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Edna Erez and Anat Berko
which is largely dependent upon individual family members fulfilling genderappropriate
roles.
Women in Palestinian society are expected to maintain their honor, which centers
on the preservation of a chaste reputation; this compares to the qualities of courage,
religiosity, and hospitality that are valued as Palestinian men’s conceptions of
honor (Fernea, 1985). If a woman exhibits inappropriate or immodest behavior,
she brings shame and dishonor on all of her kin. 4 Women who deviate from
gendered scripts of social relations tarnish the family’s reputation and bring scorn
to their families, leading to reactions to restore family honor (Shalhoub-Kevorkian,
1999). Because a family’s reputation is closely tied to the honor of its women, in
particular their feminine/sexual conduct, violations of gender expectations by
women (such as unsupervised contact with men) comprise a grave offense that may
be punished severely, in extreme cases by death (the so called “honor killing) 5 (Al-
Khayyat, 1990; Kedar, 2006).
The patriarchal structure of Palestinian society places women (and children) in a
dependent (or inferior) position 6 , under the protection and control of men. Young
women are expected to obey not only male and female elders 7 , but also men who
are younger than themselves (Sharabi, 1975). Men are expected to monitor and
protect their female blood relatives. Thus, a woman or girl’s misbehavior (or abuse,
see Shalhoub-Kevorkian, 1999) calls into question the power and privilege of male
family members, in particular the father, demanding a response to restore their
masculine status and protective capability (Hasan, 1999; Israeli, 2004). To
challenge the authority of a father, brother, or other male authority figure is a grave
offense for women.
Social conventions limit Palestinian women’s participation in the public domain,
largely confining their activities to the private sphere. Women’s identity and worth
is linked to and judged by her central roles of wife and mother. A woman’s value is
also determined by the extent of her seclusion and obedience (Israeli, 2004; Kedar,
2006; Rubenberg, 2001).
The significance of family and family honor, the burden placed on women to obey
gender restrictions and maintain a chaste reputation, and the notion that men are
their protectors, frame the social context for understanding Palestinian women in
terrorism. It shed light on women’s pathways to and roles in terrorism, and the
aftermath of such activity for the women and their families.
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