A Dubious Retirement

What happened to the pictures? Exhibit A, Exhibit B
Will they ever come back? Yes and no

Brian C. Ledbetter · Thursday, January 17. 2008 07:59

I read reports recently of a former Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade militant opening a theatre in the West Bank, but until I saw who it was, didn't think much of it. Now that I've seen the pictures, I definitely think there's more to the story:

Palestinian former militant Zakariya Zubeidi, 31, is seen during a presentation of a 300-seat hall 'Freedom Theater' in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, Wednesday Jan 16, 2008. He once carried an assault rifle and planned attacks on Israelis. Now, the retired Palestinian militant breaks up fights between children in a theater that he helped establish in the West Bank town of Jenin. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

How long ago did he carry an assault rifle and plan attacks on Israel? As a hint, he refused to sign a pledge renouncing attacks against Israel when offered the chance—That should give you some idea of how committed to peace he really is. That pledge was repudiated a whopping 6 months ago.

Has he really renounced [Ed.:—Redundancy mode off. Coffee mode on.] all of his terror-supporting ways in a mere 6 months?

I'm skeptical, to say the least.

(AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

Notice how laughable the caption is, by the way. The Associated Press really is going out of their way to try and make him seem like an average guy, completely ignoring the fact that he was essentially a ruthless killer for at least the past 15 years.

... The new role brings Zakariya Zubeidi full circle. As a child he was a founder-member of a children's theater group run by an Israeli woman seeking to promote Jewish-Arab coexistence. As he grew up, he became a gunman during years of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians and rose to become the head of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group in his home town. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

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Here is what a handful of random people think about this article. But first, the fine print:

The opinions expressed here, even where approved for display, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this website, the management, or any other entity or organization, with the exception of the Vast Zionist Conspiracy. Those opinions we represent in style, yo. Please keep the language in these comments clean, as this is intended to be a family-friendly, work-friendly website. Comments not compliant with this policy will be edited for content where necessary. Abusive or otherwise illegal comments will be reported to the proper authorities, up to and including the aforementioned Vast Zionist Conspiracy. The Management cannot and will not be held responsible for commenters making a spectacle of themselves, even if The Management are the said commenters in question. In other words, don't take yourself so seriously, folks. We're all here to discuss the news, and more importantly, to have fun. Now go get yourself into some OCD treatment program—you obviously need it if you actually read all of this mess.

soccer dad on 2008-01-17 12:56 #1

Well, of course he's an average guy: for a member of a terrorist organization.

I'm impressed, most media folks have a memory of about a week. Glad to see that you remember a name for quite a bit longer. (That's why you're not a media guy.)

Some other interesting bits: He had an Israeli girlfriend. And perhaps this change isn't so surprising, [url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6769072/]he has a history of supporting "moderates."[url] (Or at least moderate Holocaust deniers.)
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Brian C. Ledbetter on 2008-01-17 13:06 #2

Like I said yesterday, I'm fairly obsessed with imagery. Especially when it comes to picking a face out of a crowd. I'm just a dummy with everything else. Like math. Or, apparently, commenting on my own blog. (Distracted by actual work over here... heh!)

Here's a fixed version of your second link. Looks like you missed on your /url tag. D'oh!

Regards,
Brian
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soccer dad on 2008-01-17 13:40 #3

Thanks for fixing the link. I'm handier with HTML than with BB Code.

Personnally I prefer it when Israel presents these guys with a Hellfire missile on occasion of their retirement. (Or maybe it's the cause of their retirement.)
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Yiddish Steel on 2008-01-18 13:55 #4

Once all the douche bags from the world's parrot press corps are gone, and the children are usered out of the theater, i'll bet this douche bag Jihadi scum-bag shows Pali-wood crap like "Paradise Now", "A Mighty Heart", and "The Kingdom".
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snapped shot

now in ap-approved text mode

A Dubious Retirement