Campaign launched to stop the killing of women

Jerusalem - Ma'an - The Haifa-based Kayan Feminist Organization has organized a widespread campaign, which covers most Arab towns and villages in northern Israel, in addition to Lud and Ramleh. The campaign mailed letters to some 10,000 young men and women, between 18 and 22 years old.

Kayan, literally "being" in Arabic, is a grassroots, feminist organization for Palestinian Israeli women. Founded in 1998, Kayan addresses the gender inequality at the root of society, examining and questioning unique cultural patterns that allow for the oppression of women and girls within Palestinian society in Israel, and thereby opening the way for a process of broad social change.

The letters mailed out in the campaign included condemnation of the killing of women, especially those based on the so-called "family dignity", or "honour killings". The movement made the comparison between the killing of 13 Arab citizens by Israeli police in the year 2000, and the condemnations and demonstrations that followed it, with the killing of 13 women in the year 2005, under the banner of "family dignity", which nobody, except women's institutions, protested against.

The society asked the recipients of the letters to vote at the Kayan website for the best way to end the phenomenon of killing women. The poll includes several choices, such as: increased educational programs of the issue through school curriculums, participation of the religious leadership, imposing heavy punishments and improving the economic situation of the Arabs in Israel.

Kayan's ongoing activities include empowerment work with Palestinian women living in rural areas in northern and central Israel, community organizing for mobility, work rights, sexual preference and other human rights issues. Kayan is involved in coalition work nationwide with feminist groups and initiatives.

To find out more about their work, or to participate in their campaign, visit their website at:
http://www.kayan.org.il/

Ma'an News Agency, 15/1/2006
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=17191