Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 22)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 22)
- المحتوى
-
Zakaria, Mohammad, Zuhdi, Abdul Hamid, Abu Waffa
The Battlefield Inside
Interviews with Militants Liberated from Zionist Jails
This is a composite interview conducted with five comrades of the
PFLP, who courageously served long terms in Israeli jails and were
liberated in the 1985 prisoner exchange, when two Israeli soldiers
were released by PFLP-General Command in return for the freedom
of 1,150 revolutionaries.
Democratic Palestine interviewed
Khalaf Nasser (Abu Waffa) from
Ramallah, who spent 17 years in the
Zionist jails; Zuhdi Hamoud Al’ Adawi
of Gaza, who spent 15 1/2 years in
Zionist jails; Abdul Hamid
Mohammad AI! Shatali of Gaza, 14
years; Zakaria Tatari from Gaza, 13
years; and Mohammad AI Rukoi from
Gaza, 12 years. All five took part in the
phase of the Palestinian resistance that
immediately followed the 1967 occupa-
tion. All five were sentenced to long
prison terms, ranging from thirty years
to multiple life sentences. In fact, the
Zionist enemy intended for them to die
in prison. All five spent their youth -the
best years of their life - in prison, but
they turned this into another battlefield
in the Palestinian national struggle. All
of them served time in several different
jails and took part in the battles of the
political prisoners, such as the pro-
longed hunger strike in Nafha in 1980,
and earlier strikes in Ashkelon, etc. All
five are now active in the Palestinian
revolution, in fields ranging from mili-
tary to mass and cultural work, within
the ranks of the PFLP.
We began the interview by asking
each comrade about the circumstances
of his arrest. Abu Waffa expained what
happenef to him: «Two patrol cars
came to my house and took me to the
center. I was interrogated for going to
Jordan. My legs and hands were tied
and I was blindfolded. At first, I was
22
confused, but when I realized that all
the questions focused on my travel to
Jordan, I relaxed. I stayed 21 days in
detention. The interrogator said that I
would be released in two days because
of lack of evidence. That was on May 6,
1968, but two days later I was surprised
to see one of the comrades, who came
from Jordan to work under my lea-
dership, enter my cell. He explained
that he had come with a combat patrol
and was arrested after a clash with the
Zionists on April 12th. Then, on May
9th, he was called for interrogation,
and on the same day, I was accused of
leading a combat cell in Ramallah, that
had carried out several operations. He
served aS a witness, and he turned
traitor. His name was Lutfi Sa’adeh.»
Zuhdi added his experience: «In
1970, at one o’clock in the morning, a
group from the Zionist army broke into
the house where I was staying with four
other people, all friends, not PFLP
members. That was in Gaza. They
Started interrogating us right in that
house, beating us severely and asking
about the location of other comrades
and arms. At that moment I felt highly
responsible for my comrades. That
gave me strength, though I had little
experience then. They blindfolded me
and took me to the jail.»
Abdul Hamid prefaced telling about
his arrest by describing the situation in
that period as he had experienced it: «I
joined the PFLP in the Gaza Strip, in
what we call the golden time of the
resistance. The PFLP was the most
active and developed organization in
the Strip, with the most support, as
everybody acknowledges, even the
enemy. That explains why the militants
of the PFLP were especially targeted by
the Zionists. Due to the rise in armed
struggle in Gaza, the Zionist enemy
hysterically pursued, arrested and
detained many people. In this way, they
learned about my activities and began
to hunt for me.»
«I lived underground for a period of
time and carried out several operations
against the enemy. An example was the
attack on the Zionist military camp at
Al Nuseirat, where the enemy admitted
the death of six of their soldiers.
Because of their anxiety about the
escalating resistance, the occupation
forces enforced collective punishment.
This was organized by Moshe Dayan
and included demolishing the houses
and land of families of members and
supporters of the revolution, as well as
administrative detention. Hundreds of
thousands of our people were affected
by this policy, including my own
family. My father and two of my uncles
were detained. The rest of my family
was sent to one of the concentration
camps the Israelis built in the Sinai.»
«All this, however, failed to deter the
revolution in the Gaza Strip, so the
Zionists opened an all-out war on
Gaza. This was called Sharon’s cam-
paign, led by the infamous Ariel
Sharon. I was arrested during that
pericd. While I was on a mission, I
found myself surrounded by Zionist
troops. I tried to escape, but was
caught. I tried to ignite a grenade, but
they were faster and stopped me. They
attacked me like a pack of dogs, bea-
ting and kicking me.» - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 21
- تاريخ
- يناير ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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