- Abdel Wael Zwaiter
Wael Zuaiter ( _ar. وائل زعيتر) was a
Palestinian translator and the first target of Israel'sOperation Wrath of God campaign following the 1972Munich massacre .Zuaiter was born in
Nablus in the mid-1930s as son of [http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/personalities/alpha_z.htm#ZU'AITER,%20ADEL Adel Zu`aiter] [http://www.passia.org/passia_files/photo_gallery/historical_figures/historical_figures_A5.htm] . He went toIraq and studied Arabic literature and philosophy at theUniversity of Baghdad . Zuaiter moved then toLibya and afterwards toRome , where he was aPLO representative and worked as a translator for the Libyan embassy. In addition to his native Arabic, Zuaiter spoke French, Italian, and English. During his time inItaly Zuaiter translated "One Thousand and One Nights " from Arabic into Italian.Zuaiter was held for questioning by Italian police in August 1972 in relation to a bombing by the group Black September against an oil refinery, but was later released. The Israeli
Mossad suspected him of being the head of Black September in Rome, and put him on an assassination list after Black September's attack in Munich. When he returned to his apartment building on the night ofOctober 16 ,1972 , he was shot 11 times by two Israeli agents, killing him.At the time Zwaiter was the PLO representative in
Italy , and while Israel privately claimed he was a member of Black September and was involved in a failed plot against anEl Al airliner, members of the PLO have argued that he was in no way connected. Abu Iyad, deputy-chief of the PLO, has stated that Zwaiter was "energetically" against terrorism. [Nasr, Kameel B. "Arab and Israeli Terrorism: The Causes and Effects of Political Violence, 1936–1993". McFarland & Company, 1996. ISBN 0-7864-0280-6 p. 68]Portrayal in film
*Abdel Wael Zwaiter is portrayed by actor
Makram Khoury inSteven Spielberg 's Munich.
* [http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article7098.shtml "Material for a film": Retracing Wael Zuaiter (Part 1)] , installation in the 2007 La Biennale di Venezia byEmily Jacir
*Emily Jacir: [http://electronicIntifada.net/v2/article7097.shtml "Material for a film": A performance (Part 2)] , 16 July 2007, The Electronic Intifada
**Najwan Darwis: [http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2359&ed=149&edid=149 Emily Jacir’s Material for a Film: Ongoing homage and artistic revenge for Wa’el Zuaiter]References
*Klein, Aaron J. "Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response". New York: Random House, Inc., 2005. ISBN 1-4000-6427-9
Further reading
*Janet Venn-Brown (ed.) (English): "For a Palestinian: A Memorial to Wael Zuaiter", 1984 ISBN 0710300395
*Janet Venn-Brown (ed.) (Italian): "Per un palestinese. Dediche a più voci a Wael Zuaiter," Roma, 2002, ISBN 8880220896
*Khalidi, Walid (1984). "Before Their Diaspora: A Photographic History of the Palestinians, 1876-1948". Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0887281443 (Has picture of Wael Zuaiter as a child with his father and brother, see also [http://www.passia.org/passia_files/photo_gallery/historical_figures/historical_figures_A5.htm here] (scroll down the page))
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.