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PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Fatah youth movement glorify archbishop who smuggled weapons to Palestinian terrorists as a "beacon"

Headline: "Noted members of our people are eulogizing great national fighter Capucci"

"The [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the masses of our people, our Arab nation, and free people of the world of the death of great national fighter Archbishop Hilarion Capucci, former [Greek Catholic Arch]bishop of Jerusalem, who passed away yesterday (sic., Jan. 1, 2017) in Rome, the capital of Italy, at nearly 94 years old, after spending his life in the struggle for an independent Palestinian state whose capital is East Jerusalem. The ministry said in its notice that great fighter Archbishop Capucci died while leaving behind a rich legacy of courage, struggle, and sacrifice for the freedom of the homeland and man. Likewise, it said that Capucci constituted an example of deepening the Islamic-Christian fraternity and the national unity, and noted that he spent many long years of his life in the Israeli prisons, during which he constituted a beacon for sacrifice, altruism, self-sacrifice, and determination to continue his path for the just causes of our people…

Fatah’s Shabiba [youth] movement in Palestine sent a notice through its information committee, in which it told the masses of our people, our Arab nation, and all of mankind of the death of Archbishop of Jerusalem Capucci, and described him as an olive tree whose roots strike deep into the soil of Jerusalem and Palestine…

The movement emphasized that with his death Palestine, the Arabs, and all mankind lost a true fighter and a man who acted with all his strength for the freedom of Palestine, and turned the return to it into a noble goal…

Secretary of International Relations of Fatah's Shabiba Raed Al-Dab'i said that the spirit of the resistance fighter archbishop… will continue to constitute a beacon for the Palestinian young and all members of the homeland’s Shabiba, which will always guide us towards Jerusalem, which he loved, and which always remained his unerring compass. Likewise, he noted that Shabiba will guard his memory and his legacy of struggle by following in his path through conscious and effective resistance, strengthening the resolve of the residents of Jerusalem, and their defense."

Hilarion Capucci – former Greek Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem who exploited his status as a religious leader to smuggle weapons to Palestinian terrorists. He was arrested in 1974 and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was released in 1977 due to the Vatican’s intervention. In October 2013, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas awarded him the Star of Jerusalem Medal.

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