Op-ed in PA daily: Palestinian “Martyrs” are “heroes,” not terrorists
Headline: "The massacre of the Martyrs will not pass in silence"
Excerpt of an op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist of the official PA daily
"In the framework of the ongoing campaign of the Committee for the Return of the Bodies and Bones of the Martyrs (Shahids) from the Numbered Cemeteries (i.e., Israeli cemeteries for terrorists and enemy soldiers), together with their families and relatives, the Israeli colonialism government has announced that it has succeeded in finding only two bodies out of 123 Martyrs. This means an additional barbaric massacre was committed against the Martyrs whose bodies are missing. This is something that cannot pass in silence or be allowed due to any feeble excuse…
The most basic rights of the members of the Martyrs' people and mainly our people are: first, to honor them through their burial with their names in graves befitting them and their heroic struggle; second, to document their heroic acts in the annals of the national liberation struggle; third, to pursue their Israeli murderers everywhere possible in order to try them as war criminals; fourth, to resist the Western capitalist blackmail that calls the heroes of the Palestinian people 'terrorists' - the same heroes who have sacrificed their souls in order to defend the freedom, independence, peace, self-determination, and the guarantee of the right of return of the members of their people."
The Cemeteries for Enemy Casualties are two burial sites maintained by the Israeli army for burying the bodies of enemy soldiers as well as terrorists. They are fenced and well-marked. Graves have markers instead of gravestones. Burial is temporary, on the assumption that the bodies will eventually be returned to their countries of origin. No ceremony is held. The bodies are buried in numbered caskets after their identities are documented.
Excerpt of an op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist of the official PA daily
"In the framework of the ongoing campaign of the Committee for the Return of the Bodies and Bones of the Martyrs (Shahids) from the Numbered Cemeteries (i.e., Israeli cemeteries for terrorists and enemy soldiers), together with their families and relatives, the Israeli colonialism government has announced that it has succeeded in finding only two bodies out of 123 Martyrs. This means an additional barbaric massacre was committed against the Martyrs whose bodies are missing. This is something that cannot pass in silence or be allowed due to any feeble excuse…
The most basic rights of the members of the Martyrs' people and mainly our people are: first, to honor them through their burial with their names in graves befitting them and their heroic struggle; second, to document their heroic acts in the annals of the national liberation struggle; third, to pursue their Israeli murderers everywhere possible in order to try them as war criminals; fourth, to resist the Western capitalist blackmail that calls the heroes of the Palestinian people 'terrorists' - the same heroes who have sacrificed their souls in order to defend the freedom, independence, peace, self-determination, and the guarantee of the right of return of the members of their people."
The Cemeteries for Enemy Casualties are two burial sites maintained by the Israeli army for burying the bodies of enemy soldiers as well as terrorists. They are fenced and well-marked. Graves have markers instead of gravestones. Burial is temporary, on the assumption that the bodies will eventually be returned to their countries of origin. No ceremony is held. The bodies are buried in numbered caskets after their identities are documented.