Brother shoots sister in suspected ‘honor killing’ attempt

A 24-year-old resident of Kfar Naura shot his sister, seriously wounding her, in a suspected ‘honor killing’ late Monday night.

Afula police received a call around midnight reporting gunfire in the Israeli-Arab village. Magen David Adom paramedics who reached the house found the sister, 20, seriously wounded and took her to Haemek hospital in Afula.

A short while after, the brother turned himself in to police, admitting he was responsible for the shooting. He maintained that his divorced sister was befriending men, and so he therefore shot her, thinking he killed her.

Last week, Rashad Abu-Ganem was found guilty just of the involvement in the murder of his sister in the context of ‘honor killing,’ after he reached a plea bargain deal with prosecutors. In the past six years, eight women from the Abu-Ganem family were murdered, all in the context of ‘honor killings.’

What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.
wants to end the relationship.
was the victim of rape or sexual assault.
was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.