2 Palestinian women become judges in Islamic court

[oberliner]

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — 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 young 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.

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