TV Women under Threat by Islamists

It takes a lot to scare the women of Gaza. They've put up with Israeli bombings, and Palestinian gangs turning the streets into a shooting gallery. But now they face threats from a gang calling itself ‘The Swords of Truth', like some comic-strip avengers. These religious vigilantes emailed a warning to Palestinian TV news stations that unless the female anchors adopt more stringent Islamic dress codes “we will cut throats, and from vein to vein.”

Keep in mind that the 15 women anchors on Palestinian TV already wear headscarves and act demurely. But, what seems to irk the ‘Swords of Truth' boys is that these women newscasters wear mascara and lipstick. So, off with their heads!

This was too much for Gaza's feisty women journalists. Instead of cowering indoors, or appearing on TV swathed in headscarves, veils and sunglasses, they took to the streets on Sunday in protest against the “Swords of Truth' edict. Over 50 anchors and employees marched from the Gaza city TV stations towards the office of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. In a defiant reply to the fundamentalists, one newscaster, Sally Abed, said: “Shame on you, the people working in this institution are your people –if it's not your sister, it's your mother.”

Nobody knows much about the ‘Swords of Truth', which has been disavowed by the main Islamic militant organizations in Gaza. But their zeal is not to be dismissed so lightly. They've claimed credit for firebombing dozens of Internet cafes, music shops and pool halls, which makes it all the more brave of these women to stand against this band of mysterious fanatics.

--by Tim McGirk/Jerusalem