TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority on Sunday honored two terrorists serving life sentences for the murder of an Israeli soldier, hailing them as “symbols of the Palestinian struggle.”
The PA Prisoners Affairs Authority held an event in Ramallah marking the 36th year of two Israeli-Arab terrorists serving life sentences in Israeli prisons. In 1980 Kareem Younis, known by the moniker “The Eldest of Prisoners,” and his cousin Maher Younis kidnapped and murdered Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg.
Addressing the crowd at the event, Fatah deputy chairman and Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul, who acted as PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ representative, said “the two prisoners are a national example of steadfastness for the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation.”
“They are a symbol from among the symbols of the Palestinian struggle, along with thousands of prisoners who have paid and are still paying a high price for the liberation of their people,” he added, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Invitation to the event on the Facebook page of the PA Prisoners Affairs Authority (Facebook).
Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Authority, Issa Qaraqe, called the prisoners “a source of pride.”
“The Israel jailor cannot break the willpower of the prisoners Kareem and Maher Younis, no matter how long their incarceration continues. Their struggle against the prisons of the occupation is a source of pride to all Palestinians,” he said.
Ramallah District Governor Dr. Laila Ghannam told the crowd that it was a duty to support the terrorists’ families. The PA pays upwards of $3000 a month to terrorists and their families for the murder of Israelis.
“The prisoners gave their lives for Palestine, and so it is our obligation to stand by them and support their families until they are released from prison,” she said.
Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club which co-hosted the event, said it was held “in recognition of their sacrifice. They were and still remain a national school [sic] for the ongoing struggle against the occupation and its arrogance.”
Senior PA and Fatah officials at the event (Facebook).
Kareem Younis’s brother read out a letter from the two prisoners, in which they expressed gratitude for the ongoing support they have received. They noted that “the difficult years of imprisonment have not harmed our identity or our steadfast stance.”
In May of last year, the PA also honored Kareem Younis. by naming a public square in Jenin after him. That same month he was appointed as a member of the Central Committee.
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