Released Israeli-Arab terrorist murderer received like a celeb by PA, expresses contempt for Israeli citizenship, calls for kidnappings
Released Israeli Arab terrorist murderer Karim Younes –
- Implicitly calls for kidnappings to release terrorists:
“In the past, [Palestinian] prisoners weren’t [in prison for long]… Every three or four years there was an exchange deal, and therefore the prisoners always had hope. Today our people and our factions must not let despair and frustration enter the souls of [the prisoners]” - Insults his “racist” Israeli citizenship: “The most hated… No one is sorry [to lose it]”
- Asserts: “All of Palestine is ours”
- Is proud of murder: “I’m proud I was among those who gave and sacrificed for Palestine”
PA hails him as a hero:
- Fatah Deputy Chairman on released murderer: “A symbol of steadfastness, endurance, and defiance”
- PA TV: Released terrorist murderer is a “man of bravery, one of the mountains of Palestine, a hero”
- PA Chairman Abbas repeats unwavering support for terrorists:
“All the prisoners are before our eyes. They are all our brothers, and their cause is sacred for us all…They are all fighters who carried out the most prominent forms of struggle for our people” - Fatah official upon release of terrorist murderer: “Long live Palestine, from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea”
Following his release from prison, Israeli Arab terrorist murderer Karim Younes has been treated by the PA and Fatah as a celebrity. Younes himself has made a number of striking statements – he has not only stressed his contempt for his Israeli citizenship, but also implicitly called for kidnapping Israelis to use them as bargaining chips to release imprisoned terrorists in exchange deals.
The following are examples of Younes’ own statements and expressions of praise for him made by PA and Fatah officials:
Released murderer Karim Younes implicitly calls for kidnappings to release terrorists
Upon his release from prison after 40 years, terrorist murderer Younes implicitly encouraged the Palestinian “people and factions” to kidnap Israelis to bring about exchange deals and the release of prisoners:
Terrorist Karim Younes: “In the past, [Palestinian] prisoners weren’t [in prison for long]. The time between one [prisoner] exchange deal and the next was no more than five or six years. Every three or four years there was an exchange deal, and therefore the prisoners always had hope. Today our people and our factions must not let despair and frustration enter the souls of [the prisoners]. They must not feel that they are paying a price to no avail, in the shadow of the absence of a future for them and for all our people.”
[Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, Jan. 5, 2023]
Released Israeli-Arab terrorist murderer insults his “racist” Israeli citizenship: “The most hated… No one is sorry [to lose it]”
Terrorist murderer Younes’ comment on Israel considering revoking his Israeli citizenship was one of contempt:
Terrorist murderer Karim Younes: Everyone knows that the Israeli citizenship - and the Israeli passport - is the most hated passport in the world. This is a citizenship that doesn’t venerate the one holding it. It is known that it is a racist citizenship. No one is sorry about [losing] this citizenship. However, we will continue to insist on remaining in our lands, in our homes, on our land, and in our cities and villages. This is what we have learned, and this will always be our goal… We are Palestinians before anything else. The Israeli identity card and Israeli passport were forced upon us. No one is sorry about [losing] the Israeli passport. Let them do whatever they want.”
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Jan. 5, 2023]
Released Israeli-Arab terrorist murderer: “I’m proud I was among those who gave and sacrificed for Palestine”
No remorse or regret has been expressed by Karim Younes over his and his cousin’s murder of Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg in 1980. On the contrary, Karim Younes stressed that he is “proud”:
Terrorist murderer Karim Younes: “I’m proud I was among those who gave and sacrificed for Palestine, and we were prepared to sacrifice more for the freedom of Palestine. Forty years passed like nothing, because we consider them as one of the stations of the struggle.”
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Jan. 8, 2023]
Released Israeli-Arab terrorist murderer: “All of Palestine is ours”
Similarly, Younes rejected Israel's right to exist, stating that “all of Palestine is ours”:
Terrorist murderer Karim Younes: “We are continuing on our path despite the coercion and Judaization, despite the policy of expulsion and ethnic cleansing. We are continuing. We will extricate our rights in full, and we will say once again that all of Palestine is ours.”
[Official PA TV News, Jan. 7, 2023]
The PA hails a hero
Numerous PA/PLO/Fatah officials met with and congratulated murderer Younes upon his release, referring to him as “a hero” and “a heroic commander.” The following are some examples:
As murderer Younes himself stressed that Israel has no right to exist because “all of Palestine is ours,” a Fatah official utilized the release of murderer Younes to stress the same message, stating that “Palestine” stretches “from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea”:
Fatah Jerusalem Branch Secretary Shadi Mattour: “Prisons and cells have turned us into revolutionaries. Freedom, freedom to the heroes of freedom. Long live, long live Palestine, from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea. We are the giants of endurance, and Karim [Younes] is our commander.”
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Jan. 6, 2023]
In an unusual break with practice, the official PA daily published on its front page this cartoon of Karim Younes on the day of his release under the headline:
“Today [Jan. 5, 2023] Karim Younes will breathe freedom after 40 years in captivity”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 5, 2023]
The cartoon shows terrorist Karim Younes in a prisoner’s uniform breaking out of the roof of a prison, while holding a glowing orb that apparently is meant to be the sun.
In a phone call congratulating Younes upon his release, PA Chairman Abbas repeated his admiration and unwavering support for terrorists and murderers and his wish to “get rid of” Israel:
“The [PA] president said: ‘All the prisoners are before our eyes. They are all our brothers, and their cause is sacred for us all. We will not relinquish and will not agree to any concession regarding our prisoner brothers, whether they have served 40 years or 40 seconds in the occupation’s prisons. They are all fighters who carried out the most prominent forms of struggle for our people.’
He added: ‘We hope to see you very soon in high morale in order to continue this struggle that you began 40 years ago. We will also continue to take action for the freedom of the prisoners and the homeland, and in order to get rid of the occupation and establish our independent state whose capital is Jerusalem.’
The president said: ‘We look forward to the release of brother Marwan Barghouti (i.e., terrorist, orchestrated three attacks in which 5 were murdered) soon, and also of Maher Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with Karim Younes), so that we will celebrate their freedom and empty all the prisons, Allah willing.’”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 6, 2023]
PA PM Muhammad Shtayyeh also expressed happiness and pride in Younes:
Posted text: “O Karim Younes, you came out from the belly of the whale and the darkness of the [prison] cells to the sun of Palestine, and soon to the freedom of the homeland, as our freedom is the freedom of Palestine.
The joy that you cause us is great, and the pride that your steadfastness causes us is even greater. We wish for the rest of your [prisoner] brothers that you will all meet in liberated Jerusalem.”
[PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, Facebook page, Jan. 5, 2023]
Posting the same photo of Younes and words of praise, Abbas’ advisor and PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash expressed hope that Israel will be destroyed and “all of Palestine will be liberated”:
Posted text: “‘And He was certainly good to me when He took me out of prison’ [Quran 12:100, Sahih International translation]
The chain must break. After 40 years in the occupation’s prisons, Karim Younes is breathing freedom. Soon, Allah willing, all of Palestine will be liberated from the chains of occupation and all our heroic prisoners will enjoy the breaking of the chains of prison and the prison guard.”
[PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page,
Jan. 5, 2023]
Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul named the released murderer “a symbol of steadfastness, endurance, and defiance”:
Posted text: “The symbol of steadfastness, endurance, and defiance, you [deserve] all honor and appreciation from us.
Fatah Movement Central Committee member prisoner Karim Younes is free after 40 years.”
[Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Facebook page, Jan. 5, 2023]
Following up on its campaign of 40,000 students’ letters of admiration written for murderer Younes – as exposed by Palestinian Media Watch - the PA held an event at which letters, poems and paintings from the campaign were shown. Ministry of Education Undersecretary Dr. Nafa Assaf and Chairman of the PA-funded Prisoners’ Club Qadura Fares participated:
[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Jan. 11, 2023]
PA TV: Released terrorist murderer is a “man of bravery, one of the mountains of Palestine, a hero”
As is its custom, official PA TV’s program for and about terrorist prisoners, Giants of Endurance, praised Younes as “one of the mountains of Palestine” and a “hero”:
Official PA TV host: “Today, on behalf of all the Palestinians, I bow in honor, pride, and bravery to the man of bravery, giving, and great sacrifice, one of the mountains of Palestine, the fighting brother who is free through his own power, Karim Younes… Great masses are flocking to the reception tent of hero Karim Younes.”
[Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, Jan. 5, 2023]
The same PA TV program also celebrated Israeli Arab Younes’ release by publishing a photo of him carrying the Palestinian flag:
Official PA TV host: “The release of prisoner Karim Younes– a picture of Karim Younes carrying the Palestinian flag in the celebrations for his release, as was published on the website Middle East Eye.”
[Official PA TV, Palestine in the World Press, Jan. 7, 2023]
A delegation from the PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs also visited Younes:
Posted text: “The [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ [Affairs] Deputy Director Abd Al-Qader Al-Khatib expressing his congratulations to heroic commander Karim Younes. He conveyed the congratulations of Director of Commission [of Prisoners’ Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr] and the commission’s employees to this legendary man after 40 years of imprisonment in the occupation’s prisons.”
[PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs, Facebook page, Jan. 6, 2023]
The following are longer excerpts of the statements cited above and additional statements upon the release of terrorist murderer Karim Younes:
Headline: “Karim Younes – freedom is always possible through the fighters’ resolve”
“[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas called fighter Karim Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with an accomplice) yesterday [Jan. 5, 2023] to congratulate him on his release from the occupation’s prisons after 40 years of imprisonment.During the phone conversation with fighter Karim Younes, the president said: ‘Welcome to your homeland and your land free and honored. We bless ourselves and the Palestinian people with your freedom.’
He added: ‘All these years did not affect you. We knew you as a brave man, and today we have mercy on your parents, and I think that they are very happy now for this joyous occasion.’ …
The president said: ‘All the prisoners are before our eyes. They are all our brothers, and their cause is sacred for us all. We will not relinquish and will not agree to any concession regarding our prisoner brothers, whether they have served 40 years or 40 seconds in the occupation’s prisons. They are all fighters who carried out the most prominent forms of struggle for our people.’
He added: ‘We hope to see you very soon with high morale in order to continue this struggle that you began 40 years ago. We will also continue to take action for the freedom of the prisoners and the homeland, and in order to get rid of the occupation and establish our independent state whose capital is Jerusalem.’
The president said: ‘We look forward to the release of brother Marwan Barghouti (i.e., terrorist, orchestrated three attacks in which 5 were murdered) soon, and also of Maher Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with Karim Younes), so that we will celebrate their freedom and empty all the prisons, Allah willing.’”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 6, 2023]
Headline: “The [PA] president, the [Fatah] Central Committee, the [Palestinian] National Council, and the [PA] prime minister congratulated fighter Karim Younes on his release”
“The Fatah Movement Central Committee congratulated our people over the freedom of leader Karim Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with an accomplice), the most veteran prisoner in the world (sic., Younes did not serve the longest sentence in the world), after more than 350,000 hours, more than 14,000 days, and 40 years that he served in the Israeli occupation’s prisons.
The Central Committee emphasized that Karim Younes, with his legendary resolve, has constituted a true symbol for all the free people in the world who were determined to reject injustice, oppression, and racism. The Central Committee also saluted all the female and male prisoners on the path to freedom and release from the occupation’s prison cells.
The committee said: ‘We salute all the female and male prisoners, foremost among them Fatah Central Committee member leader Marwan Barghouti (i.e., terrorist, orchestrated three attacks in which 5 were murdered), senior prisoner Fuad Al-Shubaki (i.e., senior PA official and weapons smuggler), Fatah Revolutionary Council member Zakariya Zubeidi (i.e., Fatah terror leader), Diya Al-Agha (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1), Ahmad Sa’adat (i.e., head of PFLP terror organization), the heroes of the freedom tunnel (refers to 6 terrorist prisoners who temporarily escaped Gilboa Prison in 2021; see note below -Ed.), the soul of prisoner Martyr Nasser Abu Hmeid (i.e., terrorist, responsible for murder of 7), the prisoner Martyrs, and the rest of the knights and maidens of freedom, and we emphasize the continuation of the path of struggle for the freedom of Palestine and the release of all the prisoners.’ …
[PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh also congratulated Fatah Central Committee member fighter Karim Younes on his release from the Israeli occupation’s prisons.
Shtayyeh emphasized that all the male and female prisoners in the occupation’s prisons will achieve their freedom, and he called on the international human rights organizations to intervene in order to release all the prisoners, particularly the female prisoners, the children, and the sick.
[Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) Head Rawhi Fattouh congratulated our people on the release of fighter Karim Younes.
In a press release, Fattouh said: ‘Karim is a member of Fatah and one of the most prominent Palestinian fighters. He joined the path of struggle at the start of his youth, and he was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to a life sentence that was limited to 40 years.’”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 6, 2023]
Rawhi Fattouh also serves as Fatah Commissioner of International Relations and Fatah Central Committee member.
Diya Zakariya Shaker Al-Agha "Al-Faluji"
Zubeidi was head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (Fatah's military wing) in the Jenin area during the PA terror campaign (the second Intifada, 2000-2005), when he oversaw numerous lethal attacks, and he also carried out shooting attacks in 2018-2019.
Kamamji participated in the murder of 18-year-old Eliyahu Asheri on June 25, 2006, and planned to blow up a bus using an exploding car.
Muhammad Ardah participated in initiating and executing a suicide bombing on bus no. 823 on Nov. 29, 2001, in which 3 people were murdered and many others were wounded.
Mahmoud Ardah was involved in numerous attacks; the website of Islamic Jihad’s military wing defined him as the "commander" of the prison escape.
Qaderi committed a shooting attack on Sept. 18, 2002 with an accomplice in which Israeli Yosef Ajami was murdered and a foreign worker was wounded.
Nafiyat was being held in administrative detention.
The image shows terrorist Karim Younes, who murdered 1 together with an accomplice, kneeling at his mother’s grave after being released from prison.
Posted text: “(The following quote is an excerpt from a poem by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish -Ed.)
‘I miss my mother’s bread
My mother’s coffee
And my mother’s touch,
Childhood grew up within me
Day after day
And I love my life dearly because
If I die
I will be embarrassed by my mother’s tears’
Congratulations Karim Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with an accomplice)…
Freedom for the knights and maidens of freedom (i.e., the male and female prisoners)”
[Fatah Central Committee Deputy Secretary Sabri Saidam, Facebook page,
Jan. 5, 2023]
Terrorist Karim Younes: “I had a meeting with [PLO] Executive Committee [Secretary and] member and Fatah Central Committee member Hussein Al-Sheikh, who spoke with me on behalf of [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas].”
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Jan. 5, 2023]
“Prisoner Karim Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with an accomplice) wrote a letter to his prisoner comrades a number of days before his release, in which he said: ‘Here I am about to leave the [prison] cells of darkness, where I learned not to fear the darkness, and where I learned not to feel alienation or solitude, because I am among my brothers, my brothers in the chains and the suffering, brothers united by one pledge and one covenant.’
He also added: ‘I am leaving my cell, which I hoped for a long time to leave while extricating my freedom accompanied by my brothers on the path and my comrades in the struggle, and in my mind’s eye I see a reception in which a great victory and achievement are expressed. Despite this, I see myself as if I do not want [it], I am trying to ignore the pain of separation, and the suffering of the moments of separation from brothers who I thought I would end my life alongside them, and they are permanent factors like mountains in my life. As the time comes for me to leave, I feel disappointment and helplessness, especially when I look into the eyes of one of them, and some of them are already [in prison for] 30 years.’
He continued: ‘I will exit my cell and I will leave, but my spirit remains with those who are maintaining the spark and maintaining the quality of the entire Palestinian struggle, with those who did not break and will never break, but the years of their lives are trickling through their fingers in every direction, below them, above them, in front of them, and behind them, and they still aspire to see the sun of freedom in what remains of their lives before unwillingness and deterioration harm their desire for life.’”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Jan. 4, 2023]
Excerpt of letter from terrorist murderer Karim Younes to his fellow inmates:
“I am leaving my cell, and I take my hat off to a generation that without a doubt is unlike my generation, a generation of active young men and women who are leading the scene in recent years, a generation that is clearly more decisive, more daring, braver, and more worthy of receiving the flag – and how could it not, when they are knowledgeable about the story and know the entire narrative by heart, and they are determined to carry out the orders, the orders of our people that is dispersed in every direction, uprooted, [these orders asking] to extricate its right to return and self-determination. Therefore, happy is this rising generation, despite the atmosphere of oppression… Here I am approaching the moment when I have no choice but to pass over my old wounds and old memories, the moment when I will be able to smile before my old image without feeling regret or disappointment… I am returning to recite with my people everywhere the anthem of my land, the anthem Fida’i (i.e., “self-sacrificing fighter”; see note below), the anthem of return and liberation.”
[Israeli-Arab website Arab 48, Jan. 1, 2023]
Text in first comment: “Today, Wednesday [Jan. 11, 2023], the [PA] Ministry of Education gave 40,000 letters written by the students of Palestine to free man Karim Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with an accomplice) on the occasion of his release, after he finished serving the entire term to which he was sentenced in the occupation’s prisons, whose length was more than 40 years.
Ministry [of Education] Undersecretary Dr. Nafa Assaf, Chairman of the [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club Qadura Fares, and teams of the [PA] Ministry of Culture and the [Prisoners’] Club participated in the activity.
The [Prisoners’] Club launched this initiative in cooperation with the Ministry [of Education], with the guidance of [PA] Ministry of Culture [and Education] Dr. Marwan Awratani and Chairman of the [Prisoners’] Club Fares, under the title: 40,000 letters of loyalty to national role model Karim Younes and his comrades from among the veteran prisoners whose imprisonment has already lasted for decades in the occupation’s prisons.
Those responsible for the activity emphasized that the students’ letters reflect the great level of awareness regarding our most prominent and significant causes, and they come as a clear response to the occupation’s ongoing attempts to target the Palestinian collective consciousness, especially among the new generation, as part of it is the awareness regarding the first human cause, which is the prisoners’ cause. The participants emphasized the significant role that the Ministry of Education is fulfilling with all its teams and employees, which stood out with their great earnestness in accompanying this initiative that had many responses among the prisoners’ families and the prisoners themselves. They directed attention to how the students’ contributions were not only summed up by letters but drawings were also drawn, and various texts and poems were written.
The [PA] Ministry of Prisoners’ [Affairs] noted that popular activities in all the districts will begin in cooperation with all the institutions to celebrate the freedom of prisoner Maher Younes (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1 together with Karim Younes), the most veteran Palestinian prisoner, who will be released on [Jan.] 19, [2023].”
The images show the event held in honor of released terrorist prisoner Karim Younes, in which students’ drawings and official posters bearing the faces of Karim Younes, Maher Younes, and former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat are displayed.”
[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Jan. 11, 2023]