Arab Web surfer asks: Can I kill my cousin for 'family honor'?

Should a man kill his female cousin who compromised the "family honor"? A user posted that question to Israel's fourth most popular Arabic-language Web site, Panet, last week, and said he intended to do so.

According to unofficial figures, 13 women were murdered in "honor killings" in 2005. In 2006 the number was nine; in 2007 and 2008, it was six. There have been three such killings so far this year.

Several women's organizations, including the Arab feminist organization Kayan, Women Against Violence, the Haifa rape-crisis center Alsiwar and Haifa's Isha L'Isha feminist center, have approached Panet's editor, Basem Jaber, demanding the user's question be immediately removed from the site and that the matter be turned over to the police.

The man wrote that he intended to murder his cousin to "bring happiness to my parents and my family from the shame and people's talk, and to preserve my good name." Referring to his cousin, the user wrote: "She doesn't know what's good for her, we've talked to her and it doesn't help, we've beaten her and it doesn't help ... My brothers, do you think what I want to do is good, that is, am I right? ... Is it [religiously] worthy for me to kill her or just scare her?"

The site's editors commented on the letter, stating the writer had said the girl's father had asked him not to interfere, and "the very thought about what you wrote is a great sin." They called on "interested parties among our people, parents, educators and even religious leaders" to respond harshly to the letter.