Times of Israel recaps PMW report on terrorist's complaint that prison interfered with stamp-collecting

Issa Abd Rabbo speaks about the murder he committed during an interview on Ma’an TV (Photo courtesy: Palestinian Media Watch)

Palestinians have long accused Israel of a range of human rights violations. But recently freed Palestinian terrorist Issa Abd Rabbo came up with a new one — infringing on his philatelic rights while he was incarcerated, and thus keeping him from attaining high quality stamps and “special albums.”

Abd Rabbo was released from an Israeli prison in October 2013 as part of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He was serving two life sentences for murdering two Israelis, Ron Levi and Revital Seri, as they were hiking south of Jerusalem in 1984

Abd Rabbo happened upon the two university students as they rested under a pine tree. He tied them up at gunpoint, covered their heads with bags and fatally shot them both.

According to a Palestinian Media Watch translation Friday, Abd Rabbo told Al Hayat al Jadida, a PA daily newspaper, in an April 8 interview, ‘I’m proud of the stamps I collected in prison, but it was difficult for me to pursue [my] hobby in prison, because there were many restrictions, few letters arrived, and the quality of the stamps. Prison also affects our hobbies, and I had no special albums to put the stamps in properly, so I put them in an envelope — the same one that left prison with me.’”

“I have resumed my hobby of stamp collecting with enthusiasm, to make up for what I lost during my time in prison…” Abd Rabbo continued.

“I asked each prisoner to save the envelope for me so I could cut out the stamp or stamps attached to it. During my long time in prison, I collected 100 stamps, which accompanied me whenever I moved between nearly all of the occupation’s prisons…”

Abd Rabbo and other released murderers were welcomed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as “heroes.”

In a January 9 interview with Palestinian Ma’an news agency, Abd Rabbo calmly recounted the murder of the two Israelis.

“There was supposed to be a military operation shooting at a bus transporting Israeli soldiers…,” he remembered. “I was surprised when on my way to the area, I waited, waited and waited and the bus didn’t come. I was forced to carry out an operation on my own, an improvisation, I took it upon myself. An Israeli car approached, with two in it. I said, here’s a chance and I don’t want to return empty-handed.”



“They left the car… and walked towards the valley, and sat down under a pine tree. I went down to them. Of course I was masked and was carrying a rifle. He asked me: ‘Are you a guard here?’ I told him: ‘No, I’m in my home.’ I told him: ‘You are not allowed here. This is our land and our country. You stole it and occupied our land and I’m going to act against you.’”

“They were surprised by what I told them. I tied them up of course and then sentenced them to death by shooting, in the name of the revolution. I shot them, one bullet each, and went [hiding] in the mountains… I went to my aunt and told her: ‘We have avenged Muhammad’s blood.’”

I told her: ‘Instead of one, we got two.’ She cried out in joy.”

Click to view the PMW report that exposed this story.