The city council of Spain’s autonomous region of Aragon has sparked widespread condemnation for conferring a top honor on an organization founded by a Palestinian terrorist.
Today the Palestinian flag flew on the balcony of the City Hall and in the Plaza del Pilar.
Just three days before the October 7 anniversary of Hamas’ massacre of Jews, the Zaragoza City Council bestowed the prestigious title of “Favorite Daughter of the City” on the House of Palestine of Aragon, founded by Ibrahim Abayat, leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which has “ambiguous” ties to Fatah, a political party headquartered in the West Bank, has bragged of participating in the October 7 attack.
The title of “Favorite Daughter of the City” is an honor awarded by the City Council to recognize individuals or entities that have significantly contributed to the city or represent its values. The Catholic Church used the historic title to honor Spain for its missionary work of “evangelizing half the world” and for its defense of the Faith.
Populists Boycott Award Ceremony
An organization founded by Ibrahim Abayat, a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (left), has been declared “Favorite Daughter of the City” by the autonomous region of Aragon in Spain. The honor was conferred on “The House of Palestine,” by the left-wing mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca (left), in early October.
The left-wing mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, conferred the distinction as part of the festivities of Our Lady of the Pillar, patroness of Zaragoza, triggering a boycott from the populist party Vox, who walked out to avoid participating in the “whitewashing of terrorism.”
Spanish media, OK Diario, which described Abayat as an “Islamist terrorist,” reported that the founder and spokesperson of the House of Palestine had decided to stay away from the ceremony as a result of the “embarrassment” caused by the decision to award his group the award.
Instead, Reema Souqy, a Palestinian activist, accepted the award on behalf of Abayat and his organization, praising Abayat’s contribution at the ceremony. “Denouncing the Palestinian occupation and genocide is a moral and human duty,” Zaragoza en Común spokesperson Elena Tomás noted.
“Today the Palestinian flag flew on the balcony of the City Hall and in the Plaza del Pilar,” the House of Palestine boasted on X. “Despite the defamations, threats, and attempts at boycott, we remain standing; stronger than ever,” it added.
Israel Details Terrorism Charges
A press release from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Ibrahim Moussa Salem Abayat (alias Abu Jalif) as the Bethlehem commander of the Fatah Tanzim terrorist organization in the city.
“In this capacity, he was involved in dispatching and executing dozens of shooting and bombing attacks, which resulted in the death and injury of scores of Israelis,” the statement said. “Abayat also orchestrated and participated in the shooting and mortar attacks on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo and on the Bethlehem bypass roads.”
The statement provided specific details of eight other terrorist attacks involving Abayat, including abductions, executions, and bombings of Israelis. Among them is the kidnapping and murder of Avi Boaz, a 71-year-old American known for his good relations with his Palestinian neighbors, who was found dead with 15 bullets in his chest and head.
Abayat, who denies the accusations, arrived in Spain after Israel deported him in 2002, following his participation in the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Around 200 Palestinian militants took refuge in the church on April 2, holding 46 clergymen and 200 civilians hostage. Israeli forces surrounded the shrine for 39 days.
The militants were later deported as a result of negotiations between Israel and the European Union. Abayat has since lived in Zaragoza, where he founded Casa Palestina de Aragón in 2008, the same year he stopped renewing his Spanish residence permit annually, OK Diario reported.
His situation in Spain remains in legal limbo: he has expressed his desire to return, but Israel maintains his deportation order. Until the pandemic, he received a European Union pension through the Red Cross to cover his housing and living expenses. Later, he said, it was the Palestinian Authority that assumed the payment, “as it does with Palestinian prisoners and their families,” the newspaper said.
Abayat’s Organization Celebrates Hamas Massacre
Media reports on Abayat’s terrorism led to discussions between the head of Aragon’s regional parliament, Jorge Azcón, and Zaragoza’s mayor, fearing that the controversy could inflame tensions at the national level. But Chueca’s office refused to withdraw the title, “fearing reactions from the far left” following recent violent protests in Barcelona and Madrid.
Vox leaders and members of the Jewish community blasted the council authorities for conferring the honor on Abayat. “When the authorities court terrorists, no one should be surprised that a terrorist implicated in the murder of civilians is rewarded in Zaragoza,” international analyst Gabriel Ben-Tasgal, director of Hatzad Hasheni.
The organization celebrated the attacks of October 7, 2023, Julio Calvo, Zaragoza council’s spokesperson for Vox, said, noting that “an organization that celebrates those attacks, and whose founder was a terrorist, is absolutely undeserving of this recognition.”
“Firstly, because the regulations on distinctions and honors are being completely and absolutely violated. None of the circumstances that would qualify it to be chosen as a favorite daughter exist in the Palestinian House of Aragon,” Calvo stressed.
In a recent interview with Furor TV, Abayat failed to condemn Hamas terrorism, arguing instead that “the problem is not the October 7 attack, but Zionist ideology.”
Zaragoza council said that it conferred the honor on Abayat’s organization “to recognize its work in communicating the situation of the Palestinian people since 2008 and working for the coexistence of our peoples, bringing their voices, experiences, testimonies, and memories to the whole of Aragon, especially to the city of Zaragoza.”
While the Zaragoza en Común party proposed giving Abayat the honor, the People’s Party abstained from voting in favor, arguing that it had maintained a “neutral” position to avoid “polarization.” Only Vox voted against the proposal.
Focus on Western Islamism has contacted the House of Palestine of Aragon and the Zaragoza City Council for comment and has received no response.
