Ramallah Governor: Murderer of Israeli Teen Is a Heroic Prisoner

An Israeli soldier stands guard as he checks Palestinians' vehicles on their way out
ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty

JERUSALEM – The Governor of Ramallah met with the family of the Palestinian murderer of an Israeli teenager, telling them that she is “counting the days until …Abd Al-Fattah [is] a free man,” Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported.

In 2001, 16-year-old Ofir Rahum was tricked into meeting with a Palestinian woman. The woman, Amna Muna, made Rahum’s acquaintance in an internet chat room and engaged him in an online friendship that culminated in his agreeing to meet her. Ensnaring him, the woman drove Rahum to Ramallah where two terrorists were waiting. They shot and murdered the teenager.

Following District Governor of Ramallah Laila Ghannam’s meeting with the family of one of the killers, Abd Al-Fattah Doleh, the Ramallah Facebook page described the killer as a “heroic prisoner.” Governor Ghannam added that the district of Ramallah can’t wait to see the killer released:

“Ghannam noted that the Ramallah and El-Bireh district is counting the days until it can receive Abd Al-Fattah as a free man.”

The March 16, 2016 post also praised Doleh’s “mother’s heroic patience and resolve [as being] a mark of pride on the chest of every Palestinian.”

Doleh is a member of Fatah’s Tanzim military wing. He was arrested in 2004 and later convicted of participating in the kidnapping and murder of Rahum on Jan. 17, 2001. Doleh was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Amna Muna, who planned and organized the kidnapping and murder, was sentenced to life imprisonment but was later released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal.

It is not the first time Governor Laila Ghannam has glorified terrorists. She recently participated in an event hosted by the Palestinian Red Crescent in which she praised the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history. At the event, Ghannam expressed her “great pride” in Dalal Mughrabi, who led the terrorists who murdered 37 people, including 12 children.

In 2015, Ghannam received the “Liberty Bell Award” and a “Citation of Honor” from Philadelphia Councilwoman Maria Sanchez. However, after PMW exposed Ghannam’s terror support and notified Sanchez and the Philadelphia Municipality, the award was rescinded. Ghannam explained that the citation had been withdrawn because of her “support of terror,” and responded that she was not upset that she lost the award: “We are not interested in citations of honor that require us to slander our fighters and our supporting pillars as terrorists.”

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