The oldest Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail has been released after serving a 17-year sentence for arms smuggling, an advocacy group and his son said.
Fuad Shubaki, 83, was released from Ashkelon prison and is “on his way to Ramallah” in the occupied West Bank, a representative for the Palestinian Prisoners Club said on Monday. This was confirmed by Shubaki's son, Hazem.
As Shubaki arrived in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to visit the tomb of his close ally the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Palestinian officials jostled to get close to him.
Children waved the flag of the Fatah movement, while women wore T-shirts with the face of a young Shubaki printed on them.
Among the crowd was Mahmoud Aloul, vice president of the Fatah movement, and Tawfiq Tirawi — two figures often described as possible successors to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
After praying at Arafat's tomb, Shubaki vowed to continue to follow the example of the late Palestinian leader.
“We will go on the path Yasser Arafat drew for us, we will carry on his resistance no matter what it costs. Our lives are worthless when it comes to our homeland, our people and those who were martyred along the way,” he said.
Shubaki, a senior member of the Fatah movement, was arrested by Palestinian security forces in 2002 at the height of the Second Intifada.
He was accused of attempting to smuggle weapons from Iran to the coastal enclave of Gaza aboard the Karine A ship, which was seized by Israel in the Red Sea.
The Israeli military claimed the ship was carrying 50 tonnes of weapons, including short-range Katyusha rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives from Iran and the Lebanon-based Shiite movement Hezbollah.
Shubaki was held by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank town of Jericho under US and British supervision.
In 2006, the prison was stormed by Israeli forces and Shubaki was taken to Israel, where he was tried in a military court.
He was sentenced to 20 years in jail, which was later reduced to 17 years.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
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THE LOWDOWN
Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
