West Bank: Two Palestinian women become judges in Islamic court

RAMALLAH (West Bank): The Islamic courts were among the last male-only bastions in Palestinian society, where women have been presidential candidates, police officers and even suicide bombers.

Now two stern-looking women in Muslim head scarves and long black robes have smashed through the thick glass ceiling.

Khuloud Faqih, 34, and Asmahan Wuheidi, 31, made history in February when they became the first female Islamic judges in the Palestinian territories.

Across the Arab world, only Sudan has had women judges in Islamic courts, West Bank-based academic experts on Islamic affairs said.

Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, all relatively progressive states in the region on women's rights, do not.

"I compare us to other Arab Muslim women, and I think we've done well," said Faqih, wearing a sash in the colours of the Palestinian flag across her robe. "I think I've opened a door for myself and other women."

She spoke between meetings with petitioners in her modest courtroom -- an office with a few couches, a desk and a coffee table with plastic flowers.

Muslim courts in the Palestinian Authority rule over family affairs like marriage, divorce, inheritance and custody, relying on Islamic jurisprudence rather than secular rules.

-- Associated Press