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Last update - 00:00 05/03/2008
Israeli Arab jailed for 16 years over 'honor killing' of his sister
By The Associated Press
Tags: Ramle, sentence 

A Tel Aviv court has sentenced an Israeli Arab man to 16 years in prison for involvement in the murder of his sister in an "honor killing," after several female relatives took the rare step of testifying against him, according to court documents.

Hamda Abu Ghanem was the ninth woman killed in the clan in recent years by men in the family. She was shot in January last year as she slept at her parents' home in a Muslim neighborhood of Ramle, a mixed Jewish-Arab town of 65,000 in central Israel.

Honor killings refer to murder of women by relatives for allegedly sullying the good name of the family, usually because of sexual misdeeds.
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Incriminating evidence against the brother, Kamil Abu Ghanem, included an account by an aunt who said she saw him enter the family home, heard shots, and then saw him flee the area. Gunpowder was also found on the clothes he wore that day, according to the documents.

The aunt's identity has not been made public over fear for her safety. Although she had given a statement to police, the aunt disappeared before she could be brought to testify.

In a plea bargain approved by the Tel Aviv District Court this week, Abu Ghanem was convicted of being an accessory to a murder, maintaining that he only let someone else into the building to kill his sister, said his lawyer, Giora Zilbershtein.

The mother and another sister were among those who testified against Abu Ghanem.

"I am the mother of a murdered woman and her murderer," the mother, Imameh, told an Arabic-language newspaper.

The clan is well known in Ramle. One cousin, Reem, was drugged by a brother and thrown in a well after refusing to marry the man her family chose, relatives said.

Reem's mother, Nayfa, was stabbed to death. Another woman slipped in the bathroom and died of her injuries. Others were gunned down or stabbed to death.

Activists for Arab women's rights accused Israeli police of not doing enough to stop the honor killings, saying they accepted the murders as a part of Muslim culture. Only Kamil Abu Ghanem and one other man have been convicted in the nine Abu Ghanem murders that have taken place over the past 11 years. Police say the clan destroyed evidence and lied to protect the killers.

Hamda's older sister, Sahar, is one of the relatives who have begun speaking out at the risk of her own life. She fled to a secret location with her six children days after Hamda died.

"I want to break this wall of silence, I want to stop honor killings," Sahar said by telephone a few months ago. "Hamda died for nothing. She was honorable. The people who killed her have no honor."

Related articles:
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  • Women's rights group: Arab 'honor' killings claim 9 victims in 2005
  • Hamas investigates suspected 'honor' killing of three sisters
  • Shfaram man sentenced to life in prison for 'honor killing' of niece
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      1.   HONOR!!!! killing... sounds like the IDF after bombing civilians 20:08  |  anti-racist 05/03/08
      2.   I see from the headline 20:12  |  Chris Linthwaite 05/03/08
      3.   That`s what is waiting humanity&much worse if surrenders to Islam 20:17  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/03/08
      4.   What an enlightened culture the Arabs have! 20:42  |  Sherman 05/03/08
      5.   May he rot in jail.. 20:49  |  Rami 05/03/08
      6.   Brave women 20:51  |  Aphemia 05/03/08
      7.   Where`s Natallie Durson? 20:53  |  Joe Sittizen 05/03/08
      8.   Not necessarily "sexual misdeeds" 20:53  |  Free Gilad Shalit 05/03/08
      9.   Sixteen years? 20:55  |  Colin Wright 05/03/08
      10.   Chris Linthwaite 20:58  |  Ehud 05/03/08
      11.   Is Chris Linthwaite motivated by anything other than racist hate? 20:59  |  Joe Sittizen 05/03/08
      12.   They not only murder, they destroy 21:22  |  MaryRose 05/03/08
      13.   Chris Linthwaite 21:25  |  marbpl 05/03/08
      14.   Death Penalty Should Have Been Imposed 21:31  |  D.Torres 05/03/08
      15.   Dishonourable murder 21:32  |  Joan Stuchner 05/03/08
      16.   anti-racist is a Male Chauvinist Pig supporter of barbaric custom 21:34  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/03/08
      17.   Yeah right Chris L., who else but Arabs kill 9 female in a family 21:41  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/03/08
      18.   Arabs 21:53  |  Malone 05/03/08
      19.   I guess its "Palestinian" "culture" - hey! boyz`ll be boyz 22:11  |  Moshe 05/03/08
      20.   Where is a photo of the victim? 22:16  |  Pamela 05/03/08
      21.   Viper I told you this about Arabs & you exclaimed that I am anima 22:42  |  Genuine Tosefta 05/03/08
      22.   Genuine Tosefts 23:04  |  The Gentile 05/03/08
      23.   Tosefta, is genuine racist and liar 23:24  |  anti-racist 05/03/08
      24.   Chris Linthwaite 23:33  |  Leila 05/03/08
      25.   Backward Mentality 23:42  |  Abu Musa 05/03/08
      26.   LOL Go ahead Chris 23:48  |  MaryRose 05/03/08
      27.   Chris L #2 you are quite confused about the headline 00:12  |  bbl 06/03/08
      28.   Anti-racist -- Take you own advice for heavens sake 00:20  |  bbl 06/03/08
      29.   JOE SITTIZEN, I will take Mandela`s words over yours any day 00:23  |  anti-racist 06/03/08
      30.   ABU MUSA, your real-typical Muslim Arab citizen...RESPECT. 01:01  |  anti-racist 06/03/08
      31.   Arabs have the whole `honor` thing backwards 01:10  |  Nechama 06/03/08
      32.   #2 Chris Linthwaite 01:50  |  Philo-Semite 06/03/08
      33.   Abu Musa I take off my hat to you but why it was not OK 02:21  |  Genuine Tosefta 06/03/08
      34.   ANTI-RACIST # 14 02:57  |  EGW 06/03/08
      35.   #1- You are crazy 18:28  |  Lobo 06/03/08
      36.   History issues 12:47  |  Usual citizen 28/05/08
      37.   Did WE accept the murders as a part of Muslim culture?? 11:04  |  Alain 17/06/08
      38.   balanced 08:21  |  balanced 12/01/09
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