PLO glorifies Saddam Hussein as “the noble man of the [Arab] nation”
Headline: “PLO: Saddam Hussein’s positions in favor of the Palestinian cause will enter history”
“Director-General of Refugee Camps at the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs Adel Mansour… emphasized that [former Iraqi President] Martyr Saddam Hussein’s positions supporting the Palestinian cause, the refugees, and the holy sites will enter history through the widest gates…
Adel Mansour said this in a speech he gave on behalf of the PLO, as the representative of [PLO Executive Committee member and PLO] Department of Refugee Affairs Head Ahmad Abu Houli. This was during the ceremony for the 13th anniversary of the death as a Martyr of pan-Arab leader Saddam Hussein, which was held by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath party and the Arab Liberation Front at Dream [Palace] Hall in western Khan Yunis…
In his speech he noted Martyr Saddam’s virtues, and explained his awe-inspiring positions on everything regarding support for the Palestinian refugees’ affairs. He also explained that [Saddam] was the man of Arab nationalism, the noble man of the [Arab] nation, and its knight, who stood before the noose with the utmost courage and heroism while calling: ‘Long live free and Arab Palestine.’ …
Mansour noted that Palestine was a part of Iraqi President Martyr Saddam Hussein, and that he was a part of it…
He emphasized [Saddam’s] support for the families of the prisoners, the Martyrs, and the wounded, and the fact that he granted the Palestinian Martyrs the same rights granted to the Iraqi Martyrs. Mansour noted that Saddam paid the price of his pan-Arab position without relinquishing his support for Palestine one iota, ‘even while he waited for the noose.’”
The article includes a picture of Director-General of Refugee Camps at the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs Adel Mansour speaking at the event. Mansour is speaking at a podium with a Palestinian flag on it; next to it a young girl is holding a poster with a picture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and under it the words: “Thanks to the path of Martyrdom we will triumph.”
Text under picture: “Director-General of Refugee Camps at the PLO Department of Refugee Affairs Adel Mansour”
A picture posted on Jan. 12, 2020, on the Facebook page of Dream Palace Hall in Khan Yunis where the event was held shows a large poster with pictures of former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and under them the text: “Thanks to the path of Martyrdom we will triumph.”
Saddam Hussein - former President of Iraq, who was convicted by an Iraqi court and executed in 2006 for ordering the Dujail massacre in Iraq in which 148 people were murdered. In order to expedite his execution, it was decided not to prosecute him for other crimes he committed.