Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas honors a Palestinian terrorist convicted of murdering 15 Israelis and Americans.
Palestinian Media Watch has reported that the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, has honored Palestinian terrorist Ahmad Abu Sukkar, who murdered 15 Israelis and Americans, and wounded 77 others in the Zion Square Refrigerator Bombing on July 4, 1975. Among the dead were American citizen Rivka Ben-Yitzhak and husband Michael, who left behind two small children. Daoud Khoury, an Arab accountant at the King David Hotel, was also murdered.
Abu Sukkar was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for his role in the terror attack, yet was released after 27-years as a good will gesture in anticipation of the Aqaba Summit. Shortly after his release, Abu Sukkar called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in the midst of a rally in Bethlehem. Former Palestinian President Yassir Arafat also appointed him to head Palestinian prisoner affairs upon his release. The PA also gave Abu Sukkar an official military funeral after he died of a heart attack at age 78. His coffin was draped in a Palestinian flag and brought from the hospital to the center of Ramallah in a military vehicle. From there, his remains were brought to his hometown in Turmas Aiya, north of Ramallah.
In a eulogy, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated, “’His pure soul passed on to the kingdom of Heaven during these blessed days in this honored month [Ramadan] after a journey of struggle full of exceptional giving and devoted activity for Palestine and for the freedom and honor of our people … With the death of this fighter, Palestine and its people have lost a righteous son and loyal fighter, devoted wholeheartedly to protecting our people’s rights. He dedicated most of his life to this people’s independence and paid with many years of his life in the occupation’s prisons so that the dawn of freedom will break over the pure land of Palestine.”
Abbas was not the only Palestinian Authority official to praise Abu Sukkar and his terrorist activities. Secretary General of the Presidential Office Tayeb Abd Al Rahim laid a wreath on Abu Sukkar’s coffin in Abbas’s name and stated, “We miss this man. He will remain in our minds and veins. His memory and his good and wonderful deeds for this nation and for this nation’s cause will always remain an example for us to emulate.”
Deputy Secretary General of the Fatah Movement Jibril Rajoub, who in the past stated that he supports dropping nuclear bombs on Israel and that all of Israel is occupied Palestine, added that he views Abu Sukkar as a “tough patriotic fighter” and “the caring father of generations of struggle. Before his pure soul, we emphasize our adherence to the principles and goals he dedicated his long life to protect.”
“Before Allah and our magnificent nation, we commit to continue his way of struggle, the way of the esteemed Martyrs (Shahids), the way of the illustrious people,” Jabril concluded, comparing Abu Sukkar to the late Yasser Arafat “and the esteemed Martyrs who are the beacon of the homeland and nation and the banners of the great victory on the gates of our capital Jerusalem and [on] the [gates] of the first fathers’ cities, from the river to the sea, from the date trees of Gaza to the foot of the Galilee mountains.”
By Rachel Avraham, staff writer for United With Israel
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