PA daily op-ed praises and glorifies terrorist murderer
Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily
Headline: “The age of honor (“age” is “Omar” in Arabic, referencing terrorist Omar Abu Laila who murdered 2, and “honor” is “Al-Karameh,” referencing the Karameh battle; see notes below –Ed.)”
“The spirit of young Martyr (Shahid) Omar Abu Laila (i.e., terrorist, murdered 2) and his picture of heroism took us to places of the two meanings (refers to play on words in headline –Ed.), since we saw in the handsome and smiling youth Omar a quality example of the heroic Palestinian creativity, in a picture that embodied will and faith overcoming the weapon that is borne on chains and worthless swells of air. After approximately half a century since the eternal Karameh battle (see note below –Ed.), in which the self-sacrificing fighters (Fedayeen) participated 51 years ago on March 21, 1968… Omar came to prove to us that the path of resolve, stability, and sacrifice for the idea, the land, the people, and the cause at the right time and place is a beam of light that will not be extinguished and will not fade, as long as there are Palestinians who can embody the true meaning of sacrifice.
The events of the new battle of Karameh, into which young Omar decided to enter, are similar to the events of the battle of Karameh that his self-sacrificing fighter forefathers decided to enter 51 years ago…
Omar’s knife is similar to the weapons that the self-sacrificing fighters collected from the storehouses of the defeated official armies and some old weapons whose rust had been removed.But Omar’s will and the spirit of heroism and sacrifice that he embodied in entering the colonialist settlement of Ariel (sic., the attack took place at Ariel Junction), which was established on the land of Salfit in his homeland of Palestine, are an outcome of the spirit of heroism and sacrifice that Fatah’s Palestinian self-sacrificing fighters embodied in the Jordanian village of Al-Karameh, and there is no difference since this is Arab land and this is Arab land, and both are worthy of sacrifice…
However, what is the common ground between the situation of official Arab defeatism before the Karameh battle and the situation of defeat that was forced on the Palestinian people, and why is it fitting for us to say that Omar gave us honor (“Karameh” in Arabic –Ed.) and affixed a sun for us that will give us a light of hope, and penetrate our darkest days?
Omar, with his honor, youth, faith, will, and sincere affiliation, brought resistance and a self-sacrificing battle that have changed the equation and the outlook regarding the legitimacy of the struggle and the resistance in the Palestinian lexicon!”
Omar Abu Laila – 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist who stabbed and murdered Israeli soldier Gal Keidan, and shot and murdered Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, a father of 12, at Ariel Junction on March 17, 2019. Abu Laila was killed on March 19, 2019, during an exchange of gunfire with Israeli soldiers who attempted to arrest him.
The Karameh battle, or Al-Karameh - On March 21, 1968, Israeli army forces attacked the town of Karameh in Jordan, where Fatah terrorists had been launching attacks on Israel. Although Israel prevailed militarily, Arafat used the event for propaganda purposes, declaring the battle a great victory that erased the disgrace of the 1967 Six Day War defeat.