Beaten for Not Wearing Hijab; Palestinian Journalist Reports Hamas Police Abuse

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate released a statement condemning a police attack against a female Palestinian journalist who was beaten up while she was doing her work in Gaza earlier this week.

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According to Rawaa Murshed, she was near the Juhor Ad-Dik village in Gaza on a reporting mission with two other journalists when police officers from the Hamas government asked them to leave the area, before one officer grabbed a tree branch and hit her with it repeatedly, causing her injuries that required hospitalization. 

According to Murshed, who has filed a lawsuit in the wake of the incident, the officer was screaming insults at her for not covering her hair with Hijab.

Following online support for the journalist, the Gaza ministry of interior has decided to open an investigation into the matter.

Translation: "While she was working in Gaza, Palestinian journalist Rawaa Murshed was attacked by two Hamas security officers who had prevented her and her colleague from filming, and confiscated the latter's phone. The situation developed into a barbaric attack, as a security man hit Rawaa with a tree branch for not wearing a hijab, which caused wounds throughout her body, and she was subsequently transferred to the hospital."

Online people have taken to social media to express solidarity with the journalist, saying that women should be able to wear whatever they chose to wear regardless of what men think.

Despite the fact that no laws require hijab in the Palestinian territories including the Gaza Strip, several women have reported being harassed for choosing not to wear the hijab in the increasingly conservative society of Gaza.