One day in mid-January, Hamda Abu-Ghanem, 19, was found lying in her bed in her home in Ramle, her body riddled with bullets. She was the eighth woman in her family to be killed in the past six years, and this time the other women in the family decided to break their silence. One after the other, they came to the police station, in order to read to the investigators the writing on the wall. Most of them couldn't say for certain just who had killed Hamda, but unlike previous times, when they'd kept quiet, this time they told the detectives what it was like to live with the fear that they would be next in line, a fear that had stalked Hamda as well.

"The revolt of the Abu-Ghanem women," the investigators called it. Finally, after years of investigations that never led anywhere, they'd be able to convict the guilty parties - or so they thought. They built the case primarily around the testimony of one witness, Y., a relative who saw Hamda's brother fleeing the scene of the crime and who had agreed to testify about it, though not without great hesitation. At the end of February, a month and a half after giving her testimony - and after telling police "I'm next in line" - she disappeared.

Very few of the investigators who dealt with the case still hold out any hope that Y. simply "regretted what she'd done and decided to run off." Most believe that she was right when she told them that if it became known that she told the police all she knew about her cousin's murder, the killers would get to her, too. Whatever the case, the police have lost their key witness, and as more time passes, the realization is sinking in that they may also have to search for the body of Y. Abu-Ghanem, and perhaps add a ninth murder victim to the family statistics.

	Advertisement

Last Thursday, Kamal Rashad Abu-Ghanem, who is accused of shooting his sister Hamda to death, was brought to Tel Aviv District Court. The district attorney informed the judges that the main witness in the murder case, Y., had disappeared and asked that the other women who'd consented to testify be permitted to do so as soon as possible, out of fear for their lives. Abu-Ghanem's lawyer, Giora Zilberstein, hastened to declare that without the key witness, the state would have to acquit his client. The prosecutor has two weeks left in which to build a case on the basis of the testimonies of the other women from the family; otherwise, it will have to inform the court that it cannot proceed with the trial.

The key testimony comes from four women: Y., who was an eyewitness, the only one to notice the suspects both before and after the murder, and another three young women from the family. B. was the first to speak to the police. She told them what she heard from her cousin Y. about what happened at the doorway to Hamda's house at the time of the murder. And afterward she also convinced the frightened Y. to go and talk to the police. Then S., Hamda's sister, also came, as did G., another sister who lives in an undisclosed location. The investigators were surprised to find that Hamda's mother, too, who is also the mother of the murder suspect, agreed to answer their questions, and even cooperated in a tough confrontation with her son.

'Hamda is going to die'

From the conversation transcribed by a police investigator after he met with Y:

Investigator A.: "Tell me the whole thing from the beginning ... What happened?"

Y.: "Nothing happened. I'm now, my head is about to explode, you ..."

Investigator B.: "I know, so is ours ..."

Y.: "You're pressuring me, too ..."

Investigator B.: "No, we're not pressuring you, dear, we're with you."

Y.: "I can't say anything ... Who did you arrest, only Kamal?"

Investigator B.: "We're still investigating."

Y.: "Still investigating, why haven't you arrested M. yet, before he runs away on you?"

Investigator B.: "There's nowhere to run ... They'll all be in our hands in the end, if we want someone, he won't be able to do anything about it ... Okay, so you're the cousin of - what is her name?"

Y.: "Hamda."

Investigator B.: "Hamda. And you're also a good friend of hers, right? You all knew that there was trouble, that she was going to be killed?"

Y.: "No ..."

Investigator B.: "We knew ..."

Y.: "No, no, don't write that, I don't want trouble."

Investigator B.: "What you want, I'll write. What - that you knew they'd kill her, the whole world here knew that, too, what's the trouble? What trouble?"

Y.: "No, don't write that, I don't want problems. I'll tell you, but what I told about M. and about T. - don't tell anyone."

Investigator B.: "Of course. All the testimony here, what you say now, will be kept confidential. For your life, okay?"

Y.: "Okay."

Investigator B.: "So speak with me freely ... You say, 'We knew.'"

Y.: "I, when I saw M. and G. and Kamal sitting together, I knew that Hamda was going to die ... I'm so stupid, such an idiot ... Why didn't I go to her, why didn't I tell her?"

Investigator B.: "They would have killed you, too."

Y.: "Yes, that's the reason."

Investigator B.: "Don't feel bad about it."

Y.: "I heard ... that they shot. I went away and came back again, I thought that if I go now and he comes down just then, he'll ... kill me, too."

Investigator B.: "But you saw someone go upstairs?"

Y.: "Going down, not up ... I think that it was G., or ..."

Investigator B.: "So it won't be on your conscience that you didn't tell me now, like when you didn't go to help her - whom did you see coming down from the house after the gunshots?"

(Y. vacillates between the two, Kamal and G., who were dressed similarly, and says she isn't certain which one of them came down the steps after the shooting.)

Investigator B.: "You knew that they were going to kill Hamda?"

Y.: "Yes, I wanted to go to the Kupat Holim [medical clinic] ... Then my brother asked me which way I was going, like was I going past the house of our uncle Amir [Hamda's father]. He said to me, 'Why don't you go by the store?' And I told him, 'No, I don't like to go that way, there are guys there and I don't want to.' That, that's what delayed them by half an hour from doing it [committing the murder]. He told me to go and come back quickly and I came back and then he said to me ... Go upstairs in the house and don't come down ... I don't want you to write that."

Investigator B.: "We'll keep all of this confidential ... It's your life, we'll watch out for you."

Y.: "But they'll know that I ..."

Investigator B.: "They won't know."

Y.: "They will know because I was the only one ..."

Investigator B.: "We're just, nothing is going to be done with this now, don't worry."

Y.: "Because only I was there ... They saw me."

Investigator A.: "You saw their faces?"

Y.: "When they sat downstairs, yes."

Investigator B.: "And a few minutes later there was the shooting there?"

Y.: "Yes, right when I came back from the Kupat Holim."

Investigator B.: "She says that she saw the person when he came down after the shooting. Was he wearing a cap or a hood?"

Y.: "I don't know ... I didn't see a face. What do you want, to drive me mad?"

Investigator B.: "I have to know, dear. It's the most important detail. Tell me the truth."

Y. (Evades giving an answer, says she's not sure that she saw the killer's face): "It all happened in 10 minutes. I went to the Kupat Holim, there was no doctor there, I came back. I went up to my room and sat on the bed. I just sat. I heard the shots. I said, 'Hamda has been killed,' without seeing anything."

Investigator B.: "You went up to the house? You saw her?"

Y.: "Yes, I went up to the house."

Investigator B.: "And when you went up there, what did you see?"

Y.: "Hamda ... the smell of the ... on the ... bullets, the smell of this gun, a very strong smell because I know they did it ... Leave me alone, I don't want to be killed, too, because of ..."

Investigator B.: "You won't be killed because of this."

Y.: "That's what you say. It's my turn now."

Investigator B.: "You don't want to help us?"

Y.: "I don't know anything ... Leave me, my mother, now she's talking about everything ... She won't stay silent about this."

Investigator B.: "What will that help? Don't worry ... We'll protect you."

Y.: "But only I saw all this."

Investigator B.: "You don't trust me?"

Y.: "I don't trust the police. I don't trust anyone in Ramle either ... Because a bunch of girls were killed and no one ..."

Investigator B.: "How are we to blame? Did anyone come and say something afterward? Like now that you're clamming up ... Can I do anything?"

Y.: "No, no ... I'll tell you this. Hamda was at a psychologist's, you know ... Why didn't you keep her there? Yesterday she even said to me, 'I want to leave.'"

Investigator B.: "What can I do, she didn't want it. You know how much we wanted to help her? You don't know how many days we sat over this ... She thought that someone would kill her? Why?"

Y.: "Why? Because ... a month ago ... Hamda used to talk with boys downstairs. It was nothing, she didn't have any intentions toward them like they think, it was just in fun, and then they came and told our family about it ... Then it was like ... They knew that they're not keeping quiet about it."

Investigator B.: "Did she have a diary?"

Y.: "Yes ... I read it now. It's about death, about family honor, about how she's going to die."

Investigator B.: "Why?"

Y.: "I don't know. There was gossip ... Like people were saying that she was going to die because of family honor and it ... She told me, 'Read it and you'll know everything ...' and she also said to me ... I want to do a book, to write about the girls and about the killing, why do they kill them, why do they say it's family honor ..."

Investigator B.: "Was she afraid?"

Y.: "She was scared of everyone who came over. Not long ago I told her, 'Don't open the door, don't stay at home alone.'"

Investigator B.: "She lived alone there upstairs?"

Y.: "No, but they'd leave her alone. Her mother would go to work and tell her not to open the door and to be careful."

Investigator B.: "Y., for your honor, tell us who came down the stairs."

Y.: "I've still got honor? I've got nothing left ... My head is bursting."

Investigator A.: "How old are you?"

Y.: "20."

Investigator A.: "Do you want to leave home?"

Y.: "At home is fine, but ... M. threatened, he told P., he told Hamda and about M. and about N., he said, 'Your day is near.'"

Investigator B.: "Did he say the same thing to you?"

Y.: "Yes, in the morning. And P. says to me about it ... 'What are we waiting here for? Let's leave.'"

Investigator A.: "What are you waiting for, for another woman to die?"

Y.: "But no one does anything ... These three are destroying our family. They're the ones behind ..."

Investigator A.: "You were born into the Abu-Ghanem family, you're in danger ... There must be an end to this. What is this? You have a problem with someone so you wipe him out?"

Investigator B.: "What's this, are they animals? ... It disgusts us the way that you women are treated ... You're a nice girl. Why do you deserve this, to live in fear and like a maidservant? We're in the 20th century now. Don't keep quiet. I'll help you, all the Abu-Ghanem girls ..."

Y.: "You'll take all the Abu-Ghanem girls ... That's a promise?"

Investigator A.: "Yes, it's a promise."

Y.: "Yallah, bring them all in now. I'll give you names ..." (The police officers suggest that Y. and her family go to a hiding place. Y. rejects the suggestion).

Another female relative, S., is brought into the room and she tells the investigators:

"If they want, then they do it, the men. They screw us and then they kill us. We get it from both sides ... If the girl didn't do it with him then - the man says angrily - why was she so stubborn, and if she does, then she's a whore."

Investigator: "So what do you want to say here? Today's the day, we're finishing with this story."

S.: "I'm telling you that Y. and I are ready to do everything so that you'll take all the men in our family and put them in jail ... Go now to the neighborhood and take all the girls."

'They all have illegal weapons'

From B.'s testimony

"The whole family wanted to hurt Hamda. They told us not to talk to her or to visit her. The family cut off contact with Hamda. I talked with her about leaving the village and going to a shelter, but she didn't want to. She was afraid because of the family. Lately, I would see her from the window and say hello to her. The last time she left the house was on the last holiday, three months ago. This morning I called my younger brother and he told me that Hamda died. He said they killed her with a gun."

Investigator: "After you heard, what did you do?"

B.: "I didn't do anything. I got a phone call from my cousin, Y., who's 20 and lives in Jawarish next to Hamda. She said that she was at the police station in Ramle and that I should come."

Investigator: "What did Y. talk to you about?"

B.: "About she and I wanting to go to a shelter ... It's not enough that our cousin was killed?"

Investigator: "Did Y. tell you exactly what happened with Hamda?"

B.: "She told me that she heard gunshots from Hamda's house and that she went outside. She saw Hamda on the floor inside her house. She said that she saw her brother Kamal coming down the stairs after the shooting, and that he had a hat on ..."

Investigator: "Did you hear of anyone from the family that wanted to hurt Hamda?"

B.: "There were rumors that they wanted to kill Hamda and now they've done it ... They all have illegal weapons. I also told the police where they hide it and a lot of times the police caught it."

Investigator: "When you were sitting in the interrogation room alone with Y., what did she tell you?"

B.: "That she's afraid to talk, but she saw and she's sure that it was Kamal and G. who killed her ... This morning my husband and I were having an argument. Mahmoud, my brother, intervened. I told him not to interfere, I said, 'If I get divorced what will you do to me?' He said ... that my day was near and that I would die. He also said that my day and Hamda's and Y.'s and N's was near, and that he won't let us rest. I feel that my life is in danger, along with Y. and N."

'People knew and didn't do anything'

From G.'s testimony

"There was an incident when Hamda was beaten by Kamal. I happened to be at the house and I asked him to stop. G. told Kamal that Hamda took a phone call from our female neighbor and that she (the neighbor) had called her cousin and wanted to introduce him to her, and then Kamal beat Hamda ... He beat me, too, one day when I came home from school on foot and not by bus. People told Kamal that I walked because I wanted to see boys ... One time two years ago I was sleeping on the floor and Hamda was sleeping in the bed. And then someone came in to kill me, he thought that I was Hamda ... He came in for a second and disappeared. I lifted the blanket and he saw that I was awake and ran away, and that's a sign that he meant to kill Hamda and not me. A lot of people knew about what happened and didn't do anything."

'I wonder when it'll be our turn"

From the testimony of Imama Abu-Ghanem, the mother of Hamda and Kamal Rashad Abu-Ghanem

"Hamda was in a shelter at age 17 and a half, for a month. After that she was with a relative in the North for almost a month, after that she was in the Tzofiya residence [for at-risk girls] for four months ... There was a court hearing and Hamda said she wanted to return home to be with her mother. In the last year she became religious, she dressed that way and prayed."

Investigator: "In the past year, what did Hamda do?"

Imama: "Nothing. She was just at home. She didn't have a choice."

Investigator: "Why didn't she have a choice?"

Imama: "Her brother wouldn't let her go out. When she was with me, too, he would ask a lot of questions - 'Where are you going?' And I'd say: 'to an appointment at the Kupat Holim.' I'd lie in order to take her behind his back."

Investigator: "Did Hamda keep a personal diary?"

Imama: "Hamda wrote in Arabic all kinds of poems and about all that was hurting her and also just to pass the time. Just a few days ago, Hamda spoke with her sister S., and told her that she wanted to publish a book about her life, about all she suffered ... that they wouldn't let her go out, that they kept her shut inside four walls like in a prison ... Whatever Hamda wanted to do, Kamal would tell her no. She wanted to study at the community center, he told her no. He wanted her to just stay home."

'I won't let you off'

From the confrontation staged by police between Imama and her son Kamal

Imama: "Kamal, listen, even if the government lets you off, I won't. Kamal, no one can enter our house, except with your say-so ..."

Kamal: "Halas [enough]. Go home."

Imama: "Go find yourself a mother, Kamal. In another week you'll come back and who will take you in, Kamal? They told me in the police once, 'You leave your girls in shelters.' Because of one word, Hamda slept for 30 days in a shelter and you thought that she's a bitch. I'm not afraid of the government, of God or of you ..."

Kamal: "Go home."

Imama: "This girl is not a slut, Kamal. You know that she's an angel from Paradise ... You were wrong about Hamda ... Your cousins, when people come to console them about Hamda, they say that she's just a young chick that died ... You took my life ... You'll pay a price, they really got you in trouble ... That's it, I buried you with Hamda ... Why didn't you count to 10, why?"

Kamal: "Go home."