RAMALLAH, West Bank – Though much of the world regarded him as a tyrant, Saddam Hussein was mourned by Palestinians on Saturday as a generous patron who remained one of their staunchest allies – right up until the moment of his death.
Hussein had rejected peace with Israel, sent money to the families of suicide bombers and welcomed many Palestinian refugees to Iraq. As he stood on the gallows, his last words reportedly were: “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 in the West Bank. “Nobody was as supportive or stood with the Palestinians as he did.”
Palestinians in the West Bank town of Bethlehem opened a “house of condolence,” where dozens of people gathered on white chairs to drink black coffee and mourn the executed dictator.
There was at least one parade in his honor in Gaza, where some Palestinians displayed a poster with his image next to that of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
During the first Gulf War in 1991, Hussein attacked Israel in a failed ploy to force his Arab brethren to abandon the U.S.-led coalition arrayed against him and join Iraq in fighting the Jewish state. As Hussein’s Scud missiles flew overhead en route to Israel, Palestinians chanted: “Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv.”
He further endeared himself to the Palestinians during the recent uprising against Israel by giving $25,000 to the family of each suicide bomber and $10,000 for each Palestinian killed in fighting. The stipends totaled an estimated $35 million.
Hussein’s support for the Palestinians – whose cause is deeply popular with Arabs throughout the Middle East – was at least partially aimed at cultivating grass-roots support for his regime.
Hussein’s downfall – his defeat by America, his capture in a filthy hole, his conviction and his execution – dismayed Palestinians. They lionized the former Iraqi leader and praised his willingness to stand up to America and Israel when other Arab leaders would not.
“Saddam was a person who had the ability to say, ‘No,’ in the face of a great country,” said Hosni al Ejel, 46, from the al Amari refugee camp near Ramallah.
Sabha Mohammed, 57, was stunned when her son told her that Hussein had been executed. Hussein had given her $25,000 to rebuild her house after a 2002 Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp.
“I immediately cried, because I felt that we, as Arabs and Muslims, lost a strong leader like Saddam,” she said. “I hope the same thing happens to all the Arab and Muslim leaders because they didn’t support Hussein and they stood silent, starting with the occupation of Iraq, through the U.S. army’s arrest of Saddam, to his execution in the end.”
Some Palestinians were happy to hear Hussein’s final words, knowing that his support for them remained unshakable until the end.
But the grief was muted. Many in the West Bank and Gaza gave up on Hussein when he was captured by American soldiers three years ago.
In Bethlehem’s “house of condolence,” mourners sat beneath Iraqi flags and played Iraqi revolutionary songs, surrounded by pictures of Hussein. Outside, several cars parked outside had black strips of fabric tied to their antennae.
In the central Gaza town of Khan Younis, about 25 men and children marched through the street with pictures of Hussein.
In Gaza City, about 20 people sat in a garage that had been converted into a mourning area for Hussein. A poster on the wall displayed a picture of Hussein next to one of Arafat.
“Saddam Hussein gave Palestinians what no other Arab leader ever gave,” said Mahmoud Abu Hasira, whose family organized the mourning area.
“He wanted the Palestinian people to have a state and a government and to be united,” said Ghanem Mezel, 72, from the town of Saeer in the southern West Bank. “But God supports us, and we pray to God to punish those who did this.”
In Israel, the response to the death of one of the nation’s bitterest foes was quiet. The government had no official comment on Saddam’s execution
Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh expressed concerns about Iraq’s path in the post-Hussein era. He told Israel Radio that Israel was concerned about the strengthening of Iranian influence in the Shiite sections of southern Iraq and also in the central government.
Iraq had also become a regional “power station” for terror that could spread chaos throughout the Middle East, he said.
“We have to be worried about what is going to happen now,” he said.
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