PFLP salutes Comrade Ihab Massoud, released after 16 years of Zionist imprisonment

A large crowd of leaders and cadres of the Popular Front, the labor movement and the people of Ramallah gathered at the Ofer checkpoint on February 12 to welcome the leader Ihab Massoud upon his release after 16 years in Zionist prisons. The welcoming group included Comrade Khalida Jarrar, leader of the Popular Front, Comrade Abla Sa’adat, women’s activist and the wife of imprisoned PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and Comrade Massoud’s mother and members of his family. Marchers carried Palestinian flags and PFLP banners, cheering and chanting for the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners in Zionist jails.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, its General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and the Prison Branch congratulated Comrade Massoud on his freedom, praising the comrade who joined the Front at an early age and whose rich experience of struggle has made him one of its leading comrades.
Massoud has been arrested on several occasions since the first Intifada and was most recently arrested on 13 February 2001 by occupation forces and accused of placing a car bomb in Jerusalem. During his time in prison, he became one of the leading cadres of the prisoners’ movement and a leader of the Popular Front’s organization inside Israeli prisons.
He participated in the prisoners’ movement collective strikes and actions and was part of the planning and leadership of strikes in 2004, 2011 and 2012, as well as the administrative detainees’ strike of 2014, in which he participated in support of their strike.
Massoud was subject to isolation for several months in 2007 for his involvement in prisoners’ resistance to the policies and practices of the prison administration, but this arbitrary action did not impact his morale or will and in fact only increased his determination to continue the struggle.
He played a major cultural and organizational role and wrote multiple articles and studies within prison, developing him into a leading and advanced cadre with distinct dedication, perseverence and a high level of commitment.