Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad
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Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad | |
|---|---|
| محمود محمد عيسى محمد | |
| Member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine | |
| In office 1968–2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1943 |
| Died | 2015 (aged 71–72) |
Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad (Arabic: محمود محمد عيسى محمد) (born in 1943)[1] was a Palestinian former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who took part in an attack that killed a man. After a two-decade battle with Canadian immigration authorities, he was finally deported to Lebanon in 2013. He died from cancer in 2015.
In 1968, Mohammad took part in the attack of a commercial El Al aircraft at an airport in Greece. Under orders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the then-25-year-old and another man hurled grenades and sprayed the plane with machine-gun fire, killing Leon Shirdan, a 50-year-old Israeli maritime engineer. After the attack, the Associated Press described the aircraft as "blazing, smoking" and "bullet-riddled".[2]
Mohammad and his accomplice were arrested at the airport. In 1970 he was convicted of manslaughter and other charges and sentenced to 17 years in jail. However, he was freed a few months later after another Palestinian terrorist group hijacked a plane and threatened to kill the passengers unless the government released Mohammad.[1][3]
After being pardoned by Greece, Mohammad lived in different parts of the Middle East, including Lebanon, where he married his wife in 1976. The couple spent a few months in Cyprus in the 1980s, until he was barred from re-entering the country for security reasons in 1984.[1]
Life in Canada and legal battle
In 1987, he applied for residency in Canada while failing to disclose his membership in the PFLP and his criminal history.[4]
On December 15, 1988, an immigration adjudicator ruled Mohammad should be expelled from the country because he had concealed his role in the 1968 politically motivated attack in Greece. However, before he could be deported, he filed a refugee claim and was able to avoid deportation for more than 25 years due to appeals and legal maneuvering. He lived in Brantford, Ontario, with his wife Fadia Khalil. He had three children and two grandchildren.[1][5]
In 2001, the refugee board's appeal division concluded that Mohammad was a "terrorist" under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Act and upheld his deportation. However, Mohammad was granted another pre-removal risk assessment in 2006, which meant a new hearing and a re-evaluation of an earlier risk assessment that found it would not mean his certain death to send him to a Lebanese refugee camp.[1]
Mohammad denied he was a terrorist, stating in 1988 that: "I was a freedom fighter – not a terrorist. I was fighting Israel, the enemy of (his people)... My record in Canada is clean, clear and good."[6] He also stated, regarding efforts to deport him that "I'll fight to the last moment. I am not going to give up."[1] When asked by a FOX News reporter about whether he regretted his crime, he responded: "[It's] not your business. [It's] not your business... This is not your business."[4]
As of March 2011, it has been estimated that Mohammad's 23-year legal case has cost Canadian taxpayers over $3 million. James Bissett, a former Canadian diplomat, who now works with Centre for Immigration Policy Reform, cited Mohammad's case as "the classic case" demonstrating the flaws in Canada's immigration and refugee system, noting that: "He's still here and his case is still before the court. It's cost the taxpayer $3 million and he's not paying."[7][8][9]