An ITIC examination reveals that another Palestinian media person killed in the Gaza Strip was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Overview

• On April 25, 2018, the death of media person Ahmed Abu Hussein was reported. He was seriously wounded during the “great return march” events on Friday, April 13, 2018, while covering a demonstration near the border fence in the Jabalia area. Due to the complicated nature of his wound he was transferred to a hospital in Ramallah, and from there to the Intensive Care unit in the Tel Hashomer hospital in Israel (Ma’an, April 26, 2018). He died from his wounds in the hospital.
• An examination of Ahmed Abu Hussein’s identity revealed that in addition to being a media person, he was also a PFLP member.^[1] That was manifested in several ways: the PFLP’s military wing issued formal death notices for him; at his funeral red PFLP flags were carried; and the Ahmed Abu Hussein’s Facebook page posted notices glorifying the PFLP, its leaders and terrorist attacks (such as the assassination of Israeli minister Rehavam Ze’evi).

Ahmed Abu Hussein was the second media person killed during Palestinians riots near the border fence. Before him, press photographer Yasser Murtaja was killed on April 6, 2018, while covering the march.^[2] Like Ahmed Abu Hussein, Murtaja had a double identity: in addition to being a media person, he was also an operative in Hamas’ security forces. The double identities of media personnel who are also operatives in terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip were widely exposed and documented by the ITIC during Operation Protective Edge.

Ahmed Abu Hussein: Personal Details

• Ahmed Abu Hussein, 25 (or 26) years old, was not married. He was born in the Jabalia refugee camp and lived in Gaza City. He studied communications and public relations at al-Azhar University in Gaza. He worked with several media outlets in the Gaza Strip, among them the Bisann News and the PFLP-affiliated Voice of the People Radio (Facebook page of Ahmed Abu Hussein and the PFLP website April 26, 2014).
• Ahmed Abu Hussein was critically wounded in the stomach on April 13, 2018, while covering a riot near the border fence east of Jabalia. Initially he was taken to the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. From there he was transferred to Ramallah and from there to the IC unit of the Tel Hashomer hospital in Israel (Ma’an, April 26, 2018), where he died of his wounds.

   
Pictures of Ahmed Abu Hussein from his Facebook page (Facebook page of Ahmed Abu Hussein, April 5 and 8, 2018).

Ahmed Abu Hussein’s Ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Exposed During His Funeral and Commemoration Service

Funeral and death notices

• On April 26, 2018, Ahmed Abu Hussein was buried in Gaza. PFLP death notices were hung, saying that the organization mourned the death of its member [al-rafiq in Arabic]. Red PFLP flags were also carried during the funeral.

    
Right: Red PFLP flags carried during the funeral of Ahmed Abu Hussein (Palinfo Twitter account, April 26, 2018). Left: PFLP Banner hung during the funeral of Ahmed Abu Hussein. The Arabic reads, “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine mourns, with pride and fortitude, its shaheed, its journalist, comrade Ahmed Abu Hussein” (al-Watania, April 26, 2018).

• The PFLP website posted a formal notice mourning, “with pride and fortitude,” the death of shaheed journalist Ahmed Abu Hussein. According to the notice, he was also a reporter for the PFLP-affiliated Voice of the People Radio in Gaza City. The organization called on the media and the Journalists Syndicate to take responsibility and document Israel’s activities against journalists to make it possible to sue Israeli senior leaders in the International Criminal Court (ICC) (PFLP website, April 26, 2018).

Formal death notice issued by the PFLP (PFLP website, April 26, 2018).

• The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the PFLP’s military wing, also posted a death notice on its website, mourning the death of “the shaheed, the hero, the journalist, Ahmed Abu Hussein.” The wing promised it would pursue “the Zionist criminals, who will pay the price for their crimes” (Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades website, April 26, 2018).

Memorial service

• On April 28, 2018, the PFLP held a formal memorial service for Ahmed Abu Hussein in the Jabalia refugee camp. The stage was decorated with a large banner and pictures of movement secretary general Ahmed Sa’adat and former secretary general Abu Ali Mustafa (Palinfo Twitter account, April 28, 2018). Information about the two is the following:
  • Abu Ali Mustafa was one of the PFLP’s founders. He became its secretary general in July 2000 when George Habash ended his role. In 2001 he was killed in a targeted attack while in his office in Ramallah. He was responsible for many terrorist attacks against Israel and the murder of many Israeli civilians. The PFLP’s military-terrorist wing is named after him.
  • Ahmed Sa’adat was appointed PFLP secretary general after the killing of Abu Ali Mustafa. Ahmed Sa’adat planned and orchestrated the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze’evi (October 17, 2001). After the assassination he fled to the Muqata’a in Ramallah. Yasser Arafat refused to surrender him. After the IDF blockaded the Muqata’a, an arrangement was reached whereby Sa’adat would be imprisoned in Jericho with British and American guards. When Hamas won the elections in 2006 it declared its intention to release him. IDF forces encircled the prison, captured Ahmed Sa’adat and he was transferred to a jail in Israel, where he is serving his sentence

Postings from Ahmed Abu Hussein’s Facebook Page

   
Right: Ahmed Abu Hussein shared a posting of the PFLP’s information bureau in the Gaza Strip, warning against issuing fake news in the PFLP’s name (Facebook page of Ahmed Abu Hussein, April 8, 2018). Left: Posting encouraging violence and throwing Molotov cocktails. The Arabic reads, “Arise! The storm is in your hands…” Ahmed Abu Hussein wrote, “In Jerusalem there is [no one] except you” (Facebook page of Ahmed Abu Hussein, October 30, 2014).

   
Right: Posting from Ahmed Abu Hussein’s Facebook page for the anniversary of the assassination of Rehavam Ze’evi, Israeli Minister of Tourism. The post glorifies the PFLP, whose operatives carried out the assassination. The Arabic reads, “We ascribe the victory to our [popular] front [i.e., the PFLP]. Our revolution will remain red…every year and our front is a fork [stuck] in the throat of the occupation” (Facebook page of Ahmed Abu Hussein, October 17, 2014). Left: Posting praising the PFLP operatives who assassinated Rehavam Ze’evi (Facebook page of Ahmed Abu Hussein, Oct 177, 2014).

^[1] For an analysis of the identities of the Palestinians killed in "great return march" events, see the April 25 bulletin, "Analysis of the Identities of Gazans Killed During the 'Great Return March.' " ↑
^[2] For the death of Yasser Murtaja, see the April 10, 2018, bulletin, "The killing of Palestinian press photographer Yasser Murtaja by the IDF during the events of the Great March of Return highlighted a phenomenon of operatives of Hamas employed as media personnel." ↑

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