Democratic Palestine : 36 (ص 7)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 36 (ص 7)
- المحتوى
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Yasir Abu Ghosh
One of over 800 who gave their lives for freedom
One of over 800 who gave their lives for freedom.
We received this eulogy from a friend in the occupied West Bank. We
print it to honor Yasir Abu Ghosh, along with the scores of activists of
the uprising, who have been summarily executed by the Zionist forces -
martyred in the struggle for freedom and independence.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
The death of Yasir Abu Ghosh was a
premeditated, well-organized murder on
the part of the fascists in the Zionist sec-
urity services and their collaborators.
Surcly, they drew a breath of relicf when
they heard the news: Finally, they had
succeeded in eliminating one of the lead-
ers of the intifada in the Ramallah dis-
trict.
Yasir was the youngest son of the Abu
Ghosh family who are originally from
A’mwas village which was wiped off the
map in the 1967 war. In its place, the
Zionists built Canada Park. After the
war, the family was expelled to Beit
Liqya, from where they moved to El
Bira. In 1981, Yasir s father bought a
piece of land in Beitunya and built a
house on it. Four years ago, he founded a
small brick factory, with the help of his
oldest son who works in Saudi Arabia.
Yasir was only 17 years old when he
was martyred, but he was already a
revolutionary leader. In 1986, the leader-
ship of George Habash’s Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine decided to
allow Yasir to become a member, despite
his young age. Already at that time, his
great ability and talent for organizing
were apparent. During the intifada, he
turned out to be a teacher for many of the
youth, and a great fighter against the
occupation. He became an activist in the
popular resistance committees which are
composed of different units. One is
named after the famous Palestinian wri-
ter and spokesperson of the PFLP, Ghas-
san Kanafani, who was killed by the
Zionist intelligence in 1972. Another unit
Democratic Palestine, December 1989
is named after Khalil Abu Khadijeh, and
it was in this that Yasir was an active
leader.
The way he was killed is reminiscent of
a death squad operation: Zionist security
agents, dressed in civilian clothes and
driving cars with West Bank licenses
approach «wanted» activists and either
arrest or shoot them. In Yasir’s case, it
was quite obvious that they didn’t want
him alive. According to his family, Yasir
had been on the occupation authorities’
«wanted» list for seven months. For this
reason, he stayed away from his family
home; even though the Shin Bet was well
aware of this, they raided his and his
brother’s house cight times, harassing
and threatening the family.
July 10th was the 17th anniversary of
the martyrdom of Ghassan Kanafani. In
the early morning, there were demonst-
rations. Yasir, as usual, was in the
frontline, carrying placards saying:
«Death to Shamir’s election plan - Long
live the independent Palestinian state.»
By about 11:30a.m., he was sitting witha
comrade in a coffee shop near Ramal-
lah’s main square, when his attention was
drawn to two cars closeby. According to
eyewitnesses, there was a well-known
collaborator in the first car, and three
men dressed as civilians in the second
one. Yasir recognized them and
immediately realized what was going on.
He jumped to his feet and started run-
ning. Two men got out of the car and
chased him with their pistols drawn and
aimed. Yasir stumbled and fell. As he
tried to get up, he was shot three times in
the back. He fell back and, according to
eyewitnesses, one of the Shin Bet agents
came up and shot him twice in the head at
close range. During the whole operation,
Yasir was not once ordered to stop. This
made it clear that they had planned in
advance to kill him. His lifeless body was
thrown on a jeep, his iegs dangling over
the edge. His friends tried to help him,
but were threatened; a sound bomb was
thrown to keep them away. After a «vic-
torious» tour through the center of
Ramallah, Yasir’s body was brought to
the military headquarters of the occupa-
tion army.
The news of his death spread like
wildfire. Everyone was shocked. Yasir
was well-known and much loved, not
only in Ramallah but in the surrounding
camps and villages. Women were crying,
and the people began to walk in the direc-
tion of the Ramallah hospital, hoping he
would be brought there. There was chaos
at the hospital: People were crying hys-
terically or venting their rage on the hos-
pital walls.
After about two hours, people decided
to go to his house in Beitunya, where
many had already gathered. His com-
rades were hanging up olive branches and
pictures of George Habash and Ghassan
Kanafan1. Palestinian flags were flying all
around the house. That day his family
had gone to Israel, to visit his two
brothers in the fascist prisons - one of
them serving a two and a half year sen-
tence, and the other in six-month
administrative detention. Hatred and
anger at the cowardly murder, added to
pain and mourning, led the people into a
spontaneous demonstration. About 250
marched through the small village. Then,
another comrade was killed: Raja
Mohamed Ahmed Saleh, 16 years old,
one of Yasir’s best friends, and his succes-
sor in case something would happen, was
fatally wounded when the Zionist occu-
pation forces opened fire on_ the
demonstrators.
When Yasir’s mother came home, the
woman present in the house went out to
meet her and took her into their midst, >
7 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 36
- تاريخ
- ديسمبر ١٩٨٩
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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