Khalil Atiyeh’s speech in the Arab parliament in Cairo called Mohamed Salah a “mighty martyr.”
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
A Jordanian MP praised as a “martyr” Saturday the Egyptian terrorist who killed three IDF soldiers on the southern border last week after infiltrating through the border fence.
Khalil Atiyeh’s told the Arab parliament in Cairo, “In victory for our people in Palestine, we salute Egypt, and its martyr Mohamed Salah. I will ask the honorable council to stand for the reading of the Al-Fatiha for the souls of the martyrs of the Arab and Islamic nation, who died a holy death for the sake of Palestine, and in particular for the memory of the mighty martyr Mohamed Salah.”
The Al-Fatiha is the first, brief chapter of the Koran that is recited in all Muslim prayers, praising Allah as omnipotent and merciful.
The Arab Parliament consists of members of all the countries of the Arab League. They honored Atiyeh’s request and read the seven-verse surah.
Atiyeh is well-known for his anti-Israel rhetoric. In March 2019, he stood up in Jordan’s legislature to literally salute an 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist, Omar Abu Laila, whom he called a “hero.” The previous day, Abu Laila had stabbed and killed First Sgt. Gal Qeidan at the Ariel Junction, stole his weapon, and fired at civilians in the area, murdering Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, a father of 12.
He also called for the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador in Amman, whom he called “a descendant of monkeys and pigs,” and the recall of Jordan’s own envoy to Israel.
IDF forces killed Abu Laila the next day when he opened fire on the soldiers coming to arrest him for the murders.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked to Egyptian President Abdel el-Sisi on Tuesday about the attack in which Salah caught two IDF guards unaware at their border post and shot them, before being killed in the subsequent operation to apprehend him, in which a third soldier died.
El-Sisi expressed his “deepest condolences” and the two leaders agreed to conduct a “thorough and joint investigation” of the incident, according to an Israeli readout of the call.