Fathi Hazem, a former senior officer in the security mechanisms of the Palestinian Authority, whose two sons carried out attacks against Israel, is becoming a new "hero" on the Palestinian street.
Fathi Hazem or by his more familiar name, Abu Raed, became famous for his fiery speeches and mass street sermons that he used to deliver since his first son, Raed Hazem, carried out the terrorist attack in Dizengoff in Tel Aviv.
The scene of the attack in Dizengoff, photo: Yossi Zeliger
He often appears surrounded by many armed men.
He speaks literary Arabic and often quotes verses from the Koran as well as quotes from the hadith (sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad).
In his last speech this weekend following the assassination of his son, Abd Hazem, in the IDF operation in the Jenin refugee camp, Fathi Hazem called on his friends in the Palestinian security apparatus to join the fight against Israel. His words were recorded, uploaded to social networks, and received sympathetic responses.
The Palestinians say that for a long time they have not come across such a figure who dares to challenge Israel and the Palestinian Authority in such a blatant, bold and open way.
He gets a lot of sympathy, and manages to attract many young people after him.
From an unknown figure he became a popular personality, and the Palestinian public sees him as a commander and leader.
Young Palestinians follow him and see him and his actions as a role model.
A huge post in the Gaza Strip,
"He whistles at the PA and Israel. He does what he wants, and his power extends to other areas of the West Bank as well. The day after his son Raed was killed last week, groups on his behalf or that are identified with him started walking around Ramallah and instructed the residents to hold a day of general strike in the city," explained a resident of Ramallah .
An official in Ramallah said that a senior official in the Palestinian Authority tried to make a kind of "sorah" and turned to Hazem's Petahi in an attempt to convince him to stop his actions, but he refused.
Following the Dizengoff attack, he was wanted for questioning by Israel but refused to turn himself in and escaped arrest several times.
The social networks praise him, where he is called a "hero", and call him the true representative of the Palestinian people.
Fatah and PLO personnel make pilgrimages to him.
Senior Fatah officials Azzam Al-Ahmed and Tawfik Tirawi, in addition to Taysir Abu Sanina, a released terrorist, serving as the mayor of Hebron, visited him to express their condolences.
Also seen in the comforters were "Um Nasser", the mother of the cancer-stricken terrorist, Nasser Abu Hamid imprisoned in Israel, as well as the widow of the "engineer" Yahya Ayash, one of the leaders of the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank and who was behind dozens of deadly attacks against Israelis in the 1990s, and was eliminated.
In Gaza too, Abu Raed is seen as a symbol of the struggle in Israel.
Huge posters with his picture were hung in front of buildings in the streets of the Gaza Strip in recent days.
His name was also mentioned in the events of the "Al-Aqsa in Danger" festival held in Gaza on Saturday, and his pictures decorated the rally.
Thousands of participants chanted slogans along the lines of "In Gaza there is Muhammad Daf, and in Gaza Fathi Hazem", and the representatives of the Palestinian factions present at the rally praised him.
Azzam and Ayash's widow, photo: Arab Networks
It should be noted that at this stage it is not known about the active and direct involvement of Abu Raed in the attacks.
He became wanted after he refused to appear for questioning after his son carried out the Dizengoff attack.
The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sanwar, was seen at a rally in Gaza with senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar by his side and recently rumors and publications about an alleged conflict between the two have spread.
On the other side of Sanwar, we see Mustafa Barghouti, a political personality from Ramallah, who heads an organization called the "Palestinian National Initiative".
In the past, Barghouti ran in the elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority and lost, and in recent years he serves as a mediator between Fatah and Hamas from time to time.
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