Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas has conferred the Star of Honor, the highest honor awarded by the PA, on the slain PLO terrorist chieftain, Khalil Al-Wazir (Abu Jihad).
A broadcast on PA-TV stated that “As part of President [Abbas]’ desire to honor the founding leaders and the first generation of the Palestinian revolution and the PLO, and out of loyalty to their history of struggle, the President –– with a number of Fatah Central Committee members –– awarded the highest order of the Star of Honor to the Martyr leader Khalil Al-Wazir, Abu Jihad.” The Secretary-General of the Presidential Office, Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim, stated:
“We have decreed the following: Paragraph One: Martyr leader Khalil Al-Wazir Abu Jihad shall be granted the highest order of the Star of Honor in recognition of his honorable national role and his history of struggle as one of the founding leaders of the Palestinian revolution, and out of great appreciation for his high position and significance in the defense of Palestine as a country, a nation, and a cause. He was the model of a true fighter and devoted leader … [Signed by] Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine and [Fatah] Executive Committee Chairman” (‘PA Chairman Abbas poses with terrorist’s wife,’ PA TV, November 27, 2013, translation in ‘Abbas decorates terror leader Abu Jihad with Star of Honor,’ Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) bulletin, December 11, 2013).
Al-Wazir was responsible for the murder of at least 125 Israelis in numerous terror attacks that he planned, including the 1975 terrorist assault on Tel Aviv’s Savoy Hotel, in which Al-Wazir’s men murdered eight hostages and three Israeli soldiers.
Most notoriously, Al-Wazir orchestrated the 1978 coastal road massacre in which Fatah terrorists hijacked an Israeli civilian bus and slaughtered 37 passengers, including a dozen children. (The leader of this barbarous assault, Dalal Al-Mughrabi, has been separately honored by Abbas’ PA numerous times, most recently, in a Fatah Facebook posting last month).