[News] Palestinian organizations respond to killing of Omar Nayef Zayed in Bulgaria

Anti-Imperialist News news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Feb 29 11:33:36 EST 2016


    Palestinian organizations respond to killing of Omar Nayef Zayed
    in Bulgaria
    <http://samidoun.net/2016/02/palestinian-organizations-respond-to-killing-of-omar-nayef-zayed-in-bulgaria/>

by samidoun <http://samidoun.net/?author=1>

Palestinian political parties, community and human rights organizations 
responded to thekilling of Omar Nayef Zayed 
<http://samidoun.net/2016/02/breaking-omar-nayef-zayed-assassinated-inside-palestinian-embassy-in-bulgaria/>in 
Sofia, Bulgaria, in the Palestinian embassy with strong denunciations 
and demands for action. Nayef Zayed, 52, had taken refuge in the 
Palestinian embassy since December 2015, as he was being pursued for 
extradition by Bulgarian police after the Israeli embassy requested he 
be turned over under the European Convention on Extradtion. He had 
escaped Israeli prison in 1990 following a 40-day hunger strike and 
hospitalization, and had escaped Palestine, eventually coming to 
Bulgaria, where he lived for the past 22 years, marrying his wife Rania, 
a Bulgarian citizen and raising three children.

An international campaign was mobilized to fight the extradition attempt 
as Nayef Zayed remained within the embassy, whose walls cannot be 
breached by the host state. He was found dead on the morning of 26 
February in the embassy's garden; his family and Palestinian 
organizations have denounced the killing as an Israeli operation, while 
Israeli media have speculated on the likelihood of a Mossad 
assassination of Nayef Zayed. The family has also highlighted the role 
of the Palestinian Authority and the embassy in his death, saying that 
he was not appropriately protected - it is claimed the embassy had no 
security cameras or alarm system - and was instead constantly placed 
under pressure to leave the embassy throughout his time there.

A series of Palestinian organizations' responses to the killing of Nayef 
Zayed are below, beginning with his own Palestinian political party, the 
leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine:

*Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine 
<http://pflp.ps/english/2016/02/26/pflp-mourns-and-salutes-the-martyr-comrade-omar-nayef-zayed-assassinated-in-bulgaria/>: 
*The PFLP statement (in English) denounced the killing of "Comrade Omar 
Nayef Zayed, the former Palestinian political prisoner and lifelong 
struggler for the freedom of Palestine, assassinated this morning in the 
Palestinian embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria." The statement continued:

"We in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hold fully 
responsible for this nefarious crime the Zionist State and the Israeli 
Mossad who targeted Comrade Omar Nayef Zayed for assassination, as we 
hold responsible the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Embassy 
in Bulgaria who failed to protect him and his security, and the 
Bulgarian government and security forces who pursued Comrade Nayef Zayed 
for arrest and imprisonment for over three months. We note the full 
responsibility of the Palestinian Authority at the highest levels for 
failing to protect Comrade Nayef Zayed from assassination, up to and 
including PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki 
and Ambassador Ahmad al-Madbouh.

This crime took place as the highest officials of the Palestinian 
Authority met with the highest officials of the Bulgarian state in 
Ramallah, with no apparent demands made for our pursued comrade, the 
martyr Omar Nayef Zayed.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine vows to pursue in all 
ways the truth of the assassination of the martyr Comrade Omar Nayef 
Zayed, to stand by the family of our martyred comrade, and to hold 
accountable those responsible for his targeting and assassination. We 
pledge as always to remain on his path of unremitting struggle for 
liberation of Palestine, its land and people, as he joins the convoy of 
the great martyrs of our people whose lives have been taken inside and 
outside Palestine by the murderous Zionist colonial project."

*Palestinian Prisoners' Society: 
<http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831177>* The Palestinian 
Prisoners' Society stated that they were gravely concerned about the 
fate of freed Palestinian prisoners around the world in light of the 
assassination of Omar Nayef Zayed in the Palestinian embassy in 
Bulgaria. They demanded a serious investigation into this crime, coming 
after over 2 months of the Israeli occupation authorities demanding that 
the Bulgarian authorities arrest and turn him over for imprisonment. 
They called for urgently providing full protection to prisoners inside 
Israeli jails and freed prisoners as a national and international 
responsibility.

*Islamic Jihad <http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831166>*: 
Islamic Jihad denounced the assassination of Omar Nayef Zayed inside the 
Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria on Friday, 26 February, saying the 
Israeli state bears responsibility for the crime. Spokesperson Daoud 
Shehab said that "The one who gave the order to assassinate him is the 
same which directs the terrorism against our children and youth....the 
same who insist on continuing the imprisonment of journalist Mohammed 
al-Qeeq in order to kill him."

Furthermore, Shehab said, this raises urgent questions about the 
situation in Palestinian embassies in Europe and internationally, 
including the role of ambassadors, staff and security personnel in the 
embassy. "Is security coordination practiced there as well, and play a 
role in the persecution of our people in exile?" he asked.

*Hamas <http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831210>*: Ismail 
Haniyeh, deputy chair of the Political Bureau of Hamas, said that the 
assassination of Omar Nayef Zayed was a "stain on the conscience of the 
international community, ane evidence of the continuing occupation 
crimes in light of security coordination and security weaknesses." He 
said that the crime could not have taken place without the weakness of 
the security of the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri 
<http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831198> declared that Israel is 
responsible for the assassination of former prisoner Omar Nayef Zayed 
inside the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria. He also demanded the 
resignation of Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki 
and Ambassador Ahmad al-Madhbouh, for their responsibility for the crime 
taking place inside the Palestinian embassy, calling for them to be 
tried because of the killing in the embassy and, at best, the failure to 
protect Nayef Zayed.

*Fateh*: <http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831192> Fateh said 
that the Israeli occupation has full responsibility for the killing of 
Omar Nayef Zayed, saying that the Palestinian leadership has formed a 
commission of inquiry into the crime. Fateh spokesperson Osama Qawasmeh 
denounced Hamas's position, accusing them of "political opportunism" and 
"reckless accusations," and defending the Palestinian embassy in 
Bulgaria, saying they refused to turn over Nayef Zayed despite pressure 
against them.

*Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine:* 
<http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831187>Tayseer Khaled, member 
of the Political Bureau of the DFLP, said that evidence indicates the 
Israeli Mossad is responsible for the assassination of Omar Nayef Zayed, 
calling for a national committee including independent Palestinian 
organizations, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 
the Palestinian Embassy in Bulgaria to investigate the killing of Nayef 
Zayed and report to the Executive Committee of the PLO.

*Popular Resistance Movement in Palestine 
<http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831178>:* The Popular 
Resistance Movement called for an immediate investigation into the 
assassination of Omar Nayef Zayed in Bulgaria, saying that it bears the 
marks of the Israeli Mossad. They also said that the Bulgarian 
authorities are responsible for the assassination of Nayef Zayed, by 
forcing him into the embassy by threatening him with extradition to the 
Israeli occupation.

*The Palestinian National Initiative 
<http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831162>:* The PNI condemned the 
assassination of Omar Nayef Zayed in Bulgaria on Friday. Mustafa 
Barghouti, the general secretary of the PNI, called for a comprehensive 
investigation as to what occurred in the killing of Zayed, as well as 
accountability from Bulgarian officials about this crime and its 
consequences.

*Palestinian Arab Front 
<http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831327>*: The Palestinian Arab 
Front denounced the assassination of former prisoner and struggler Omar 
Nayef Zayed in the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, saying that the 
occupation and its intelligence services are responsible for the crime 
and that "the assassination on foreign soil within the walls of the 
Palestinian embassy is a violation of all legal and ethical norms and a 
blatant defiance of diplomatic roles." It also demanded that the PA 
provide better security services and equipment for Palestinian embassies 
internationally.

*Palestinians in Europe Conference* 
<http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=77057>: The 
Palestinians in Europe Conference strongly condemned the crime targeting 
the Palestinian ex-prisoner Omar Nayef Zayed, considering it a 
“dangerous precedent". The conference called for serious investigation 
into the crime and for holding accountable those responsible for the 
assassination including the Palestinian embassy and the Bulgarian 
authorities.

**February 27, 2016 http://wp.me/p2cx3f-2Da
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