The undersigned women’s and community organizations in the Gaza Strip condemn the killing of a young woman, (E.M.Z), a resident of Rafah. She was 18 years old and a twelfth-grade student. According to reports, the deceased died as a result of a five-hour Quranic healing session during which a charlatan sheikh, (E.A.Z), forced her to drink water with salts, claiming he had recited Quranic verses and prayers over it.
The organizations signing this statement express their condemnation and denunciation of the disregard shown by law enforcement authorities in the Gaza Strip, and their allowing such charlatans, who exploit religion to defraud and swindle ordinary citizens, leading to crimes affecting people’s lives and health, the latest of which was the death of the young woman (E.M.Z), under the guise of Quranic healing. This is in violation of Public Health Law No. 20 of 2004 and international standards guaranteeing every citizen the right to the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health.
CWLRCP, the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, the Women’s Affairs Center, and the Free Thought and Culture Foundation in the Gaza Strip, demand that the official authorities, within their respective jurisdictions in the Gaza Strip, take swift action to put an end to the violations and murders to which women and girls are subjected in the Gaza Strip. They also denounce the delay in investigating the disappearance of the child Hadeel Al-Souri from Nuseirat, who disappeared three months ago and whose body was found just two days ago.
We call on civil society organizations and media institutions to shed light on and work to protect the rights and lives of women and girls, and to let these incidents serve as a warning that must be sounded forcefully to demonstrate the extent of societal violence that must be confronted. We also demand that official authorities impose deterrent penalties against anyone who dares to tamper with the lives of women and girls.
