MEMRI Special Dispatch | 6026 | April 17, 2015
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud 'Abbas Awards Medals Of Honor To
Fatah Terrorists

Ahead of Palestinian Prisoners Day, which is marked on April 17, Palestinian
Authority (PA) President Mahmoud 'Abbas decided to award medals to the first
female Fatah member imprisoned by Israel, Fatima Bernawi, the first male
Fatah member imprisoned, Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi, and the first Fatah member who
was "martyred," Ahmad Moussa Salama, in honor of their "national
struggle."[1]

On April 16, 2015, the website of Fatah's Egyptian branch wrote about
Bernawi in an article dedicated to Prisoners Day: "Bernawi was arrested in
October 1967 after she placed a bomb in the Zion Cinema in Jerusalem. She
was sentenced to life in prison, but was released after ten years, in
November 1977. [Israel's] Prison Service described [her release] as a
'gesture of good will' towards Egypt ahead of the visit by the late Egyptian
prime minister Anwar Sadat in Jerusalem on November 19, 1977, [a visit] that
paved the way to the signing of the Israel-Egypt peace agreement in 1979."

The website stated further: "Fatima Bernawi was one of the first Palestinian
women to adopt [the means of] armed self-sacrifice operations after the
start of the modern Palestinian revolution, which was launched by Fatah on
January 1, 1965. She was the first young Palestinian woman to be arrested by
the Israeli occupation forces, and is the first woman prisoner listed in the
records of the [Palestinian] women prisoners' movement..."[2]

Fatima Bernawi during her service as head of the PA women's police force
(Image: Fateheg.org, April 16, 2015)

Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi was caught while attempting to carry out a terrorist
attack in Israel on January 7, 1965, and was sentenced to 30 years in
prison, but was released in 1971.[3] Ahmad Moussa Salama was killed while
participating in Fatah's first terror operation, an attack on Israel's
National Water Carrier on January 1, 1965.[4]

[1] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), April 17, 2015.
[2] Fateheg.org, April 16, 2015.
[3] Aljazeera.net, April 17, 2013.
[4] Thawra.ps, February 9, 2011.

For assistance, please contact MEMRI at memri@memri.org.
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070 | Fax: (202) 955-9077

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle
East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background
information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution.