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Zakaria Zubeidi, the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade in Jenin, has reportedly survived four Israeli "targeted killing" attempts.
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| By Ellis Shuman August 10, 2004 |
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Israeli Security Agency ("Shin Bet") officials arrested left-wing Israeli activist Tali Fahima (28) yesterday on suspicion of providing assistance to a Palestinian terrorist organization. Fahima, who was arrested previously in May and later released because a court found her not to be danger to state security, has served as a "human shield" protecting Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade leader Zakaria Zubeidi from a possible Israeli attack.
Fahima, a Tel Aviv resident who has made frequent visits to the Jenin refugee camp to show her support for Palestinians, was filmed by Channel Two television recently walking with armed Palestinian fugitives and expressing her support for the "Palestinian struggle." She said she was drawn into a platonic friendship with Zubeidi, who is married, due to a curiosity about the militant's unmitigated hatred for Israel.
"I read about Zubeidi and we began to talk by phone," Fahima told the Jerusalem Post in a June interview. "He told the story from the Palestinian side - what we in Israel are prevented from knowing. He told me things I never knew, things Israel tried to hide from me since Israel tells a one-sided story. He, for example, told me about the occupation."
"Zubeidi is not a terrorist, rather he is fighting against the occupation. Suicide bombers are also fighting the occupation. Put yourself in their place and see what happens. They are denied basic rights and freedom," she told the Jerusalem Post.
Zubeidi, for his part, first thought Fahima was "a little crazy," but came to appreciate what he said was her courage, according to media reports.
Zubeidi, 28, the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade in Jenin, has reportedly survived four Israeli "targeted killing" attempts. A staunch supporter of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Zubeidi recently led Palestinian gunmen in torching the offices of the Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Force and the headquarters of the Jenin district governor Kadoura Moussa.
"The intifada is in its death throes. These are the final stages - this I can confirm," Zubeidi told the Jerusalem Post in an interview last week.
Fahima says that in all her visits with Zubeidi in Jenin, she has never heard him or his friends plan hostile attacks against Israel. "I joined up with him to serve as a human shield from the Israeli security services, who want to capture him," she said, according to a Yediot Aharonot report.
Fahima was arrested by the Shin Bet in May on her departure from Jenin, but was released to house arrest in Tel Aviv a week later. The reason for the arrest was the suspicion of her providing assistance to a terrorist organization, possession of arms, conspiracy to commit a crime and entering Palestinian territories without permission. A court ruled, however, that Fahima is not dangerous to the public or state security.
Fahima, who voted in the last elections for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and was raised on admittedly right-wing ideology, told the Jerusalem Post in June that she wants to "marry a Jew and build a traditional Jewish home."
After her May arrest, Fahima vowed to continue to visit Jenin and her Palestinian friends. "I will continue, but I will ask this time for a permit to enter and I think they will give it to me, since they know what I am doing and that I am in not in danger from the Palestinians," she told the Jerusalem Post, quickly adding, "I am, however, in danger from the IDF."
Zubeidi told Yediot Aharonot that he hasn't seen Fahima since her arrest in May. "Israel arrests everyone who tries to contact the Palestinians," he said. "Tali became, in the eyes of Israelis, a terrorist, and if this is so, all members of the Peace Camp are terrorists," he said.
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