"[The release of our prisoners] is a day of joy for our nation, for our people, for our heroic prisoners... There will be more groups of heroes who will come to us... They [the Israelis] postponed these heroes' release by 24 hours... we congratulate you and ourselves for the [release] of these heroes."
[Official PA TV, Dec. 31, 2013]
Click to viewIsrael released these terrorists because the PA demanded Israel release 104 prisoners from jail, all of them murderers, in order for the PA to resume peace negotiations with Israel.
Three released terrorist "heroes" celebrated with Abbas on stage:
Jamal Abu Muhsin - stabbed a 76 year-old Israeli civilian to death in a park in 1991.
Ahmad Kmeil - a commander of a terrorist cell that murdered an Israeli soldier and 15 Palestinians who they suspected of helping Israel.
Na'im Al-Shawamreh - placed a bomb in 1993 that killed the police sapper who was trying to defuse it.
In September 2013, on the same day that Abbas was at the UN talking about peace, the PA held a memorial honoring terrorist Abu Sukkar who planned a bombing in 1975 using a refrigerator filled with explosives. 15 Israelis were killed and over 60 were wounded in that attack. Abbas, in his speech for the event (which was read by Jibril Rajoub), called the murderer "a hero," "a legend," and "a beacon."
In his recent speech to the released terrorists, Abbas promised that "there will be no final agreement [with Israel] unless all the prisoners are in their homes." PMW has reported that in the past, Abbas has stated that his goal is to see the release of specific terrorists, who Israel refuses to release because of the severity of their crimes. When Israel released 1,027 terrorists in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for more than 5 years, Abbas ended his welcome speech wishing for the release of four specific murderers:
"Allah willing, soon we will see here brother Marwan Barghouti, brother Ahmad Sa'adat, Ibrahim Hamed, and Abbas Al-Sayid."
Marwan Barghouti - serving five life sentences for orchestrating terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
Ahmad Sa'adat - serving a 30-year sentence for heading the PFLP terror organization. A song at a PFLP event also praised him for planning the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze'evi in 2001, but he has not been tried for this crime.
Ibrahim Hamed - Hamas military leader serving 54 life sentences for planning many suicide attacks and bombings, at the Hebrew University, Cafe Moment and Cafe Hillel suicide bombings, and others.
Abbas Al-Sayid - serving 35 life sentences for planning two suicide bombings, one in 2002 at a Passover dinner, killing 30 Israelis, and another in 2001, killing 5 and wounding 100.
In another speech in 2008, Abbas chose to "send greetings of honor and esteem" to some of the same terrorists as well as others. Click to see more examples of Abbas' glorification of terrorists.
The following is an excerpt from Abbas' speech in which he referred to released murderers as "heroes" four times:
"[The release of our prisoners] is a day of joy for our nation, for our people, for our heroic prisoners... We promise you that this will not be the last time. There will be more groups of heroes who will come to us one after the other, Allah willing, soon. We promise you that there will be no final agreement [with Israel] unless all the prisoners are in their homes. They [the Israelis] postponed these heroes' release by 24 hours and this is something we do not accept. Once again, we congratulate you and ourselves for the [release] of these heroes."
[Official PA TV, Dec. 31, 2013]
Jamal Abu Muhsin - stabbed 76 year-old Shlomo Yahya to death in a park on September 26, 1991. He was serving a life sentence but was released in December 2013 as one of the 104 terrorists whom Israel agreed to release to fulfill the PA's precondition for renewing negotiations.
Na'im Al-Shawamreh - was arrested on March 14, 1995 for placing the explosive device that killed Yossi Hayoun, a police sapper, while he was defusing the bomb (June, 1993). Al-Shawamreh was serving a life sentence but was released in December 2013 as part of the 104 terrorists whom Israel agreed to release to fulfill the PA's precondition for renewing negotiations.
Ahmad Kmeil - was the commander of the terrorist cell that murdered soldier Yoram Cohen and 15 Palestinians who they suspected of collaborating with Israel. He was serving 16 life sentences but was released in December 2013 as one of the 104 terrorists whom Israel agreed to release to fulfill the PA's precondition for renewing negotiations.
