PFLP threatens to murder Lieberman in response to Akko riots

Following clashes between Jews, Arabs in northern Israeli city, Palestinian organization's military wing says fate of Yisrael Beiteinu chairman will be similar to that of Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, who was killed by group members in 2001

Roee Nahmias |Published: 10.14.08 , 15:59

The military wing of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) threatened Tuesday to murder Knesset Member Avigdor Lieberman in response to the recent clashes between Jews and Arabs in the northern Israeli city of Akko.

According to a statement issued by the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the fate of the Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman, "who calls for the expulsion of Arabs from the Palestinian cities inside Israel," will be similar to that of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, who was murdered by organization members at Jerusalem's Hyatt Hotel in 2001.

Damascus' Response

Syria: Riots proof of Israel's racist policy

Roee Nahmias

Article published in government-run daily pronounces Yom Kippur riots 'attempt to Judaize Akko, to fight presence of Arabs in Israel by frightening them into leaving, similarly to methods adopted by Haganah and other Zionist terror gangs'

Syria: Riots proof of Israel's racist policy

"The Brigades will not stand by idly and the truce will not prevent them from responding to the occupation's ongoing crimes… The plan to eliminate the enemy's ministers has yet to end. The Brigades' bullets and rifles are still directed at those ministers and the fingers are still on the trigger," the statement said.

The organization expressed its solidarity with Israel's Arabs in general and with Akko's residents in particular, and praised their standing "in the face of Israel's expulsion policy."

Last month, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Majdi Rahima Rimawi to life imprisonment and an additional 80 years, to be served consecutively, for his part in the Ze'evi assassination.

Rahima, a PFLP member, is believed to be the mastermind behind the assassination, and the direct handler of the two gunmen, Basel al-Asmar and Hamdi Quran, supplying them with a photo of Ze'evi, a fake Israeli ID and details about the layout of the hotel.

PFLP Secretary-General Ahmed Saadat was sentenced in June 2004 to five life sentences and an additional 40 years in prison for his involvement in the murder.

The London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi reported of threats made by several other Palestinian organizations in response to the Akko riots. The Mujahideen Brigades, an organization affiliated with Fatah, threatened to "attack in all of Palestine".

"We won't stand by idly in the face of the organized crimes taking place. All of Palestine will be targeted in response," the organization threatened.

The Salah al-Din Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committee's military wing, and the National Resistance Brigades, the Democratic Front's military wing, also threatened to respond to the violent clashes in the Israeli city.