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<h1 class="page__title title balance-text" id="page-title">Muhannad
Halabi: A terrorist to Israel, a hero to his family</h1>
<header class="node__header">
<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/budour-youssef-hassan"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel"
datatype="">Budour Youssef Hassan</a></span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single" property="dc:date"
datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-01-20T17:18:00+00:00">20
January 2016<br>
<b><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/muhannad-halabi-terrorist-israel-hero-his-family/15316">https://electronicintifada.net/content/muhannad-halabi-terrorist-israel-hero-his-family/15316</a></small></small></small></b><br>
</span></span> </p>
</header>
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<p>When <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/muhannad-halabi">Muhannad
Halabi</a> stabbed two Israeli men to death and injured a woman
and a baby in <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/jerusalem">Jerusalem’s</a>
Old City, he started what many Palestinians have called the
“intifada of the knives.”</p>
<p>Halabi was shot and killed by Israeli police during the attack in
early October last year and the 19-year-old law student was <a
href="http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/PA-seeks-to-name-Jerusalem-street-after-terrorist-who-killed-2-Jews-in-capital-430316">branded</a>
a “terrorist” by the media. His parents, however, have a sharply
different view: they regard Muhannad as a hero.</p>
<p>“I will always be proud that my son sacrificed his life for the
liberation of his homeland,” said his mother Suhair.</p>
<p>In his final <a
href="http://paltoday.ps/ar/post/249427/%D9%85%D9%87%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%AD%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%82%D8%B5%D9%89-%D9%88%D8%AB%D8%A3%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3">posting</a>
on Facebook, Muhannad expressed deep <a href="http://"
the-third-intifada-is-here-jerusalem-terrorist-wrote-day-before-attack=""
com="">anger</a> about the incursions of Israeli settlers into
the compound around <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/al-aqsa-mosque">al-Aqsa
mosque</a>, one of Islam’s holiest sites. He had just watched a
video of a Palestinian woman being arrested by Israeli police at
al-Aqsa.</p>
<p>Urging a “revolution,” Muhannad compared Palestine to a battered
and tormented orphan who had been forsaken by fellow Arabs.</p>
<p>Muhannad showed his message to his parents before putting it on
the Internet. “I was surprised to read it and felt that he meant
every word,” said Suhair. The post was written one day before
Muhannad carried out his attack.</p>
<h2>Wake-up call</h2>
<p>His father, Shafiq, said: “Muhannad has led the way and I feel
that all those young people rising up are joining him. His attack
was the wake-up call that Palestinians needed to act and break the
current deadlock.”</p>
<p>Even Israeli military officials have <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/netanyahu-lashes-out-sweden-over-execution-accusations">acknowledged</a>
that the spate of attacks is spurred by a desire among some young
Palestinians to strike at symbols of the occupation and hit back
for the killings of Palestinians.</p>
<p>Muhannad was acutely aware of the injustices inflicted on his
people.</p>
<p>He grew up in Surda, a village north of <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/ramallah">Ramallah</a>
in the occupied West Bank. Yet whenever Muhannad was asked where
he came from, he replied that he was a native of the Ajami
neighborhood in <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/jaffa">Jaffa</a>.</p>
<p>His family was driven from Jaffa by Zionist forces during the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/nakba">Nakba</a>, the
1948 <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/ethnic-cleansing">ethnic
cleansing</a> of Palestine.</p>
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<p>“Muhannad always felt a sense of belonging to Jaffa without ever
visiting it,” said Suhair. “He was conscious of his roots. And no
power can take that consciousness away.”</p>
<p>One of the main targets of Muhannad’s anger was the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/palestinian-authority">Palestinian
Authority</a>. He felt that the PA had betrayed Palestinians by
cooperating with the Israeli occupation.</p>
<p>The PA’s betrayal was illustrated just after Muhannad was killed.
According to his father, members of the PA’s intelligence services
could be seen in Surda as Israeli forces raided the village.</p>
<p>The PA’s agents “were not here to protect us or prevent the
demolition,” said Shafiq. “They came to collect information about
Muhannad and about the family.”</p>
<p>Similarly, the Halabis received no help from the PA when Israeli
forces demolished their home earlier this month. Rather, local
youths rallied to the family’s defense.</p>
<p>The villagers were determined to try to resist the demolition.
But in the end, their rocks and burning tires proved no match to
the militarized bulldozers and other weapons in Israel’s arsenal.</p>
<h2>PA reinforces occupation</h2>
<p>“We do not expect the PA to protect us,” said Suhair Halabi a few
days before the demolition. “This authority reinforces the
occupation.”</p>
<p>Once they learned that Muhannad had been slain, Suhair and Shafiq
suspected it would only be a matter of time before their elegant
two-story home in Surda would be destroyed. The Israeli government
has been eager to see many revenge demolitions carried out in
recent months.</p>
<p>The Halabis tried to prevent the demolition by going to the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/israeli-high-court">Israeli
high court</a>, also known as the supreme court. But all three
judges handling their case ruled against them towards the end of
December.</p>
<p>They were given 10 days to evacuate their home in Surda. Its
demolition took place on 8 January.</p>
<p>Revenge or <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/punitive-home-demolitions">punitive</a>
demolitions were <a
href="http://www.hamoked.org/Topic.aspx?tID=main_3">introduced</a>
by Britain, when it ruled Palestine under a League of Nations
mandate between 1923 and 1948. Constituting <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/collective-punishment">collective
punishment</a>, the practice violates international law.</p>
<p>Yet Israel <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/israels-high-court-champions-revenge-against-palestinian-families">still
makes use</a> of these British regulations, with the
rubber-stamp approval of its highest court. This is despite
acknowledgement that these demolitions do not deter Palestinians
from resisting the occupation.</p>
<p>“At the end of the day, the supreme court is an arm of the
Israeli occupation,” said <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/labib-habib">Labib
Habib</a>, a Palestinian attorney who represents the Halabis.
“The legal lexicon it uses is nothing but a cloak to rationalize
and legitimize the arbitrary practices of this occupation.”</p>
<p>Israel carries out revenge demolitions on Palestinian homes only.
The relatives of Israeli Jews suspected of violent attacks on
Palestinians or others need never fear being made homeless by
Israel’s bulldozers.</p>
<h2>Defiant</h2>
<p>The Halabis struck a defiant note after the demolition. “They
demolished our home but did not destroy our morale,” said Suhair.
“In fact, our morale could not be higher.”</p>
<p>Activists in Ramallah have <a
href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/palestinians-raise-funds-rebuild-demolished-home-160112180212101.html">launched</a>
a fundraising campaign to help the Halabi family rebuild their
home.</p>
<p>The Halabis very much appreciate such acts of solidarity. But
Shafiq said that “all the money in the world” could not compensate
them for the loss of Muhannad.</p>
<p>A similar <a
href="http://www.alquds.com/articles/1452319941936889000/">message</a>
was conveyed to the Halabis by <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/muhammad-alayan">Muhammad
Alayan</a>, whose own son <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bahaa-alayan">Bahaa</a>
was slain by Israel in October during an alleged stabbing attack
in occupied <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/east-jerusalem">East
Jerusalem</a>. The Alayan home has also been demolished in
recent months.</p>
<p>“You and I will remain strong like Muhannad and Bahaa,” Muhammad
Alayan stated. “Be well, for the stone [of our houses] is not more
precious than their lives.”</p>
<p>“I put my blood and sweat into building this home,” said Shafiq,
standing amid its rubble. “It is where we have lived for the last
10 years. But what stings more than the physical destruction of
the home is the destruction of the memories. Every corner of this
house reminded us of Muhannad.”</p>
<p>Surda is located in Area A of the West Bank. As part of a zoning
scheme brought in by the 1993 <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/oslo-accords">Oslo
accords</a>, Area A is supposed to be under full control of the
Palestinian Authority for both administrative and security
purposes.</p>
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<p>However, by invoking the 1945 “emergency regulations” dating from
the <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/british-mandate">British
Mandate</a> era, Israel can circumvent these accords.</p>
<p>“When the military commander decides to implement them [the
regulations], this whole distinction between Areas A, B and C is
erased,” Habib added.</p>
<p>Muhannad Halabi knew how the Oslo agreements helped prolong the
occupation.</p>
<p>“Just like me, he was outspoken against the Palestinian Authority
and the peace process,” his father said. “We both believed that
for the last 20 years, this process has only resulted in
increasing colonization and home demolitions. The status quo
cannot be maintained.”</p>
<p>Muhannad was a law student at <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/al-quds-university-0">Al-Quds
University</a> in East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>“He knew the ins and outs of the Oslo accords by heart,” his
mother said. “He often said to me, do you want me to read to you
the agreement and show you how it has stripped us of our rights
and facilitated the theft of our land?”</p>
<h2>Political family</h2>
<p>The Halabis are a political family. Shafiq was once involved with
the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine but he is no
longer affiliated to the group. He was imprisoned briefly during
the first intifada in the 1980s.</p>
<p>Muhannad, meanwhile, was a member of <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/islamic-jihad">Islamic
Jihad’s</a> student chapter and was well-known to Palestinians
as an activist.</p>
<p>Like Shafiq, Muhannad believed that the PA’s negotiations with
Israel are futile and that armed resistance is necessary. Muhannad
had outlined his arguments in a letter addressed to <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/mahmoud-abbas">Mahmoud
Abbas</a>, the PA’s leader, and posted on Facebook shortly
before the attack.</p>
<p>“He was extremely passionate yet always polite in criticism,
which made his critique even more trenchant,” Suhair said.</p>
<p>Shafiq, a plumber, had promised to help Muhannad open a joint
office with his younger sister — and fellow law student — Fatimah
after they graduated.</p>
<p>In the end, Muhannad was buried wrapped in a lawyer’s robe. The
Palestinian Bar Association posthumously awarded him with an
honorary permit to practice as an attorney. A placard on his grave
reads: “The martyred lawyer Muhannad Halabi, igniter of the
Jerusalem uprising.”</p>
<p><em>Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian writer and law
graduate based in occupied Jerusalem. Blog: <a
href="https://budourhassan.wordpress.com/">budourhassan.wordpress.com</a>.
Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/Budour48">@Budour48</a></em></p>
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