(New York Times) Isabel Kershner - Dozens of Palestinian students from the youth division of Fatah, the party led by Mahmoud Abbas, gathered in El Bireh in the West Bank on Thursday to dedicate a public square to the memory of Dalal Mughrabi, a woman who in 1978 helped carry out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel's history. Mughrabi was the leader of a Palestinian squad that sailed from Lebanon and landed on a beach between Haifa and Tel Aviv. They killed an American photojournalist, hijacked a bus and commandeered another, embarking on a bloody rampage that left 38 Israeli civilians dead, 13 of them children. To Israelis, hailing Mughrabi as a heroine and a martyr is an act that glorifies terrorism. But Fatah representatives described Mughrabi as a courageous fighter who held a proud place in Palestinian history."We are all Dalal Mughrabi," declared Tawfiq Tirawi, a member of the Fatah Central Committee. "For us she is not a terrorist." An official PA ceremony was put off due to the visit to the region by Vice President Biden. The square, planted with greenery and flowers, is outside the Palestinian Authority's National Political Guidance headquarters. Political guidance chief Gen. Adnan Damiri said a statue of Mughrabi would be erected in the square. Palestinian Media Watch said the Palestinians had named two girls high schools, a computer center, a soccer championship and two summer camps for Mughrabi in the last two years. At a cabinet meeting in January, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "Whoever sponsors and supports naming a square in Ramallah after a terrorist who murdered dozens of Israelis on the coastal road encourages terrorism." Addressing the Palestinian president he added: "Stop the incitement. This is not how peace is made." Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said that turning Mughrabi "from a murderer into a martyr" and "putting her on a pedestal as a role model for young Palestinians is a message that is problematic in the extreme."
2010-03-12 09:09:51Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive