From the Jerusalem Post:
Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine [DFLP] and the man responsible for killing 22 [sic] Israeli children in a terror attack on Ma’alot, wants to live in the Palestinian Authority, despite never having had a home there…
Hawatmeh said that his presence in the PA would bolster PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who, he said, needed the support of figures such as himself to advance his diplomatic plans. “Without us, who will you talk to?” he asked.
Who, indeed? Perhaps this tells us something about trying to talk to people who want to kill you.
Although survivors of the Ma’alot massacre (in which a total of 31 died) have “vowed to use any means to stop the government from allowing Hawatmeh to return”, one wonders if “bolstering Abbas” will be considered more important than decency and national self-respect. We’ll see.
Hawatmeh, presently living in Damascus, was supposed to be part of the bolstering that included the pardoning of wanted Fatah operatives and the prisoner release , but this did not happen. Here’s what I said about Hawatmeh then.
Allowing Hawatmeh to freely cross the border would be morally obscene.
There are crimes one cannot forgive, and criminals who should have no pardon in this world.
The Olmert government should learn that ‘manipulation’ is not the be – all and end- all of everything.