Ramallah: A Palestinian officer has been sacked for a Facebook post in which he warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over attending the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres.
Abbas, who went ahead and attended the funeral on Friday, described Peres as “a partner in forging the peace of the brave” in a message of condolence to his family.
“If the mother of Palestinian martyr prisoner Yasser Hamdonah okays this participation, you can go ahead with it, but if she does not, you should not take part,” Lt Col Osama Mansour (Abu Arab), a Palestinian officer at the Palestinian-Israel Security Liaison Office and a key Fatah cadre, wrote in a sarcastic post on his Facebook page.
Hamdonah, a Palestinian prisoner, died in Israeli prison last week due to medical negligence.
“You would commit a major mistake, Mr. President, to not show all due respect to the feelings and suffering of your people and participate in the funeral of the serial killer of your own people.”
Peres died on Wednesday after suffering a stroke. Palestinians deeply despise Peres, calling him the “Israeli fox who excels at cunning soft-spoken rhetoric”.
Abbas has been widely criticised by various Palestinian political groups and student movements for his attendance.
The Palestinian Student Youth Movement asked for all those attending the funeral from the Palestinian delegation to be tried and punished in court for their “crime”.
