Feminist and community organizations in the Gaza Strip, signatories below, condemn the death of (E.M.Z), an 18-year-old resident of Rafah and a twelfth-grade student. According to news reports, the deceased died as a result of a five-hour Quranic healing session during which a charlatan sheikh, identified as (E.A.Z), forced her to drink water containing salts. The sheikh (charlatan) claimed he had recited Quranic verses and supplications over the water.
The undersigned organizations express their denunciation and disapproval of the disregard shown by law enforcement authorities in the Gaza Strip, and their allowing such charlatans, who exploit religion to defraud ordinary citizens, to operate. This leads to crimes that affect people’s lives and health, most recently the death of (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.
The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (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, call on the official authorities in the Gaza Strip, within their respective jurisdictions, to take swift action to put an end to the violations and murders committed against women and girls in the Gaza Strip. They also denounce the delay in the investigation into the disappearance of the child Hadeel Al-Souri from Nuseirat, who disappeared three months ago and whose body was found only two days ago.
We call on civil society organizations and media organizations alike to shed light on and work to protect the rights and lives of women and girls. Let these incidents be a wake-up call that must be sounded forcefully to demonstrate the extent of societal violence that must be confronted, and to demand that official authorities impose deterrent penalties against anyone who dares to tamper with the lives of women and girls.
