This third spherical of prisoner releases has been awash with photos that really feel loaded with symbolism and significance.
We’ll bear in mind Arbel Yehoud, frightened as she fought her means via a crowd in Khan Younis, or Agam Berger paraded in a faux IDF uniform and fitted with a bracelet within the colors of the Palestinian flag. 5 Thai hostages, abruptly seen by the world.
However for these on the West Financial institution, ready for prisoners to be launched and returned, there’s a very completely different picture that was celebrated.
A person inside a coach, wearing a prison-issue tracksuit, giving a victory signal whereas these exterior cheer him vociferously.
Picture:
Zakaria Zubeidi after his launch. Pic: Reuters
That man is Zakaria Zubeidi, a person who generates terribly diversified responses.
Within the minds of Israelis, Zubeidi is a murderous extremist with blood on his palms. To Palestinians, he’s an inspiration, seen as a mix of resistance, management, and cultural satisfaction.
Zubeidi, born within the refugee camp in Jenin, grew up attending a theatre group within the camp that was supposed to advertise understanding between Palestinians and Israelis, a trigger fervently backed by his mom.
He was shot within the leg by an Israeli soldier when he was 13 and was then jailed for the primary time the next yr after throwing stones at troops. He turned the jail’s spokesperson for all of the youngster inmates.
What adopted have been years of transient jobs, time in jail, and petty crime. However then in 2002, Zubeidi’s life was remodeled.
Picture:
Thai hostages freed by Hamas. Pic: AP
Picture:
Agam Berger
His mom and brother have been each killed by Israeli troops and, not lengthy after, the camp was partly demolished, sparking combating that killed dozens.
He later stated he was livid that not one of the Israeli households who had attended his mom’s theatre group received in contact to specific sympathy.
“We opened our homes to you, we gave you everything but what did we get in return,” he stated in an interview. “A bullet in my mother’s chest.”
He joined the armed wing of Fatah and was blamed by Israel for planning the 2002 Beit She’an assault on a polling station that killed six civilians and injured greater than 30 others.
He was linked to extra crimes simply as his affect and management, particularly in Jenin, grew.
Picture:
Agam Berger is sits along with her dad and mom following her launch.
Pic:Israel Protection Forces/Reuters
Israel named him as one in every of its most wished folks and, so it’s claimed, tried and didn’t kill him 4 occasions. Amongst Palestinians, his fame soared as he defied the IDF.
However then, apparently browbeaten, he modified tack, claiming it was unimaginable to defeat Israel, and determined to cease combating in alternate for a pardon, which was later rescinded.
Lastly, in 2019, he was convicted by an Israeli navy court docket of terrorism and imprisoned.
Two years later, terribly, he and 5 different prisoners escaped after digging a tunnel utilizing kitchen utensils.
Ever since, his title has been linked to folks holding aloft a spoon – an unlikely image of Palestinian resistance.
And now he’s free. Zubeidi has been instructed he’s banned from going again to Jenin, however he will likely be welcomed throughout the West Financial institution.
There, he’s revered; in Israel, he’s reviled.
An ideal image of how this ceasefire can mix pleasure and despair in a single second.
