Samer Arbid served as an accountant at the Union of Agricultural Works Committees (UAWC) until his arrest and indictment for commanding a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror cell and murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb and injuring her father and brother in an August 2019 bombing. A number of UAWC supporters have attempted to cast doubt on Arbid’s membership in the PFLP terror group and involvement in the attack.

However, on August 30, 2020, the PFLP issued a condolence note in memory of Arbid’s mother. In it, PFLP calls Arbid a “prisoner and commander,” and “one of the heroes of the Bubeen operation” — referring to the August 2019 bombing.

Below is a translation by NGO Monitor of the PFLP statement.

“The PFLP mourns the [death of] fighter Alice Razzouq, the mother of the prisoner and commander, Samer Arbid – one of the heroes of the Bubeen operation [the August 2019 terror attack in which Rena Shnerb was murdered and her father and brother wounded].”

30 August 2020 | 17:48

Obituary statement:

The Popular Front mourns the [death of] fighter Alice Razzouq, mother of the “prisoner leader,” Samer Arbid – one of the heroes of the Bubeen operation.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – represented by its Secretary-General, leader Ahmed Saadat, its Political Bureau, its Central Committee and all its comrades in the homeland and the diaspora, and its comrades in the PFLP in prisons – mourns the [death of] fighter Alice Razzuq “Umm Salim,” mother of the “prisoner-leader” Samer Arbid, who passed away today, in Ramallah, at age 82.

The Front offers its “prisoner comrade” Samer and the fighter’s family its deepest condolences for the death of this fighter, who passed away patient, persevering and strong, clinging to the hope that her captive son, [the] leader Samer, one of the heroes of the heroic Bubeen operation, would be freed.

The Popular Front and the family of the deceased fighter announce that the funeral will take place tomorrow, Monday, at 2:30 in the afternoon, from the Greek Orthodox Church in Ramallah, and she will be buried in the new Ramallah cemetery in the industrial zone.

May her soul rest in peace; patience and solace for the family.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

30/8/2020