The Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar who turned terrorist

For years now, the Israeli defense establishment has been following Khalida Jarrar, a senior official in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Last week, she was named by the Shin Bet security service as the head of a large terror cell in the West Bank, responsible for, among other attacks, the murder of 17-year-old Rina Shnerb earlier this year.

Rina was killed, her 19-year-old brother Dvir was seriously wounded and her father Eitan was lightly hurt when they were hit by an improvised explosive device as they were visiting the Danny Spring – named for another Israeli terror victim – near the West Bank settlement of Dolev.

This announcement follows a long investigation of the various members of this cell and a joint IDF-police raid, which resulted in the capture of a large cache of weapons and explosive devices in the Ramallah era.

Jarrar, who has been held several times in administrative detention in Israel, has made a concerted effort to use her political role in the West Bank to cover up her involvement in various illegal activities, according to security reports.

The 56-year-old was born in the Palestinian city of Nablus, but resides in al-Bireh, close to the Ramallah.

She made a name for herself early in her career as a firebrand feminist and has for a long time stood at the head of the Addameer organization, a group that works to support Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons.

Alongside her anti-Israel activities, Jarrar has heavily criticized the Palestinian Authority for its relationship with Israel and has opposed any possible normalization of relations between the two.

In 2015, she was arrested and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for membership of and activity for an illegal association.

She was welcomed upon her release by the head of Israel’s Joint List party, MK Ayman Odeh, who called her a “freedom fighter.”

Odeh was not the only Israeli public figure to embrace Jarrar. She gained much praise and support by other members of Knesset and political activists.

In the summer of 2017, a year since her release, Jarrar was arrested again and was put in administrative detention after Israeli security officials stated she had returned to work with the PLFP.

She was released in March 2019, until returning to prison seven months later, following the wave of arrests in the wake of the Shin bet raid against the terrorist cell she belongs to.

The 50-strong terror network was uncovered by the Shin Bet in September, as its members were planning further terrorist attacks in the Ramallah area.

Most were arrested in recent weeks and interrogated by the Shin Bet.

According to the security service, the interrogatees provided credible information that led to the discovery and confiscation of “several deadly weapons belonging to the PFLP.”

These included M16 and AK-47 semi-automatic rifles, Galil assault rifles, Carbine rifles, Uzi submachine guns, pistols, silencers, ingredients to make bombs, assorted ammunition and communications devices.

Source: Ynet News