The ’Master’ Lover of Palestine... Martyred

From the tough stones of Mount Lebanon, his will originated,

The cause of Palestine was his destination,

Then to the Mountains of Amel he returned,

He was a youngster who believed in resistance,

Then Allah guided him more, when he was

He was a lofty man whom all space could not contain as he returned,

He returned crowned with glory, wearing his military suit, carrying pens, bullets,

pains and dreams...an identity and much love for the same cause,

He returned...but the story wasn't yet complete!

It was on July 16, when an activist was released after spending most of his life for the sake of the Palestinian cause, in which he believed and fought for the sake of, for a long time...He is a Lebanese youngster who broke the borders and sectarian limits, performing a brave operation behind the seas, on the enemy's lines where nobody would expect.

He is the man who refused to submit to imprisonment although 5 bullets hit his body. The 29 years of imprisonment and torture, instead of the 547 years he was sentenced to, did not affect his determination and insistence...

He is the General of Prisoners and Detainees, he is also the General of the Liberated Prisoners, he is Samir al-Quntar.

Back to the Beginning...

"Abo Ali", the resistance fighter with his brown skin and smart eyes, recalled with a few words some images in which he hid so many faces, stories and critical phases.
He narrated how he prepared himself on April 22nd, 1979, when he was 17, to execute the "Leader Jamal Abdul Nasser Operation," which killed 6 Zionists, among which was the atomic scientist Danny Haran, and wounded twelve others, after driving his boat toward Occupied Palestine with his colleagues in the Palestine Liberation Front.

From the Zionist prison cells inside Palestine, al-Quntar dusted off his memories about his prison guard and enemy, recalling some of the unimaginable torture he suffered from...

He was crucified naked, cuffed standing for days and nights, even bullets were removed from his body without basal anesthesia. He also lived with asthma in those dark cells, beside the bullet that stayed in his lung.

As he recalled the events that passed in his life, he remembered shifting between the enemy's prison camps in Bir Sabe', ‘Askalan, Nafha, Hadarim and others from solitary confinement to another collective cell...There in the prison, he got to know many Palestinian prisoners whom he won't forget. He would not forget "Jabr Wishah'" from the Bureij Camp in Gaza, and his mother "Om Jabr" who carried the burden of all prisoners and was called the "Mother of Arab Prisoners" as she was a symbol of giving and sacrifice...

Al-Quntar was still in contact with his fellow prisoners as much as his security situation helped. However, every now and then, he used to ask about his second mother "Om Jabr" and her health situation, wishing her safety and long life, and wishing the detainees to be soon released.

A Day When the Chain Had to Break...

Before the "Truthful Promise" operation conducted by the Islamic Resistance in the area of "Khallet Warde" on July of 2006, some of the brothers had revealed to al-Quntar inside the prison an oral letter saying that he will be released soon, and that the men of Allah had set him a date with freedom to fulfill the promise the Sayyed and leader had made.

On July 12, 2006, the resistance men fulfilled their promise. After that day, al-Quntar felt he was freer than any other time, and believed that the enemy this time won't be able to prevent his release. It was the most beautiful day in his life.

As the dawn of Wednesday July 16, 2008 broke out, the "Redwan" Operation to liberate the General of Martyrs and his companions kicked off. It was a long, exhausting day, as if the enemy wanted desperately to delay the joy and the celebration. However, the resistance accomplished its promise, and released its prisoners against the enemy's will and arrogance by divine mercy and victory. It was only the resistance's gun that would release a detainee with dignity or liberate a land without any limit or condition.

Very pleased with that blessed day, Samir al-Quntar didn't forget to thank again the Sayyed of resistance, its men and martyrs, as well as all its people who suffered from killings and injuries, displacement and pain in the July war, presenting all what they have for the sake of the resistance and the Sayyed. He also thanked every honorable person who showed solidarity with him demanding his freedom.

Excerpts from his Post-detention Life...

Both the chain and the prison guard failed to break Samir's will to live. Shimon Peres' promise for Samir "not to ever be able to have children" also failed. Soon after his freedom, al-Quntar married journalist Zeinab Berjawi, and they had their first child whom they called "Ali". Berjawi had had an interview with Samir on "al-Alam" Channel, and after they got to know each other. He proposed to her and she agreed. On May 10, 2009, they got married.

In his new life, which remained on the path of his old struggle, al-Quntar adapted himself as much as he could. His wife understood the nature of his work and what that meant. Despite the threats that surrounded him from the enemy and its spies, Samir was keen to live his life in the most normal manner, regardless of the costs he had to pay for this path, his pledge didn't change. Samir rather vowed to raise his young Ali to love the land and defend it, fight its occupiers until the right is taken back to its owners, and the land and detainees are freed! Because we are people who don't keep our prisoners unreleased.

Al-Quntar's imagination didn't draw an image for the life he was living. It was not planned to be as it became. However, he was sure and confident that he will be freed and there will be victory over his prison guard, because as long as there is occupation, there will be resistance. Hence, there is hope, victory, and a coming dawn of freedom.

Between Hunger Strike and Fasting Ramadan, an Order, Duty

The empty stomachs battle and the hunger strike is one of the methods used by the prisoners to impose their conditions on the jailers. Many battles took place between them and the enemy in which it defeated them once but they obliged it many times. They obliged the enemy to allow them to listen to the radio and watch TV, and some of them resumed their studies upon detention. Samir was one of these in which he obtained his Bachelors in humanitarian and social sciences from Tel Aviv Open University...

When fasting the month of Ramadan in freedom, al-Quntar didn't forget the past days of hunger strike, the scene of hunger, thirst, tire, oppression, suffering...and martyrdom. It is the price of resistance that is paid by death, wounds, imprisonment, and pains, yet his insistence to keep the pledge is the promise before, during and after imprisonment. The path is long and continuous despite all challenges, difficulties and huge sacrifices.

Palestine Remains the Destination, the Campus, Liberating it the Dream, the Goal...

"Believe me I didn't return here but to return to Palestine... I returned to return," Samir's famous saying didn't just express his excitement in front of the thousands of crowds gathering to welcome him in the Rayeh Square in Beirut Southern Suburb. He rather carried the love of Palestine just as he carried its cause and identity. He considered that Palestine was, is still and will remain in the conscience of every Palestinian and Arab who feels the true sense of belonging to his religion, history geography, heritage, traditions and language, and that the dream of liberating Palestine is neither impossible nor a far-fetched mission. It rather became closer than any time before following the strikes that hit this identity in which its image became torn. He also vowed to stay loyal to this cause until the end of his life, citing Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as he said that victory had approached very soon.

The Arab Spring is a Season whose Features are yet to be Complete...

Al-Quntar was following what was going on in the Arab world with much pain and sorrow. The Arab reality doesn't need a lot of comments or explanation, starting from Lebanon and Syria, passing through to Libya and Iraq, to reach Egypt and Tunisia. He stressed the necessity on evaluating the whole Arab scene to extract lessons from what happened and from what is going on in the region, because the mobile mischief in the Arab world that is hitting citizens of the same nation aims at hindering the resistance's role and path, as well as the attempt to drag the region back to the years of slavery and colonialism in favor of the Zionist-American and Takfiri project.

Such mischief and conspiracies will fall and break because what is happening in Syria and Egypt represents many signs that the time of defeats has gone and the time of victories has begun, according to al-Quntar. It is true that the situation needs patience and tolerance, but we will achieve victory because the changes on the ground are huge, and in the interests of the path of resistance. Today, there is no step backward, especially since the Arab peoples have become aware that the Zionist entity wants to make the Arab nations warring countries, as the General of Released Prisoners said.

Supporting Syria is a Duty because it Supported the Resistance...

Al-Quntar recalled the odd voices that have always been attacking the resistance, its project, role, and weapons, calling for surrendering and kneeling to the Zionist-American project. Those voices don't see in resistance but a destructive action that doesn't have any benefit. This defeatist voice has been echoing since many years, and those who voice it are still firing at the resistance to defame it and damage its achievements under fake and weak pretexts. They are the ones who found the reason for "Israel" to launch a war on Lebanon in July 2006, holding the resistance responsible for the war and destruction because of the capture of the two "Israeli" soldiers, in order to carry out the exchange operation and release the prisoners.

However, they forgot that "Israel" is the side that invaded Lebanon, and that it has captured its people in its detention camps. They didn't believe the resistance politicians and military men who said that the plans of aggression were in place and were just waiting for a launch time. They also didn't admit the resistance's victory while "Israel" itself admitted it.

Because Syria is the resistance's strategic depth and the embracing support, supporting it becomes a duty on the resistance and its axis, not to serve a president or a leadership, but for its position, role and history... Al-Quntar stressed the necessity of not giving an ear to those who say that the resistance's war in Syria is in the interest of Bashar Assad, just like the July 2006 war was for the sake of al-Quntar.

And the Story Continues...

From a journey of resistance on the path of Palestine, the story of detaining the revolutionary struggler who returned to the nation free and honorable within a truthful promise started... The story won't finish but until the dawn, signaling the return of Palestine from its imprisonment to its Arab and Muslim nation, freely and dignified, even if all the sacrifices were offered in its way, ending the life of the activist who achieved what he wanted... They see it far, yet we see it near.

Source:Moqawam.org, Translated and Edited by website team