I think in many ways this topic is a litmus test for the ignorant and uninformed.

The process of stereotyping requires broad generalizations that ignore the many nuances and subtleties in a group. The topic of honor killings is a perfect example of how people who know very little about the regions in question easily ascribe it to what little they do know, namely, the dominant faith.

Most critics would not even know what the Hammurabi Code was, for example, or that the practice was observed in the region for thousands of years, even among Christians and Jews, well before the theological transformation of the area. To them it’s irrelevant, because it’s more imperative to reinforce whatever preconceived notions they hold in the interest of maintaining their shallow paradigm of the world around them.

We anticipated that per capita assertions would lead to some confusion. Estimates cite 25 incidents per year in Jordan. If only 2 of these are among Christians, as they often are, this is disproportionately high relative to the 7% of the population that they comprise. The situation is similar among Palestinians, where they are currently about 5% of the population. Honour killings are estimated there to be about 15-18 per annum, meaning anything above a single incident is a higher per capita rate for Palestinian Christians. Druze would probably be an exception to this, with 6% of the population but 200-300 incidents per year.

In any case, any of these incidents are higher than the per capita rate for the entire Muslim world (est. 1.1-1.3 billion) given the significantly larger population globally, and the majority of the Muslim world such as sub-Saharan African and SE Asia where the practice is non-existant.

The trigger you cite is common for all groups in inter-faith relationships.

Another factor is urban/rural, and there is a higher prevalence among rural communities irrespective of faith (we will add “rural” above for clarification).

If you are willing to provide an alternative quote to Khouri’s of basically the same substance (to maintain the flow of the article without too much editing), we would be more than willing to replace it and link to your book instead. We get several thousand hits on average per post, and would love to help share your experiences. Contact the admin for more details.

I agree with you that dishonor killings are un-Islamic. They are believed to have their origins in misinterpretations of pre-Islamic Arab tribal codes. They have more to do with culture than with faith.

But your comments about their rates being higher among Christians are just inaccurate. Dishonor killings do sometimes happen within the Christian community, but most of ten when there is an interfaith relationship involved (Arab/Christian). That can be a trigger for a dishonor killing.

I’ve worked on this problem in Jordan for years. I would know.

Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
“Reclaiming Honor in Jordan”

The post attempts (and succeeds in our opinion) in demonstrating that the belief that this problem is based upon is more cultural and historical in nature than religious. If we don’t know what belief a “belief-based problem” is premised upon, we’re not likely to come to the correct conclusions or adequate solutions.

Basil: Thank you for the links. Khouri was quoted in the piece we selected, and her the accuracy of her quote does not appear to be in question by the film or site you presented. Although the case appears interesting, it does not have an overall effect on the content of the post.

Thought you might want to know that Khouri was actually exposed as a fake.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLC8nCOg98g
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790808/

For one, domestic violence in the US has nothing to do with honor killings. Honor killings are directly related to one’s beliefs, while spouse killings in the “Christian” US are not crimes connected with belief AT ALL. Thus, any comparison is ridiculous.

Second, there is no proof for this statement “But the incidents are just as prevalent, often moreso, among Christian Arabs.”

Third, there is no proof offered for this statement: “Per capita, these incidents are more problematic amongs Christian Arabs than they are among Muslim Arabs.”

This post fails miserably. It is a very weak attempt to minimize a belief-based problem by pointing at other cultures and faiths.