ARAB MK'S ATTEND HABASH FUNERAL

Arab MKs attend Habash funeral (JPost)
Right-wing MKs blasted Israeli Arab MKs Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List), Jamal Zahalka and Wassal Taha (Balad) on Monday for attending the previous day's funeral of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader George Habash in Amman.

MK Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beiteinu) said all Arab MKs were "representatives of terrorist organizations" in the Knesset.

MK Eli Gabai (NU/NRP) said he had written to Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz, asking him to prevent the MKs from traveling to the funeral. In the letter, Gabai said that the very presence of the MKs at the ceremony could potentially lead them to commit the criminal offenses of assisting the enemy and contacting enemy agents. The Justice Ministry said it had yet to receive the letter.

Tibi, speaking from the funeral, said Habash was a "leader who turned symbol." Zahalka said he was "one of the most important Palestinian leaders of the 20th century," but emphasized that "the bloodshed should be stopped. Our party always opposed attacks on civilians."

Habash, who died on Saturday at the age of 83, was long considered by Israel to be an arch-terrorist. A Christian refugee from Lod who left the city in the 1948 war, Habash established the PFLP in 1967. He was notorious in the West for his numerous terrorist attacks in the 1970s, including the Ben-Gurion Airport shooting in 1974 and the Entebbe hijacking in 1976.

P.A. MOURNS DEATH OF ARCH-TERRORIST

George Habash, Palestinian Terrorism Tactician, Dies at 82 (NYT)
Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a hard-line Marxist group that shocked the world with a campaign of airline hijackings and bombings in the late 1960s and early 1970s, died Saturday of a heart attack in Amman, Jordan. Although accounts varied, he was believed to be 82.

“He had a severe heart attack, and he died instantly,” Leila Khaled, a longtime Front associate and herself a high-profile airplane hijacker in 1969, told Al Jazeera by telephone from the Jordan Hospital, where Mr. Habash had been a patient. He also had cancer.

The Palestinian ambassador to Jordan, Atala al-Khairy, said Mr. Habash had been in the hospital for a week and that he died after a surgical procedure to implant a stent.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, ordered three days of mourning and flags lowered to half-staff in the Palestinian territories.

Mr. Habash was best known as the Palestinian leader who adapted modern terrorist tactics as a weapon in the conflict with Israel. From the bombing of a Jerusalem supermarket in 1969 to the simultaneous hijacking of three Western airliners to Amman, Jordan, in September 1970, the Front stayed in the news with high-profile attacks that other Palestinian groups never seemed able to match.

“When we hijack a plane it has more effect than if we kill a hundred Israelis in battle,” he told the German magazine Der Stern in 1970. “For decades, world public opinion has been neither for nor against the Palestinians. It simply ignored us. At least the world is talking about us now.”

But his list of enemies did not stop at Israel. He was sharply critical of existing Arab governments, most of which he said should be overthrown; of a long series of attempts at peace negotiations; and of his longtime rival, Yasir Arafat. A stubborn opponent of the Oslo accords, Mr. Habash refused to set foot in the areas under the nominal control of the Palestinian Authority.

GOT 7 MORE!

Israeli forces kill 7 in Gaza (JTA)
Israeli forces killed seven Palestinian gunmen during operations in the central Gaza Strip.

Backed by helicopter gunships, tanks and troops entered Marazi village early Thursday in search of terrorists operating close to the Gaza-Israel border.

Seven Palestinian gunmen, from Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, were killed in the ensuing clashes. Five Israeli soldiers were injured, one seriously.

The PRC fired a rocket across the border, hitting the courtyard of a school in the Israeli town of Sderot. Ten children and eight adults were treated for shock.

ISRAEL SET FOR HUGE RELEASE OF TERRORISTS FROM JAILS

Palestinians Unhappy with Israel's Release of 256 Prisoners (JPC)
Palestinians are unhappy with the list of 256 Palestinian prisoners Israel will release this week, according to this Jerusalem Post report.

"Israel insists on releasing those who have limited sentences," said Palestinian Authority minister for prisoner affairs, Ashraf al-Ajrami. "We want a release of prisoners who received long sentences."

The prisoners' names, 85% of whom are Fatah members, will be published online today. Israelis will have two days to challenge the release in court before the prisoners are freed on Friday.

For on-target commentary, read "Back to Oslo Illusion: Israel's immunity gesture will restore terror infrastructure in West Bank."

17% of prisoners resume terror activity (JPost)
Nearly one in every five Palestinian prisoners who has been released returns to terror activities, a senior Justice Ministry official said Wednesday.

The remarks by Pardons Department head Emmy Palmor came just two days before Israel is scheduled to free more than 250 Palestinian prisoners in a confidence-building measure aimed at bolstering Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

About 85 percent of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release on Friday morning were from Fatah, and the rest from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palmor said. None of the prisoners were from Hamas, she noted.

Palmor said that about 17% of Palestinian prisoners convicted on terror-related offensives who had been freed by Israel later returned to terror activities. "I cannot tell you that none of the 250 prisoners who will be released on Friday will return to terror," Palmor said in a press briefing.

The Almagor Terror Victims Association, which has petitioned the High Court of Justice to delay the release, said Wednesday that 179 Israelis have been killed over the last seven years by Palestinians freed in previous deals.

PFLP LEADER ADMITS ARAFAT DIED OF AIDS

Ahmad Jibril, Secretary-General of the PFLP General Command: I Was Told by Abu Mazen's Team that Arafat Died of AIDS (MEMRI)
Ahmad Jibril: When Abu Mazen came to Damascus with his team, I asked them: “What happened to the investigation into the death of Abu Ammar [Arafat]? The Israelis killed him. He was my colleague ever since 1965 and used to sleep at my home. He and I followed the same path.” Is it conceivable that when Rafiq Al-Hariri was killed, all hell broke loose, even though he was just a merchant in Saudi Arabia, who later entered politics, whereas the death of Yasser Arafat, who for 40 years had been carrying his gun from one place to another, is not investigate? Is this conceivable?

They were silent, and then one of them said to me: “To be honest, the French gave us the medical report, that stated that the cause of Abu Ammar’s death was AIDS.” I am not saying this, they did. Now they pretend that they miss Yasser Arafat, and complain that [Hamas] entered his house in [Gaza] and so on... I say to every honorable member of the Fatah movement that he should be happy that we got rid of the plague, which had been imposed upon them and upon the Palestinian people. The Fatah movement now has an opportunity to renew itself.

HERE A LINK TO THE VIDEO.

REMEMBER WHEN, IN A P.R. MOVE AFTER THE 9/11 ATTACKS, ARAFAT DONATED BLOOD FOR AMERICAN VICTIMS? DOESN'T SEEM SO GENEROUS NOW.

SHIN BET FOILS SYNAGOGUE ATTACK, KIDNAP PLOT

Synagogue terror attack averted (JPost)
The Shin Bet has uncovered a terror cell affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP,) which planned to blow a synagogue in Modi'in, it was released for publication on Tuesday. The Zekhor L'Avraham synagogue is located on the corner of two streets, Nahar Hayarden and Nahal Zohar. The cell, comprising 12 members, was uncovered after the Shin Bet arrested a Palestinian worker employed illegally in Modi'in.

The terrorists had also planned kidnap American citizens in the West Bank to be used as bait for the release of their leader Ahmad Sadat, imprisoned in Israel, Israel Radio reported. One American was captured in such an attempt, managed to free himself from the group. The cell was operating from Hebron but was receiving its instructions from PFLP headquarters in Gaza.

BRITISH DOCUMENT ALLEGES IDF INVOLVED IN 1976 ENTEBBE HIJACKING

'Shin Bet involved in 1976 hijacking' (JPost)
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) may have been involved in the hijack of an Air France plane in 1976 by Palestinian terrorists, according to newly declassified British government documents released Friday.

Some 100 passengers were held by hijackers at Entebbe airport in Uganda during an eight-day ordeal that concluded when General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) troops stormed the building where captives were held. Twenty-four people died in the shoot-out, including three hostages, 20 Ugandans and the commander of the rescue team, Yoni Netanyahu.

The hijackers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the German Baader-Meinhof gang, demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners.

But according to the newly released documents, the Shin Bet, and the PFLP are alleged to have teamed up in an "unholy alliance" in an attempt to change foreign policy in the Middle East.

The allegation appeared in a document written by official DH Colvin at the British embassy in Paris, quoting a contact at the Euro-Arab Parliamentary Association, as the crisis unfolded. "According to his information, the hijack was the work of the PFLP, with help from the Israeli Secret Service, the Shin Bet," he wrote.

"The operation was designed to torpedo the PLO's (Palestine Liberation Organization) standing in France and to prevent what they see as a growing rapprochement between the PLO and the Americans.

"Their nightmare is that...one will witness the imposition in the Middle East of a Pax Americana, which will be the advantage of the PLO (who will gain international respectability and perhaps the right to establish a state on evacuated territories) and to the disadvantage of the Refusal Front (who will be squeezed right out in any overall peace settlement and will lose their raison d'etre) and Israel who will be forced to evacuate occupied territory.

"Hence the unholy alliance of the hijacking." The document also suggested that then Ugandan president Idi Amin may have been collaborating with the hijackers. The document was released by the National Archives in London.

SHIN BET UNCOVERS PALI PLAN TO KILL OLMERT

Shin Bet uncovers plot to kill Olmert (JPost)
A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who works for the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders has been arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Thursday.

Mazab Bashir, 25, from Deir el-Balah began working with Doctors Without Borders five years ago. On April 19, he confessed during a Shin Bet interrogation that for months, he had been collecting intelligence on senior Israeli officials - including Olmert and a number of Knesset members.

Bashir met with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in September 2006, and said that the assassination was meant to avenge the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Bashir also underwent arms training with the PFLP, and was picked to carry out the planned assassination.

He told the Shin Bet that he had collected information on the Internet to use to target MKs, but then realized that the MKs in question did not live in Jerusalem, the only Israeli city to which his permit granted him access.

According to the officials, after he realized that the security surrounding Olmert was impenetrable, Bashir decided in December 2006 to kill David Be'eri, head of the Elad organization, a group involved in purchasing Arab homes in Jerusalem's Old City. That same month, he underwent combat training in the Gaza Strip in order to learn to kill without using weapons.

In January 2007, Bashir again entered Israel again on behalf of Doctors Without Borders, and began collecting information on Be'eri. He made additional trips to Jerusalem in February and March, and on April 18. He was arrested on April 19.

During his interrogation, Bashir said he had planned to return to Gaza to complete his combat training and learn, among other things, how to break necks. He said he intended to use his skills to kill Be'eri. Elad has increased Be'eri's security following the threats to his life.

Bashir was indicted Thursday in the Jerusalem District Court.

HERE'S A JAW-DROPPER OF A QUOTE:

Duncan Mclean, head of 'Doctors Without Borders' in the region, told Israel Radio, "I don't think embarrassed would be the right word. We are very sad for Bashir who has been working for us for almost six years. But we would like to make it very clear that we make a distinction between his professional work and what he does on his personal time in the sense that all our staff is hired for professional reasons and I don't think our organization can be held liable for every aspect of their life."

YEAH, AND HITLER WAS KIND TO HIS DOGS....

3 TERRORISTS BLOW THEMSELVES UP IN ACCIDENT

3 PFLP operatives hurt while preparing explosives in north Gaza (YNet)
Three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were hurt in an explosion in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. The blast apparently occurred when the three were preparing explosives or a Qassam rocket. One of them was in critical condition.