Shadia Abu Ghazaleh
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Shadia Abu Ghazaleh | |
|---|---|
شادية أبو غزالة | |
.jpg) Abu Ghazaleh, pictured c. 1968 | |
| Born | 8 January 1949 |
| Died | 28 November 1968 (aged 19) |
| Cause of death | Accidental detonation of an improvised explosive device |
| Alma mater | An-Najah National University |
| Political party | Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine |
| Other political affiliations | Arab Nationalist Movement |
| Opponent | Israeli Defense Forces |
Shadia Abu Ghazaleh (Arabic: شادية أبو غزالة; 8 January 1949 – 28 November 1968) was a Palestinian militant. After completing her studies, she joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and was one of the first women to participate in the Palestinian fedayeen opposing the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. She was killed in an accident while preparing a bomb in her home in Nablus. She has been regarded as a martyr in Palestine and a terrorist in Israel.
Shadia Abu Ghazaleh was born on 8 January 1949,[1] in the Palestinian city of Nablus, in the Jordanian-occupied West Bank.[2] She was educated at the Fatimid School for Girls in Nablus,[3] and later at the Al-Aishiyah School.[4] While she was still in school, in the early 1960s, she joined the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM).[5]
Upon graduating from school, in 1966, she moved to Cairo in the United Arab Republic (modern-day Egypt)[6] where she studied sociology and psychology at Ain Shams University for a year.[3] Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, she returned to Palestine,[7] despite her family's attempts to dissuade her.[8] She moved back to Nablus where she completed her education at An-Najah National University.[3]
She joined the nascent Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP),[9] which had been founded in 1967 by former members of the ANM.[10] She quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the leading figures in the organisation.[10] She was one of the first women to participate in the Palestinian fedayeen in the occupied West Bank.[11] She organised and led women's units,[4] and took part in a number of military operations against the occupation.[10] By participating directly in armed action, she broke from traditional Palestinian gender roles which restricted women to the role of caregiver.[12]
Abu Ghazaleh was killed on 28 November 1968 while preparing a bomb in her home.[10] She planned to use the bomb to blow up a building in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.[13] She died when the bomb detonated accidentally.[9]
