The Judge Laughs

Well, some good news from Pal. society:

"Despite the fact that Palestinians are suffering from a difficult economic situation and from occupation, we are the first to have women Islamic judges, after Sudan, even though women in other [Muslim] countries have everything," said Judge al-Faqeeh, pointing out that Jordanian law prohibits women from being Islamic judges

Women across the Muslim world consider the Palestinian women judges a milestone for women's rights. But some disagree..."

Polygamous husbands are perhaps the most difficult problem facing Judge Wuheidi in Hebron...

A key issue is child support. Judges usually ruled that a man must pay only 20-25 Jordanian dinars per child per month. "For me, I know you can't buy enough milk, diapers, clothes and medicine with 20 Jordanian dinars," Judge al-Faqeeh said, proceeding to tell the story of a divorced couple who had arrived the day before to discuss child support.

"The man said, 'I want to pay 200 shekels ($48 U.S.).' I said no. He said 250, I said no. He said 300, I said no. He said 400, I said no. He said, '500?' "

"I said, okay," she said, recalling the story with a laugh.

And even a laugh.