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<h2 class="post-title" style="margin: .4em 0 .3em; font-size: 1.8em;
font-size: 1.6em; color: #555; margin: 0; font-size: 20px;"><a
href="http://samidoun.net/2016/02/palestinian-organizations-respond-to-killing-of-omar-nayef-zayed-in-bulgaria/"
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;
text-decoration: none !important;">Palestinian organizations
respond to killing of Omar Nayef Zayed in Bulgaria</a></h2>
<span style="color: #888;">by <a
href="http://samidoun.net/?author=1" style="text-decoration:
underline; color: #2585B2; color: #888 !important;">samidoun</a>
</span>
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<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"></p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;">Palestinian political
parties, community and human rights organizations responded to
the<a style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://samidoun.net/2016/02/breaking-omar-nayef-zayed-assassinated-inside-palestinian-embassy-in-bulgaria/">
killing of Omar Nayef Zayed </a>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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;">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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;">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:</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><strong><a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://pflp.ps/english/2016/02/26/pflp-mourns-and-salutes-the-martyr-comrade-omar-nayef-zayed-assassinated-in-bulgaria/"
target="_blank">Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine</a>: </strong>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:</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em; padding-left:30px;">"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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em; padding-left:30px;">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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em; padding-left:30px;">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."</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><strong><a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831177"
target="_blank">Palestinian Prisoners' Society:</a></strong>
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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><strong><a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831166"
target="_blank">Islamic Jihad</a></strong>: 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."</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;">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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><strong><a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831210"
target="_blank">Hamas</a></strong>: 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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;">Hamas spokesperson <a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831198"
target="_blank">Sami Abu Zuhri</a> 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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><a style="text-decoration:
underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831192"
target="_blank"><strong>Fateh</strong>:</a> 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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><a style="text-decoration:
underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831187"
target="_blank"><strong>Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine:</strong> </a>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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><strong><a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831178"
target="_blank">Popular Resistance Movement in Palestine</a>:</strong>
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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><strong><a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831162"
target="_blank">The Palestinian National Initiative</a>:</strong>
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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><strong><a
style="text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.net/Content.aspx?id=831327"
target="_blank">Palestinian Arab Front</a></strong>: 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.</p>
<p style="direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica,
Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0 0 1em;"><a style="text-decoration:
underline; color: #2585B2;"
href="http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=77057"
target="_blank"><strong>Palestinians in Europe Conference</strong></a>:
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.</p>
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