Israeli circles expressed concern today that the murder of Sheikh Hashem Al-Huzander outside his home in Gaza Friday night may be the beginning of a wave of political assassinations by terrorists aimed against Palestinian leaders who support the autonomy plan for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The 70-year-old ###mam (religious leader), head of a prominent Gaza family, was found dead of stab wounds at his door-step shortly after he finished conducting evening services at the magi mosque, the largest in Gaza.
Police reported no clues as to the Identify of his assailants. But the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed in a broadcast from Beirut yesterday that its agents were responsible for the killing and warned that the same fate awaits all “collaborators” and supporters of the autonomy plan. The broadcast named Mayor Rashid A-Shawa of Gaza as next in line for execution.
Although some 2000 persons attended Sheikh Huzander’s funeral yesterday, public figures, including A-Shawa, were notably absent. The mourners were chiefly members of his family friends and supporters. Ironically, Huzander was, in many ways, a Palestinian militant. He publicly declared his support of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its claim to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In the pre-statehood period he was a follower of Haj Amin el-Husseini, the notorious Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who collaborated with the Nazis.
He was a founder of the anti-Israel Moslem Brothers organization in the Gaza Strip. Of his five sons, three were active members of Palestinian terrorist organizations. One, a lieutenant colonel in El Fatah, was killed during a terrorist raid on Nahariya in 1973.
But Sheikh Huzander, while not moderating his political views, sought a modus Vivendi with Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War when the Gaza Strip came under Israeli administration. He supported the peace initiative of President Anwar Sadat and visited Egypt twice in the last six months. He failed however, in an attempt to organize a pilgrimage of 150 prominent Gaza residents to Cairo.
An attempt was made on Huzander’s life five months ago. He had been under 24-hour guard but after his last trip to Egypt he asked that the guard be removed because he was convinced no one would harm him. Israeli sources said he wanted the body-guard withdrawn so that he would not be too closely identified with Israel.
Members of the Sheikh’s family pledged today that they would avenge his death according to Arab custom. But they said they would give the Israeli police time to apprehend the killers. The police face a difficult task as potential witnesses are apparently too frightened to come forward. More serious, according to Israeli circles, is the blanket of fear imposed on local supporters of autonomy.
It is expected to be more difficult than ever to find any Palestinian willing to publicly identify with the plan, let alone stand for elections to the proposed autonomous councils. Many Palestinians are expected to ask Egypt to intervene with the Israeli authorities to provide more protection for residents of the occupied territories.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
