Collection of items honoring Samir Kuntar, "heroic" murderer of 4

 

The letter (right):
"In the name of All Merciful Allah
'Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration' (Surah 33:23, Sahih International translation)
Allah the great spoke the great truth of God

Honorable Hassan Nasrallah, Allah protect you, long live the 'Arabness' and the joint struggle
We received with pride and honor the notice of the death as a Martyr of the national hero, one of your outstanding knights, senior among prisoners, Martyr of the Lebanese opposition and Martyr of Palestine, the late Samir Kuntar, who died as a Martyr by traitors, in a criminal bombing by Zionist entity planes. We present to Your Honor all of our whole hearted condolences, at a time when we console ourselves over this serious incident, and are notifying our Palestinian people, the Lebanese people, and the Arab nation of the death as a Martyr of the Jihad fighter Samir Kuntar. We swear to the Martyr to continue in the way of struggle until victory, Allah willing, and until the purification of the Palestinian and Arab land from the Israeli occupation and the criminal gangs.

To him be glory in paradise with the prophets and truth speakers, and to you and us, to his family and those who love him, patience and condolences for his glorious death as a martyr.

We belong to Allah and to him we return
 

Your brother,
Abbas Zaki
Fatah Central Committee member
Commissioner of Arab Relations and Relations with China"

[Abbas Zaki's Facebook page, Dec. 20, 2015]

Picture and text posted on the Facebook page of Adnan Al-Damiri, official spokesman of the PA Security Forces

Posted text: “Palestine loves you as you loved it. None of us doubts your loyalty to Palestine, a Martyr (Shahid) as big as the homeland. You are loyal, and we Palestinians are loyal. Peace be upon your soul, O Palestinian Arab, O he who lived among us and we lived alongside him. The details of agony are also the details of the struggle. Peace be upon your soul, peace to Lebanon and peace to the south [of Lebanon].”

[Facebook page of Adnan Al-Damiri, Dec. 20, 2015]

Official PA TV News broadcast about Samir Kuntar’s death
Official PA TV reporter:  “Martyr (Shahid) Samir Kuntar was born in 1962 in the village of Abey on Mount Lebanon, joined the Palestine Liberation Front when he was 14 years old, and joined its training camps, and created for himself a history of unrelenting struggle. Kuntar spent 28 (sic., 29) years in Israeli prison, after he carried out an operation (i.e., terror attack) in 1979, meant to kidnap Israeli soldiers in the settlement (i.e., city) of Nahariya, in order to exchange them for fighters held in Israeli prison.”

Official PA TV program Topic of the Day on the death of Samir Kuntar, hosted PLO Executive Committee member and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Front Wasel Abu Yusuf.
Official PA TV host: “In this episode we will discuss the Israeli air force’s bombing and assassination operation against the great fighter Samir Kuntar who spent nearly 30 years in Israeli prison while defending freedom, honor, and the Palestinian national struggle.”
PLO Executive Committee member and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Front Wasel Abu Yusuf: “We extend condolences to ourselves, to the Palestinian people, to the Arab and Islamic nation, and all free men around the world, on the Martyrdom of Samir Kuntar, who died while continuing to adhere to the [national] basic guidelines and the values on which he was raised, for the sake of the Palestinian cause.”

[Official PA TV, Dec. 20, 2015]

Image and text tweeted from Fatah’s Twitter account
“O erect tree of the forest and the heart glittering in the waters of the homeland
Martyr (Shahid) Samir Kuntar, goodbye”

[Fatah Twitter account, Dec. 20, 2015]

The Fatah Mobilization and Organization Commission's official website links to this Twitter account.


Headline: “Abu Sharif: ‘Samir Kuntar’s assassination is a crime added to [the list of] Israeli acts of terror”
      “Bassam Abu Sharif, advisor to the late President Yasser Arafat [and member of the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the PLO], stated: “The Israeli airstrike on a civilian residential building in Jaramana, in [the] Damascus [district], is state terror against civilians, dozens of whom died in the collapse of the building. This crime will be judged under international law, especially in light of the [UN] Security Council resolution to act against acts of terror. He added in an interview with Donia Al-Watan: “This terrorist act claimed the life of one of the Arab resistance heroes, Samir Kuntar, who had been released from the Israeli prison. This action, which claimed the life of the heroic Martyr (Shahid), is added to the [list of] international terrorist acts perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people on the occupied land of Palestine.”

[Donia Al-Watan (independent Palestinian news agency), Dec. 20, 2015]
 

Video headline: “Samir Kuntar was born in Gaza”
“Palestinian citizen Maher Hathat from Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, named his newborn son after Martyr (Shahid) Samir Kuntar, today, Sunday [Dec. 20, 2015]"

Al-Mayadeen TV reporter: “Israel failed to eliminate the name of Martyr Samir [Kuntar], as the shriek of newborn Samir crosses horizons, indicating that Palestine and Lebanon are a single heart. A heart that beats with the love of ‘Arabness.’ Allah gave Maher a child, and behold, Samir Kuntar was reborn on the day of his death."
The newborn’s father Maher Hathat: “The least we could do is to name him after Samir Kuntar… because he rebelled for Palestine.”
Al-Mayadeen TV reporter: “Lebanon may be geographically distant, but it is close to the Palestinians’ hearts. The body of Samir Kuntar has left the world, but his soul is eternal, spreading hope and resolve for the liberation of Palestine.”

[Quds Net News Agency, Dec. 20, 2015]

 

[PA TV, Dec. 21, 2015]
 

Headline: “The factions condemn Samir Kuntar’s assassination”
     “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned the assassination of Martyr (Shahid) Samir Kuntar, ‘who believed in the concept of resistance, implemented it in Palestine since his youth, and continued in Lebanon after his release from captivity, in order to liberate the Golan Heights and Palestine...’
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine eulogized the great national leader Samir Kuntar. It noted that ‘The occupation has committed its crime in a conscious decision by the highest political and security echelon in Israel, which is a further proof of the occupation state’s aggressive character…’
Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Front [and PLO Executive Committee member] Dr. Wasel Abu Yusuf stated that ‘Israel’s assassination of Lebanese-Palestinian-Arab fighter Samir Kuntar is a new crime perpetrated by the occupation against Arab fighters.’ In an interview to the press, Abu Yusuf stated: “Kuntar was active in the Palestinian Liberation Front while in captivity. He believed in the concept of resistance and implemented it in Palestine since his youth, in the heroic operation (i.e., terror attack) in Nahariya. Upon his release from the occupation’s prison, after over 30 years (sic.) he chose [to continue] his way with the Lebanese Hezbollah, and continued his struggle in Lebanon, after his release from captivity.”
 

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 21, 2015]
 

The DFLP (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine) has carried out numerous terror attacks, including the Ma’alot massacre in which 22 schoolchildren and 4 adults were killed (May 15, 1974), the Avivim school bus massacre, in which 9 children and 3 adults were killed (May 22, 1970), the Kiryat Shmona massacre (18 killed, April 11, 1974), the Beit Shean attack (4 killed, Nov. 19, 1974), the Jaffa street bombing in Jerusalem (7 killed, Nov. 13, 1975) the Tiberias bombing (2 high school students killed, May 15, 1979), the Night of the Gliders (in which two terrorists infiltrated Israel from Lebanon using hang gliders, killing 6 Israeli soldiers on Nov. 25, 1987), and the Geha junction suicide bombing near Tel Aviv (4 killed, Dec. 25, 2003.) The DFLP has participated in and claimed responsibility for dozens of other terror attacks.


Text posted on the Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein
"Abu Al-Einein: Israel’s terror spreads beyond the borders of the occupied land”
         “Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein condemned the assassination of Lebanese Hezbollah leadership member and released prisoner, Samir Kuntar, in Israeli airstrike at the Rif Dimashq [governorate] in Syria.
Abu Al-Einein stated that through this heinous crime, Israel sees itself as above international law, and exaggerates its violation, and the imposing of the law of power, rather than the power of law. Moreover, by doing so it emphasizes that its terror has spread beyond the borders of the occupied land, and that it is the true source of terror in the region.  Abu Al-Einein added that Martyr (Shahid) Kuntar had inhaled the scent of Palestine since his childhood, and had turned 16 when the Israeli enemy’s justice system sentenced him to 5 life sentences and a few decades. However, he was released in a prisoner exchange [deal] with Hezbollah in 2008, after having served about three decades in the occupation’s dungeons and prisons.
Abu Al-Einein stressed that the Kuntar’s assassination reveals that Israel and its allies stand behind the dark terrorist movements and currents in the region, most prominently ISIS, in order to exacerbate the chaos and confusion in the Arab world with the aim of serving its purposes and its expansionist initiatives…

Abu Al-Einein sent condolences on fighter Samir Kuntar’s death to the Martyr’s family, Hezbollah, the Lebanese and Palestinian people and freemen around the world, , because this disaster is shared by Palestine and Lebanon. Moreover, he called on the Arab and Islamic nations to consolidate a unified position concerning Israel’s schemes to destroy the entire region.”

[Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein, Dec. 21, 2015]

Headline: “Tirawi condemns assassination of fighter leader Samir Kuntar”
     “Fatah Central Committee member [and former head of the PA General Intelligence] Tawfiq Tirawi, condemned yesterday [Dec. 20, 2015] in an announcement, the assassination of fighter leader, released prisoner Samir Kuntar in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus , where he was staying. Tirawi stated that this heinous crime is added to the history of terror by the Israeli occupation state, which insists on continuing with the killing and destruction anywhere it pleases.
Tirawi stated that the assassination of Kuntar, who served 28 years in the Israeli occupation’s prisons, was sentenced to 5 life sentences, and was released as part of the [Gilad] Shalit exchange deal (sic., Kuntar was released in a different exchange deal, see note) was a pre-arranged assassination, aimed at ending the lives of the released prisoners whom Israel was forced to release in prisoner exchange deals…
Tirawi stated that targeting the fighter Kuntar who [fought] at the battlefield against ISIS and the forces of darkness and terror, is a proof of the occupation government’s support of ISIS and its partnership with ISIS in causing the dissolution of the Arab states. This is in order to redraw the political map in the region in a manner that would serve the new colonialist conspiracy in the Arab region, which is aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause. Tirawi expressed deep sorrow and extended his warm condolences to the family of the deceased Martyr, Samir Kuntar, who fought in the Palestinian revolution from a young age. He said that the grief for a fighter who dedicated his life to the Palestinian and Arab cause is the same in Palestine, Lebanon, and the [entire] Arab world."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 21, 2015]

 

Headline: “Gaza: The National and Islamic forces open a mourning tent for Martyr Samir Kuntar”

     “The Palestinian National and Islamic forces opened a mourning tent for the Arab leader, Martyr (Shahid) Samir Kuntar, yesterday [Dec. 21, 2015], opposite the Red Cross headquarters in Gaza, out of honor and admiration for his tremendous sacrifice and his struggle against the criminal Zionist enemy… In a speech on behalf of the [Palestinian National and Islamic forces] Prisoners’ Committee, Omar Al-Najjar blessed the soul of Martyr Samir Kuntar, who was an example of a fighter who sacrificed himself and his soul to defend the Palestinian cause. He emphasized that Kuntar’s blood will be the fuel that ignites the intifada and enables its continuity.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 22, 2015]

 

Headline: "Samir Kuntar is the headline of the prisoners' families' weekly Saturday strike"
     "The [PLO] Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners' Affairs established a house of mourning for the most senior of Arab prisoners, Martyr (Shahid) Samir Kuntar, who Israel assassinated in an attack on Syrian land…
Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake stated: 'Martyr Samir Kuntar is a Palestinian symbol, who spent more than 29 years in the occupation prisons for Palestine and its people. All of the prisons, detention centers, and prison cells are witness to his sincerity and belonging, even during his time in prison.' He continued: 'We gather today in honor of Martyr Kuntar, in order to accompany him to his wedding (i.e., Martyr’s funeral, considered wedding to the 72 Virgins in Paradise) as a Martyr, in the name of all the Palestinian people, and in order to emphasize to him and to everyone fighting for Palestine: You will remain present throughout our lives. We will not forget your heroic acts and sacrifice, and we will talk about you with all future generations. We will tell them: Kuntar rubbed the nose of the occupier in the dust here, here he suffered from his torture in prison for the sake of your future, and from here we promise him that we will remain loyal to our Arab nationalism.' Karake sent the occupation a message that it must begin to prepare for its demise, stating: 'The era of its injustice and crimes is about to end and be wiped out, and soon the [Palestinian] prisoners will be released, and the prisons will empty out."

[Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Dec. 22, 2015]

 

Headline: “Goodbye, Um Nasser and Samir”
     “Two Arabs from the two sexes – each one carried the flag of the Palestinian revolution in his own way, and from his own place in the struggle. Both continued the path of the revolution without hesitation or lingering, and experienced the stages of the Palestinian people’s heroic struggle – with the hopes and agony in them…
Each one of them devoted his life’s work so that Palestine would live and be victorious, and so that the Israeli occupation would be terminated. Heroic female fighter Najla Yassin joined the revolution at an early stage, forsaking her personal life. She made the revolution’s headquarters and bases her home and world. Um Nasser (Yassin’s alias) the authentic Arab, who worked for many years in Damascus, Beirut, Tunisia and Gaza as head of office of the eternal president Yasser Arafat, was a symbol of love and giving.
Arab-Lebanese fighter Samir Kuntar became involved in the Palestinian national struggle at an early age, when he joined the Palestine Liberation Front. Samir was endowed with courage and valor, and continued the path of struggle. In April 1979 he came off [a boat] off the Nahariya (i.e., Israeli city) coast, and carried out his operation (i.e. terror attack), in which 5 Israelis were killed, and several others were wounded (see note). He was sentenced to 4 life sentences and 47 years. As if 4 life sentences were not enough for the Israeli judge. However, the Israeli executor’s sentences did not diminish his determination; he continued on the path of struggle in the occupation’s prisons, in which he spent 29 years, and was released in 2008, following a [prisoner] exchange deal [between Israel] and Hezbollah. The resident of the Abey village on Mount Lebanon was rightly called ‘the eldest of Arab prisoners.’
Samir Kuntar, who never believed in sectarianism, has always been faithful to his people and his Arab nation. He devoted all his strength to the Palestinian struggle before he was imprisoned for three decades, and continued doing so in Hezbollah’s ranks, after his release from the Israeli occupation’s prison…
The Druze fighter dedicated his life, from his birth in 1962, until the 19th of this December (the day he died. –Ed.), to defending the greater goals.
His assassination by Israel in Jaramana [refugee camp] east of Damascus, is merely score-settling, because it [Israel] assumed Samir would die in prison or that the spirit of struggle would die inside him. However, the fact that he continued in his pan-Arabic role in new arenas… increased the determination of the Israeli death state, to persecute him and assassinate him. Samir Kuntar’s body is gone, but the spirit and lessons drawn from his pioneering experience remain present in the Palestinian national history, as well as the Lebanese and Arab history. The spirit of the Palestine Liberation Front’s Central Committee member will remain as a lit torch to the contribution of the Arab revolutionists.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 22, 2015]

Najla Yassin (Umm Nasser) – directed Yasser Arafat's office for many years, and also lived with him for 18 years. She died in December 2015 of health issues.

     "The national and Islamic forces in the Ramallah and El-Bireh district set up a mourning tent to receive those offering condolences over leader Samir Kuntar's death as a Martyr (Shahid)… In his speech in the name of the Fatah Central Committee, Fatah Central Committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad saluted Martyr Kuntar and his long path of struggle, which began in the ranks of the Palestinian resistance when he joined the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), and he was a model of Palestinian-Lebanese-Arab unity. He emphasized that the assassinations will not weaken the tenacity of the resistance…
He warned against the continuation of the policy of targeting the resistance, and especially the released prisoners, which only proves the extent of the hatred of the Zionist crime machine… He also demanded to halt this traitorous crime and to rein in the Zionist entity. The factions and those present eulogized the Martyr with short speeches, which noted his virtues and bravery. They clarified that Martyr Kuntar, who was assassinated by the occupation state in an air raid on Jaramana, south of Damascus, the capital of Syria, sat for 27 years in the occupation's prisons, from the time he was a young boy, following a heroic operation (i.e., murder of 4, including a 4-year-old girl). He left Tyre, Lebanon, and crossed the border into the occupied Palestinian territories, and dedicated his life for Palestine.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 23, 2015] 

 

Headline: “The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) praised Lebanon’s standpoints and its support for our people’s rights”
      PLF Deputy Secretary-General Nazem Al-Yussuf blessed the Christian sects for Christmas and the new year… Al-Yussuf said that the holidays are taking place this year in the shadow of the absence of Martyr (Shahid) Samir Kuntar, who left us before his time, whose compass [needle] always pointed toward Palestine, who despite his injury and long years in prison, continued to be a determined and resolute fighter, armed with will power, determination, and obstinacy, believing in the resistance and inevitable victory, and loyal to his principles, whose path he followed after his release. He rightfully held a place in the hearts of the Palestinian people, our Arab peoples, free men all over the world, his brothers in Hezbollah, and his friends in the PLF and all the national and Islamic factions and forces, who lived by his side in the occupation’s prisons.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 26, 2015]