College student dies trying to raise PLO flag

A 21-year-old college student in Tunisia fell while attempting to raise a Palestinian flag at a university building and suffered a fatal injury.

By World Israel News Staff

A Tunisian university student died Monday night after falling while attempting to hang a Palestine Liberation Organization flag on a university building as a sign of solidarity with a general strike declared by the Palestinian Authority.

The student has been identified as 21-year-old Fars Khaled, a student at the Higher School of Science and Design Technology (ESSTeDesign) in Den Den in Tunisia’s Manouba Governorate.

The incident occurred on Monday night when Khaled attempted to scale a three-story structure in the school’s garden with a PLO flag.

According to local media reports, at approximately 8:00 p.m. local time, Khaled lost his balance and slipped while ascending the structure, falling to his death.

Khaled’s body was found by local police near the garden structure he had tried to ascend after a university guard reported seeing the young man’s remains.

Police launched an investigation into Khaled’s death, the Tunis Afrique Presse reported.

After obtaining closed circuit television footage from the campus, investigators ruled out foul play and concluded that it was an accident.

Later, school officials issued a statement lamenting Khaled’s death, calling it “a painful accident while trying to hang the flag of Palestine.”

The Palestinian Authority’s mission to Tunisia offered its condolences to Khaled’s family and mourned the student’s death. “In light of this great loss, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Tunisia – Rami al-Qudumi – and the embassy staff extend their sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the family of the deceased,” the mission stated.

The stunt was to have coincided with a general strike launched on Monday morning by the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces, an umbrella group of various Palestinian factions including the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party and the Hamas terror organization.

The strike was launched to protest the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. It spanned not only Judea and Samaria, but parts of eastern Jerusalem.

On Sunday, the PNIF called on backers abroad to strike in solidarity with the Palestinian Authority or to demonstrate their support otherwise.