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PA daily op-ed proud of terrorist who planned attack killing 15, compares him to Nelson Mandela

Excerpt of op-ed by Issa Abd Al-Hafiz

Headline: “Ahmad Jabarah – Abu Sukkar
      “On July 17, 2013, three separate news items were published about two men who are separated by a whole continent, but who are connected by virtue of the revolution and struggle for freedom, democracy, and equality, and by virtue of their imprisonment and its long term. The first is Nelson Mandela (black South African who fought the South African apartheid regime and later became first black president, see below –Ed.) who was lying on his deathbed as he celebrated his 95th birthday. The second is Ahmad Jabarah) Abu Sukkar( (i.e., terrorist who planned a terror attack, 15 killed, over 60 wounded)… On the day he [Abu Sukkar] died, the world celebrated the 95th birthday of Mandela. Nelson was released after 27 years in the prisons of the state of discrimination and racism [South Africa], which heralded the end of this dark and shameful period in the history of mankind. Abu Sukkar sat in the occupation’s prisons during the same period… After winning their freedom, the two of them lived a life rich in effective struggle and constant presence [in the struggle]. Two similar paths, two different peoples, on two continents… Abu Sukkar died standing tall, just like the trees of Palestine that shaded his grave. His death brings to all of us a sense of pride in belonging to a people that has brought forth such people as Abu Sukkar from its midst.”

Ahmad Jabarah Abu Sukkar - planned a bombing attack in 1975 in which a refrigerator filled with explosives was detonated in Jerusalem. 15 people were killed and over 60 people were wounded. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, but was released from prison after 28 years as part of a goodwill gesture from Israel to the PA in 2003. He was a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and an ad visor to Arafat on prisoners' affairs. He died of a heart attack in 2013 in the PA.

Nelson Mandela - A South African revolutionary against apartheid who spent 27 years in prison for organizing acts of sabotage against the apartheid government. After an international campaign for his release, Mandela was freed in 1990. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and became South Africa's first black president a year later.

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