Ahmad Sa'adat (also transliterated from
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
as Ahmed Sadat or Saadat; ; born 1953), also known as Abu Ghassan, is a
Palestinian
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
militant, and Secretary-General of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...
(PFLP), a
Marxist–Leninist Palestinian nationalist
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
organisation.
Sa'adat graduated in 1975 from the
UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fl ...
Teachers College, Ramallah, specializing in Mathematics. Sa'adat was elected General Secretary of the PFLP by its Central Committee in October 2001, to succeed
Abu Ali Mustafa
Mustafa Ali Zabri (; 14 May 1938 – 27 August 2001), better known by his kunya Abu Ali Mustafa (; ) and also known as Mustafa Alhaj, was a Palestinian militant who served as the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of ...
after his assassination by
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
during the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...
. He has been sentenced to prison terms and held in prison since 2002.
Sa'adat had spent many years in Israeli prisons, on eight separate occasions. He was accused by Israel of organizing the
assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi
Rehavam Ze'evi ( ; 20 June 192617 October 2001) was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist Moledet party. He mainly advocated for complete cleansing of the Palestinian population through population transfer.
...
, and took refuge in the
Muqata'a headquarters of
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...
leader
Yassir Arafat
Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, President of the Stat ...
, which was then besieged by Israel after Arafat refused to hand him over to Israel. As part of an agreement with Israel, Sa'adat was tried by the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a c ...
(PNA) and imprisoned at the
Jericho
Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017.
F ...
prison in 2002. In the
Palestinian elections of January 2006, Sa'adat was elected to the
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...
. On 14 March 2006,
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
announced their intention to release Sa'adat from prison. The US and British team monitoring Jericho prison left, citing poor security conditions. On the same day, Israeli forces carried out
Operation Bringing Home the Goods
Operation Bringing Home the Goods () was a raid launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on March 14, 2006, on a Palestinian prison in Jericho. The prison held several prisoners wanted by Israel, whose incarceration was monitored by British ...
, taking Sa'adat and five other security prisoners into custody. In December 2008 he was given a 30-year prison sentence by an
Israeli military court
The judicial system of Israel consists of secular courts and religious courts. The law courts constitute a separate and independent unit of Israel's Ministry of Justice. The system is headed by the President of the Supreme Court and the Ministe ...
. He was held in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...
in an Israeli prison and his health deteriorated after frequent hunger strikes in protest of Israeli policies. Since 2012 Sa'adat is no longer in solitary confinement.
Political views
Sa'adat is the General Secretary of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...
(PFLP). In the context of the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
Sa'adat persistently claims that a
one state solution
The one-state solution is a proposed approach to the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. It stipulates the establishment of a single state within the boundaries of what was Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and 1948, today consisting of the co ...
is the only possible solution for the conflict, he holds that "The solution is the
one-state solution
The one-state solution is a proposed approach to the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. It stipulates the establishment of a single state within the boundaries of what was Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and 1948, today consisting of the co ...
and not the
two-state solution
The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...
." Saadat said: "There are no other horizons for any other settlement."
Sa'adat also holds that "The communist forces in the Arab world have applied the viewpoints of the Soviet Union by the book and have never developed their own theoretical and political 'flavor'”.
Imprisonment by Palestinian Authority
Sa'adat was accused by Israel of organizing the assassination of the Israeli Tourism Minister,
Rehavam Ze'evi
Rehavam Ze'evi ( ; 20 June 192617 October 2001) was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist Moledet party. He mainly advocated for complete cleansing of the Palestinian population through population transfer.
...
, who was killed on 17 October 2001. He took refuge in the
Muqata'a headquarters of
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...
leader
Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
, who refused to hand him over to Israel, leading to an Israeli siege.
After negotiations involving the UK and US, an agreement (sometimes called the "Jericho Deal") was reached between Israel and the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a c ...
. Israel called off the siege of the Muqata'a on 2 May 2002, and Sa'adat and four members of the PFLP implicated in Ze'evi's killing (Basel al-Asmar, 'Ahed Abu Ghalma, Majdi al-Rimawi and
Hamdi Quran
Hamdi Quran is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He was one of a four-man PFLP team who, on 17 October 2001 assassinated Rehavam Ze'evi, the founder of the right-wing Moledet party, who mainly advocated for "p ...
) were arrested by the PNA. Sa'adat was tried in a Palestinian court while the other four were given a military trial. All were then held in the Palestinian prison in
Jericho
Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017.
F ...
, with American and British monitors overseeing their captivity. Sa'adat was not allowed to run for political office, give interviews or address the public, although these bans were occasionally circumvented or ignored.
The Palestinian Supreme Court declared that Sa'adat's imprisonment was unconstitutional, and ordered his release, but the PNA has refused to comply.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
has declared that this, and the fact that he received an unfair trial, makes his detention illegal, and that he must either be charged with a crime and given
due process
Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual p ...
, or released.
At the
2006 Palestinian election, Sa'adat was elected to the
Palestinian National Council
The Palestinian National Council (PNC; ) is the legislative body - in Arabic, the ''Majlis'' - of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PNC is intended to serve as the parliament that represents all Palestinians inside and outside th ...
and
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
formed government. Hamas announced its intention to release Ze'evi's assassins.
Imprisonment by Israel
On 14 March 2006, the American and British monitors were withdrawn from the Jericho prison where Sa'adat and five other security prisoners were being held citing lack of security, and Israeli forces then launched
Operation Bringing Home the Goods
Operation Bringing Home the Goods () was a raid launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on March 14, 2006, on a Palestinian prison in Jericho. The prison held several prisoners wanted by Israel, whose incarceration was monitored by British ...
, surrounding the prison to prevent the escape of the security prisoners, including Sa'adat. In the ensuing stand-off, Palestinian guards left the prison but 200 prisoners refused to surrender. A ten-hour standoff ensued, with Israeli soldiers besieging the prison and clashing with Palestinian Authority security personnel, as Sa'adat and five other prisoners barricaded themselves inside. During the course of the standoff, two Palestinian security officers were killed and 28 wounded, and Sa'adat eventually ordered his men to lay down their arms and surrender.
Israeli military forces took Sa'adat and the other five security prisoners into custody. On 25 December 2008, an
Israeli military court
The judicial system of Israel consists of secular courts and religious courts. The law courts constitute a separate and independent unit of Israel's Ministry of Justice. The system is headed by the President of the Supreme Court and the Ministe ...
sentenced Sa'adat to 30 years in prison for heading an "illegal terrorist organization" and for his responsibility for all actions carried out by his organization, particularly for the murder of Rehavam Ze'evi. The judges said:
There is no doubt that the accused controls the PFLP. When we consider the appropriate sentence for someone who headed a murderous terrorist organization, we take into account not only his position, but his actions as well. The offenses the accused has been convicted of indicate that he initiated and participated in military activity with the aim of killing innocent people.
There was speculation that
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
was attempting to include Sa'adat among the Palestinian prisoners released in the October 2011
Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange
The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange (; ), also known as Wafa al-Ahrar () ("Faithful to the free"), followed a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1027 prisoners — almost all Palestinia ...
. Israel refused to include Sa'adat in the final deal.
Sa'adat was placed in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...
. In 2010, the
Israeli Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...
refused an appeal by Sadaat to be let out of solitary confinement, accepting the prosecution's claim that there was evidence Sa'adat had sent messages to terrorist operatives from within prison.
On 27 September 2011, Sa'adat and other members of the PFLP (hundreds according to an Amnesty International report) held in Israeli prisons began a
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
to protest against worsening Israeli prison policies and solitary confinement.
The hunger strike was overshadowed by the deal agreed between Hamas and Israel for the release of over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captured soldier
Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit (, ''Gilˁad Šaliṭ'' ; born 28 August 1986) is a former MIA soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who, on 25 June 2006, was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid via tunnels near the Israeli border. Ham ...
. The prisoners' swap deal left out Sa'adat.
Sa'adat and the other PFLP prisoners ended their hunger strike on 17 October 2011, the 21st day of the hunger strike, after Israeli prison authorities agreed to end solitary confinements.
In 2022, while still in prison, he was re-elected as leader of the PFLP.
Jamil Mezher
Jamil Mezher (also transliterated from Arabic as Mazhar, full name Jamil Saleh Abdullah Mezher; ; born 16 July 1964), is a socialist Palestinian militant and the Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (P ...
was named as deputy leader.
On 1 October 2023, Ahmad Sa'adat and 90 others
Palestinian prisoners in Israel
The future of Palestinians detained by Israel in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is considered central to progress in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Cases of prison sentences include the charges of terrorism or being a ...
were suddenly moved from Ramon prison to Nafha prison, the week before the full-scale war began on
7 October
Events Pre-1600
*3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar.
* 1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon.
* 1477 ...
2023.
2023-2024 hostage crisis
The release of key allied leaders was a repeated demand from
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
during hostage negotiations during the
Gaza war hostage crisis
In 2023, as part of the October 7th attacks which initiated the Gaza war, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups abducted 251 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and elderly people. Almost half of the hostages ...
. They have repeatedly requested the release of 3 key prisoners: Ahmad Sa'adat (Secretary-General of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...
, abbreviated PFLP),
Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Barghouti (also transliterated al-Barghuthi; ; born 6 June 1959) is a Palestinian political leader who has served as an elected legislator and has been an advocate of a two-state solution prior to his imprisonment by Israel.[Fatah
Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...]
, and
Abdullah Barghouti from Hamas' own
Qassam Brigades
Al-Qassam Brigades, also known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (EQB; ), are the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist organization Hamas. Led by Mohammed Deif until his death on 13 July 2024, Al-Qassam Brigades are ...
militant wing.
Family
Sa'adat is married to Abla Saadat, and together they have four children, two boys and two girls.
References
External links
Interview with Ahmed Sa'adat– Ma'an News, 3 January 2006.
Letter from Ahmad Saadat at Jericho PrisonProfile from PFLP (Arabic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saadat, Ahmad
1954 births
Living people
People of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Anti-revisionists
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members
Palestinian murderers
Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel
Palestinian people of Egyptian descent
People convicted on terrorism charges
People imprisoned on terrorism charges
Members of the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council
People of the Second Intifada