Mother of 'assassination victim' Omar Nayef barred from funeral
Mother of 'assassination victim' Omar Nayef barred from funeral
Israeli authorities have prevented Omar Nayef's elderly mother from travelling through Jordan to attend her son's funeral after he died, reportedly at the hands of Mossad agents, in Bulgaria.
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Omar Nayef's family pledged to continue seeking justice for their son [Anadolu]
Israeli authorities are reportedly preventing the mother of assassinated Omar Nayef from travelling through the West Bank to Jordan in order to attend her son's funeral in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
Omar Nayef, affiliated with leftist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, had been staying in the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria after Israel demanded that Bulgarian authorities hand him over after he escaped from prison 26 years ago. He had been convicted of murder.
He was found dead in the garden of the embassy in Sofia, having seemingly fallen from the top floor, two weeks after Israeli authorities failed to extradite him. Though the modus operandi fit with previous Mossad assassinations, he had been locked in "for his own safety", leading his family to suspect that the Palestinian Authority had been complicit in his death.
In an interview with The New Arab, Nayef's brother said that his wheelchair-bound 82-year-old mother attempted to travel to Sofia through the Karama crossing into Jordan two weeks ago, but was prevented by Israeli authorities under order of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
The family appealed the ban, but Israeli officials said they would respond only after six weeks, meaning that Nayef's mother will be unable to attend her son's burial.
Last Wednesday the Nayef family announced his funeral in the Bulgarian capital would be held on June 10, more than 100 days since his death.
The family has vowed to prosecute those involved, to uncover those behind his alleged assassination, and to hold them to account.
"Look to the cause of our son as a matter for an entire people, not as a personal issue," the family wrote in a statement.
"While we are patient, we endure for the sake of Palestine and when we are angry, we are angry for you, our beloved Palestine."
Omar Nayef, affiliated with leftist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, had been staying in the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria after Israel demanded that Bulgarian authorities hand him over after he escaped from prison 26 years ago. He had been convicted of murder.
He was found dead in the garden of the embassy in Sofia, having seemingly fallen from the top floor, two weeks after Israeli authorities failed to extradite him. Though the modus operandi fit with previous Mossad assassinations, he had been locked in "for his own safety", leading his family to suspect that the Palestinian Authority had been complicit in his death.
In an interview with The New Arab, Nayef's brother said that his wheelchair-bound 82-year-old mother attempted to travel to Sofia through the Karama crossing into Jordan two weeks ago, but was prevented by Israeli authorities under order of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
The family appealed the ban, but Israeli officials said they would respond only after six weeks, meaning that Nayef's mother will be unable to attend her son's burial.
Last Wednesday the Nayef family announced his funeral in the Bulgarian capital would be held on June 10, more than 100 days since his death.
The family has vowed to prosecute those involved, to uncover those behind his alleged assassination, and to hold them to account.
"Look to the cause of our son as a matter for an entire people, not as a personal issue," the family wrote in a statement.
"While we are patient, we endure for the sake of Palestine and when we are angry, we are angry for you, our beloved Palestine."
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