Palestinian Authority official dies at age 65 after contracting corona
Erekat passed away
Photography:
Reuters
For three weeks now, PLO Secretary General Dr. Saeb Erekat has been battling coronary heart disease, and yesterday morning Erekat's struggle came to an end when he was pronounced dead at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
His daughter Salam said that when he was hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Kerem, her father was in a very serious condition, and his doctors at the Jerusalem hospital called Hadassah his wife and children and informed them that he was connected to the Akmo device in an attempt to stabilize his critical condition. Lung transplanted.
According to daughter Salam, in recent days there has been another serious deterioration in her father's condition, his body systems have completely collapsed and his doctors' hands have been cut off from rescuing him, and all they have left is to call his wife and children to the hospital to be separated.
According to daughter Salam, her father, who was transferred to Hadassah Ein Kerem after being treated at a Palestinian hospital in Jericho, suffered in addition to the corona virus in which he also contracted a bacterial infection that suppressed his immune system.
Erekat, 65 at the time of his death, left behind a wife and four children.
He underwent a lung transplant three years ago in the United States, and was even treated in Israel due to the lung disease from which he suffered.
Public outrage
Similar to the public outcry that took place three years ago, when reports were published that he was to undergo a lung transplant in Israel, his hospitalization at Hadassah Hospital provoked widespread outrage and public protest, especially from right-wing and organizations among bereaved families who lost their loved ones in murderous terrorist attacks.
Opponents of the medical treatment received by Erekat in Israel argued that the health care system in Israel and the country's citizens who pay taxes should not fund and provide life-saving medical care to those who do not recognize the right to exist of the State of Israel, and even legitimize Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Erekat's death provoked many reactions in the political system and on the Israeli street.
Responses were divided between those who eulogized the Palestinian official, who said his death was a fatal blow to efforts to bring peace and a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and those who called Erekat a supporter of terrorism, arguing that he should not have been given medical treatment in Israel.
In Jordan sent condolences
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of national mourning in the Palestinian Authority, and an official obituary issued by his office in Ramallah said in the chief's name that "Erekat's death is a great loss to the Palestinian people." King Jordan Abdullah II also sent a message of condolence to Erekat's family And to the Palestinian Authority.
The chairman of the joint list, MK Ayman Odeh, also paid tribute to Erekat in a statement issued on his Twitter account, in which he wrote: "Generations of Palestinians will still remember him as one of the giants who dedicated his life to their independence."
The left wing of the Israeli political system also mourned Erekat's death, emphasizing that "this is a severe loss to peace efforts."
Meretz's chairman, MK Nitzan Horowitz, issued a condolence statement on Erekat's death, in which it was stated, among other things: "Rest in peace on your bed, peace be upon your will."
The Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Labor Party, Amir Peretz, expressed regret over the death of the senior Palestinian official, saying: "Erekat will be remembered as a man who believed in the process and accompanied the negotiations with Israel for many years, preferring peace to violence."
The terrorist organization Hamas also briefly put an end to the bitter conflict and disputes with the Fatah movement and the Palestinian Authority, and issued a condolence statement on Erekat's death.
On the other hand, as mentioned, there were those who did not shed tears over Erekat's death.
MK Bezalel Smutrich on the right attacked the mourners and mourners the death of the senior Palestinian official and wrote on Twitter: "Israelis who express grief over the death of an anti-terrorist supporter who was one of the leaders in the fight against Israel is indescribable.
Loss of way, erasure of identity and sad moral distortion. "
"Supports terrorism"
The Bereaved Families '"Voters for Life" forum reported on Erekat's death: "Whoever wrote an orderly Mishnah against Israel is worse than any single terrorist. Erekat supported a popular uprising and the continuation of the attacks, took care of terrorists' salaries and thus encouraged other terrorists to act."
Matan Peleg, chairman of the "If You Will" movement, referred to Erekat's death and said: "Let us remember that Saeb Erekat was an enemy of Israel."
However, there were also elements on the right who responded state-wise to Erekat's death.
This is what Minister Tzachi Hanegbi from the Likud said: "I send my condolences to Saeb Erekat's family, and hope that they will not know any more grief."