Police have not found her body, but they are convinced that Dalia Abu-Ghanem, an Israeli Arab girl who went missing two weeks ago, is the ninth woman in her family to have fallen victim to an ‘honour killing’. The murders have all taken place in the last

Dalia, aged 16, lost her mother, Na’ifa, to a killing aimed at preserving the ‘good name’ of the family eight years ago. A sister, Shirihan, was murdered two years ago. Their murderers are still at large but three of the men in the clan have been convicted for murdering two other close relatives.

An arrest has also been made in Dalia’s case – that of her brother, Mahmoud, 28. Dalia’s body has not been found but police were informed by a family member that she was forcibly removed from her home in the town of Ramle two weeks ago and almost certainly murdered.

Dalia, a pretty young woman, was forced to marry at the age of 14, and gave birth to a baby three months ago. She spent time in a shelter for battered women after being assaulted by family members. She was also threatened with murder after being accused of behaviour that compromised the ‘honour’ of the family. Her husband is now in prison. As with other battered women, Dalia chose to return to her neighbourhood despite the threats.

Following the last ‘honour killing’ two years ago, of Hamda Abu Ghanem, the women of the clan broke with tradition by telling police all they knew. “It was a woman’s revolt against the men in the family,” said Chief Inspector Haim Shreibhand, who was in charge of the investigation. “They decided to put an end to the bloody circle of silence.”

Hamda's brother, Rashad Abu-Ghanem, 30, was arrested for her murder. Hamda had spent years in a shelter, hiding from her brother. Her ‘crime’, police said, was apparently having numerous telephone conversations with unknown parties and having been seen once talking to a male cousin without a chaperone. After moving back to her parents’ house in Ramle, she complained to police several times about beatings from Rashad.

The day of the murder, the women relatives testified, Rashad entered their parents’ home when Hamda was alone, lying in bed. Police said she probably knew she was about to die. Rashad entered her room with a loaded 9-mm handgun and shot her nine times. His cousin Mahmoud was also arrested but was released for lack of sufficient evidence. He is the man who has now been arrested for the murder of his sister, Dalia.

Despite the praise heaped by police on the Abu-Ghanem women two years after their testimony against Rashad, an Arab woman activist close to the situation expressed fear at the time for their safety. “I support these brave women,” said Aida Touma-Suleiman, director of Women Against Violence, “but they have sentenced themselves to death.”

Abraham Rabinovich for RT from Jerusalem