PA Names Youth Soccer Tournament After Saddam

A soccer tournament for Arab youth in Tulkarm has been named after recently executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

“The sports department in the youth community center in Tulkarm is organizing the first soccer tournament named after the Shahid and leader, Saddam Hussein,” Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the official organ of the Palestinian Authority, reported on January 10.

The irony was lost that Hussein's son Uday - who ran the Iraqi Olympic program under his father's brutal regime - used to torture athletes who failed to perform to his satisfaction.

In a separate development, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida also reported on January 8: “The Fatah movement in the Deheishe camp south of Bethlehem erected yesterday two memorial stones in the memory of two shahids, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein. This took place during a ceremony of the movement for the commemoration of 42 years to its establishment, with the presence of the delegate of the Fatah movement, Muhammad Al-Laham… Al-Laham: 'The erecting of the two memorial stones comes from a positive recognition of the immense sacrifice that the two shahids realized for the sake of their nation. Both went without renouncing their national principles.'”

The two reports, translated into English by Palestinian Media Watch, reflect the abiding support Hussein enjoyed in the PA. His execution in Baghdad on December 30 sent many PA Arabs into deep mourning as they struggled to come to terms with the demise of perhaps their most steadfast ally.

Captured by American forces on December 13, 2003, Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraq Special Tribunal and was sentenced to death by hanging. On December 26, 2006, his appeal was rejected and the death sentence upheld. He was executed four days later.

Unlike much of the rest of the world, where Saddam Hussein was viewed as a brutal dictator who oppressed his people and started regional wars, he was seen in Judea, Samaria and Gaza as a generous benefactor unafraid to fight for the Arab cause, even to the end.

Saddam's final words were reportedly, "Palestine is Arab."

"We heard of his martyrdom, and I swear to God we were deeply shaken from within," said Khadejeh Ahmad from the Qadora refugee camp near Bethlehem. "Nobody was as supportive or stood with the Palestinians as he did."

During the first Gulf War in 1991, the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza cheered Saddam's missile attacks on Israel, chanting "Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv," as the Scud missiles flew overhead.

Hussein further endeared himself to the PA Arabs during the Intifada against Israel by giving US$25,000 to the family of each suicide bomber and US$10,000 for each local Arab killed in fighting. The stipends amounted to an estimated US$35 million.

Arutz Sheva