Threat to Behead Gaza Newscasters

Anchorwomen on Palestinian television stations have just received an overt death threat from a radical group of Muslim fundos, who style themselves the "Swords of Truth". While most of the 15 women broadcasters wear headscarves, the religious extremists object to their on-camera makeup and unveiling their faces to the public. Their grisly message warned that the throats of immodest women "would be slit vein to vein".
The same group has disfigured Gazan women in western dress by dousing them with acid and have blown up over three dozen internet cafes, pool halls, or music shops as well as two progressive schools.
It is a nasty syndrome of Gaza's predicament, walled off from the outside world, with tensions festering and no release in sight. Fanatical beliefs tend to thrive in a cramped and stagnant pool, and these Taliban-esque groups have been on the rise for the past two years.
Meanwhile, the show biz press reports that Helen Mirren, the Academy award winning actress, has agreed to play the role of a Jewish woman in Gaza whose daughter is slain after she dates a Palestinian. No way will the shooting for this feature film be done inside the Gaza Strip. Only the more prosaic shoots, with bullets and grenades, are tolerated there, it seems.
On Sunday, some 50 women journalists defied the threats to stage a protest march in the steets of Gaza City, according to Haaretz. Most wore scarves, but few donned the complete hijab with black cloak and veil as demanded by the Swords of Truth faction.

"Shame on you," said Sally Abed, a Palestinian news anchor, addressing the Islamist group. "The people working in this institution are your people - if it's not your sister, it's your mother."

The station employs 300 women. On Monday, more women protesters took to the streets of Gaza.