Zakaria Al-Zubaidi: Symbol of Palestinian resistance freed in prisoner swap! - War on Gaza

Al-Ahram Weekly

31-01-2025

Zakaria Zubeidi, A prominent leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), and a former member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, was released Thursday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Zubeidi, 49, is one of the most high-profile of 110 prisoners, including 30 minors, freed in exchange for three Israelis, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group said.
Born in 1976, he has a long history of resistance, having carried out numerous operations in the West Bank against the Israeli occupation and leading the Brigades' military activities during the Second Intifada (2000-2005).
Zubeidi rose to prominence during the Second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, becoming one of the best-known resistance leaders in Jenin and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
It was during the uprising that Zubeidi's mother was shot and killed when the Israeli occupation army raided the camp.
Palestinian prisoner Zakaria Zubeidi is free. pic.twitter.com/LQ6uBzCdU3 — PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) January 30, 2025
Long years of resistance
Zubeidi became active with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party after a stint in prison in 1989 at age 14.
Re-arrested in 1990, he rose through the ranks and eventually became leader of Fatah's armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, in Jenin.
Released again in 1994 under the Oslo Accords, he joined the newly created Palestinian Authority's security forces in the West Bank city of Jericho and other former inmates.
In 2001, Zubeidi was injured in an accidental explosion during a "military mission" that caused severe burns on his face and eyes still visible today.
Zubeidi remained a fugitive until 2007 when he agreed to hand over his weapons to the Palestinian Authority.
The deal saw Zubeidi's name removed from Israel's list of wanted individuals.
But in 2011, Israel revoked Zubeidi's amnesty without disclosing why and arrested him in 2019.
Zubeidi, known as a power broker in Jenin, as well as one of the few inmates to have escaped Israel's high-security Gilboa Prison, in 2021, has survived several assassination attempts by Israel.
With five other prisoners, he escaped through a tunnel dug under the prison walls but was recaptured five days later.
Theatre
Zubeidi also became involved in theatre in Jenin, a densely populated refugee camp established in the early 1950s to house Palestinians who were expelled from their homes by Zionist militias during the Nakba and the creation of Israel.
As a child, he joined activities in Arna's House, a community space and theatre founded by Israeli activist Arna Mer-Khamis for the camp's youth, located in the same building that his family lived.
In a 2002 raid, the Israeli occupation army destroyed the community playhouse, which was later rebuilt and renamed the Freedom Theatre.
After the 2007 amnesty, Zubeidi returned to Jenin and was involved again with the camp's theatre.
In the same period, he also became openly critical of the Palestinian Authority.
During his years in jail, three of Zubeidi's brothers, as well as his son Muhammad, were killed by the Israeli occupation military.
Sources close to Zubeidi said that his first plans upon release were to visit the grave of his son, whose funeral he missed while in jail.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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