Taghrid Sa'adi, who in 2002 wished J'lem suicide bomber luck, is running for Sakhnin city council.
By BRENDA GAZZARtaghrid saadi 248.88(photo credit: Courtesy)
An Israeli Arab woman who served time in prison for concealing information about a deadly Jerusalem terror attack and for her contacts with a West Bank terrorist is running for the Sakhnin city council.
Taghrid Sa'adi, who is a candidate for the Hadash Party, was sentenced in 2003 to six years in prison for contacts with "a foreign agent" and for not revealing vital information prior to an April 2002 suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed six people and wounded scores of others, according to court documents.
She was released, however, within the past year and is being praised by party leaders as an excellent candidate.
"She is a regular citizen who, if she did something wrong, received her punishment," said MK Muhammad Barakei of the Hadash Party. "She is a positive citizen in society and she is a quality individual. And we are very proud that she is on our list."
Barakei added: "You and I are not judges. The judges decided what they decided... She sat in prison and has paid a heavy price."
In 2001, Sa'adi made contact with a Hebron resident who was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to charges cited in court documents. In March 2002, the Palestinian terrorist told Sa'adi of his intention to carry out a terrorist attack against Israelis and to dispatch suicide bombers. He solicited her help in sneaking the terrorists into Israel as well as her advice concerning crowded spaces.
In April, the Hebron man recruited a young woman to carry out an attack, and he arranged for Sa'adi to transport her from Jerusalem to Haifa, where the attack was originally supposed to take place. However, hours beforehand, Sa'adi said she could not make it because her mother was hospitalized. She was told that the attack would take place anyway and spoke to the female suicide bomber by phone and wished her well.
In the event, however, the bomber stayed in Jerusalem, and, on April 12, 2002, she blew herself up at the Mahane Yehuda market. Sa'adi spoke to the bomber that day, according to the court documents.
Sa'adi continued to have contact with the PFLP leader after the attack and decorated her room with slogans glorifying the bomber, the documents said.
Muhammad Naffaa, the general secretary of the Israeli Communist Party (Maki) - a leading force in the Hadash movement - said he didn't know all the details of Sa'adi's court case but said he was among those who went to congratulate her after she was released from prison. "I think she has every right to be a candidate and I wish her success," he said.
Sa'adi did not respond to a phone message from the 'Post' this week left for her at the Hadash Party headquarters in Haifa.
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