Amnesty International’s tweet Monday that eulogized the life of Walid Daqqa and condemned his time in Israeli prison ignored his terrorist connections and violent past.
Daqqa, 62, died of bone marrow cancer Sunday after being diagnosed with the disease in 2020, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said, according to Amnesty International’s press release. Guevara-Rosas also claimed that Daqqa’s death in prison was doubly tragic given that he died after completing his original sentence, the press release read.
“The death in custody of Walid Daqqa, a 62-year-old Palestinian writer who was the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails after 38 years of imprisonment, is a cruel reminder of Israel’s disregard for Palestinians’ right to life,” the human rights organization wrote. (RELATED: IDF Releases Footage Of Terrorist Who Opened Fire On Minibus Getting Airstriked)
The death in custody of Walid Daqqa, a 62-year-old Palestinian writer who was the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails after 38 years of imprisonment, is a cruel reminder of Israel’s disregard for Palestinians’ right to life ⬇️https://t.co/hSz0gdZgVj
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) April 8, 2024
Amnesty’s description, however, left aside a few important details. For one thing, Daqqa was an Israeli citizen, according to Le Monde. The tweet does not mention that Daqqa was sentenced to life in prison in 1986 after being convicted of having a leadership role in a terror organization where he was the mastermind behind the abduction and murder of 19-year-old Moshe Tamam, an off-duty Israeli soldier, The Jewish Chronicle noted.
Charity @amnesty describes death of terrorist who ordered teen’s murder as ‘heart-wrenching’ https://t.co/5vgHWR0Wjs
— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) April 9, 2024
Tamam’s kidnapping was supposed to be an act whereby Daqqa’s organization could get ransom money but the affair ended with the victim being tortured with his eyes being gouged out, his body mutilated, and then castrated before being shot to death, the outlet noted citing reports made at the time.
Amnesty’s positive view about Daqqa’s life was not shared by the family of his victim. “My uncle’s murderer [Daqqa] chose his life after inflicting severe torture, and after the murder, he continued to torment my family, engage in terrorism, and torment the entire nation of Israel,” Dr. Ortal Tamam, the niece of Moshe Tamam, said, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
Daqqa’s sentence was commuted to 37 years in prison in 2012 but his sentence was extended after he was convicted of smuggling phones into the prison, the outlet reported. He was set to be released in March 2025, the outlet noted.
Daqqa also earned a Master’s degree while in Israeli jail back in 2017, according to Palestinian Media Watch citing Al-Quds, a Palestinian news agency.