradicate this phenomenon we need Arabs leaders to speak out.
“The opinions of the boys and girls in the sector, as they are reflected in the ministry’s relationship programs, are terrifying.
Arab teens think that a family’s problems are resolved through violence and shouting,” said Sorayida Mansour, a counselor for the Arab sector in the Education Ministry.
“We get involved but are unable to change their positions, because they hear something different at home. Our intervention leads to the identification of children at risk, but we are unable to change social attitudes,” she said.
The Knesset committee intends to tour in the city of Ramle to learn about the work of the police and a program run by the Abraham Fund Initiatives that works to increase cooperation between Arab citizens and the police.
Ch.-Supt. Meir Berkowitz, head of the crime victim unit, said, “We recently completed a project with The Abraham Fund of training police officers and social workers in the sector. This should continue.”