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Widow: Husband was no collaborator
The widow of a man who was dragged through the streets of Gaza City last week for 'collaborating' with Israel says that her husband was not a 'collaborator' and that he hated Israel more than he hated Hamas.
Actually, Badawi, 37, had spent the last four years in a Hamas prison under armed guard. He was tortured for seven months into confessing that he was working for Israel.
“They burned (him) and broke his jaw and teeth,” said his widow, Kholoud Badawi. “He was hanged for 45 days by his arms and legs to make him confess. He confessed because of the torture.
“He told me every detail of what had happened to him and he gave me a diary he was writing,” she added.
Ribhi Badawi was no innocent, having belonged to the Jaljalat Brigades, an Islamic group that wanted the Palestinians ruled by strict religious law.
But he was sentenced to death in a show trial. His family appealed and asked that the sentence be reduced to 10 years in prison, and the court was due to rule the day he was executed.
“We hoped they would accept our appeal because they had no evidence — just his supposed confession,” she said.
As Kholoud and her five young children accepted the condolences of neighbors and friends in their tiny home in the poverty-stricken Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, friends and neighbors said Badawi was a kind, helpful man who made a living as a herbalist.
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Badawi’s father, Ahmed, said his son hated the Israelis more than Hamas.
“My son could never have been an informer,” he said. “They say he got money from the Israelis. Look at his house. This is the house of a poor man. He helped everyone. Everybody liked him. I bless him.”
But just give them a 'state' and they'll stop behaving like this....
