Gaza: Women news readers protest over beheading threat
A group of female TV news readers marched through Gaza City today to protest against a fundamentalist group's threat to behead them if they did not don modest Islamic dress.
Around 50 anchors and employees from government-run Palestine TV, mostly women wearing Muslim headscarves, marched from the station's offices in Gaza City toward the office of President Mahmoud Abbas to protest against the threat from a group calling itself the Swords of Truth, known for firebombing Internet cafes and record stores.
``We will cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and morals of this nation,'' the shadowy group said in a statement e-mailed to news agencies on Friday.
The statement accused the female news readers of being "without any... shame or morals".
Most of the 15 female news readers on Palestine TV wear headscarves, in accordance with Islamic tradition. But they also wear makeup and Western clothing, which extremists consider immodest.
