Have you ever heard of Jamal al Jamal? The likely answer to this question is "No."
Jamal al Jamal was the ambassador of the Palestinian Authority in the Czech Republic. He was posted to Prague by the PA. Last week he was killed in an explosion at the site of the new Palestinian embassy. The explosion took place inside the embassy and was not part of any attack on the facility. According to the Palestinians, the ambassador was killed when he opened a safe that had been kept closed for the last thirty years. Supposedly, something inside the safe exploded although no one knew that there were explosives inside.
The story is fantastic, to say the least. Let's assume for a moment that it is true. How did explosives get inside a safe in the Palestinian embassy in Prague 30 years ago. Remember, thirty years ago (1984) there was no Palestinian embassy. In fact, Czechoslovakia did not give diplomatic recognition of any sort to the Palestinians until 1988, some four years later. There were no Palestinian diplomats in Prague prior to that date. That means that even if the Palestinian explanation is true, the explosives were put into the safe by terrorists operating in Eastern Europe.
But then there is another wrinkle. While investigating the explosion, the police also found a large cache of arms in the new embassy. (To be clear, the site of the explosion is not yet officially the embassy. That is why the police were able to investigate.) The Palestinians said that the large numbers of arms were intended for protection of the embassy, but the Czech police have said that there was no need for this and that the sorts of arms discovered were highly unlikely to be used to protect a diplomatic compound.
The truth is that what most likely happened is that the Palestinians were building up an arms depot for use by terrorists in the future in Europe. Somehow, the explosives were not handled properly and the ambassador was killed in the resulting blast. These were not 30 year old explosives. They were bombs which had intended targets across Europe. It is important to remember that the Czech Republic was one of the few European countries to vote against the granting of official status to the Palestinians at the United Nations. That made the country a prime target for terrorism should the Palestinian Authority go back to that method of international relations.
If I were the head of the Czech government, I would expel the Palestinians and cut diplomatic relations. It is completely unacceptable for diplomats to bring huge weapons caches into another country under cover of diplomacy.
Jamal al Jamal was the ambassador of the Palestinian Authority in the Czech Republic. He was posted to Prague by the PA. Last week he was killed in an explosion at the site of the new Palestinian embassy. The explosion took place inside the embassy and was not part of any attack on the facility. According to the Palestinians, the ambassador was killed when he opened a safe that had been kept closed for the last thirty years. Supposedly, something inside the safe exploded although no one knew that there were explosives inside.
The story is fantastic, to say the least. Let's assume for a moment that it is true. How did explosives get inside a safe in the Palestinian embassy in Prague 30 years ago. Remember, thirty years ago (1984) there was no Palestinian embassy. In fact, Czechoslovakia did not give diplomatic recognition of any sort to the Palestinians until 1988, some four years later. There were no Palestinian diplomats in Prague prior to that date. That means that even if the Palestinian explanation is true, the explosives were put into the safe by terrorists operating in Eastern Europe.
But then there is another wrinkle. While investigating the explosion, the police also found a large cache of arms in the new embassy. (To be clear, the site of the explosion is not yet officially the embassy. That is why the police were able to investigate.) The Palestinians said that the large numbers of arms were intended for protection of the embassy, but the Czech police have said that there was no need for this and that the sorts of arms discovered were highly unlikely to be used to protect a diplomatic compound.
The truth is that what most likely happened is that the Palestinians were building up an arms depot for use by terrorists in the future in Europe. Somehow, the explosives were not handled properly and the ambassador was killed in the resulting blast. These were not 30 year old explosives. They were bombs which had intended targets across Europe. It is important to remember that the Czech Republic was one of the few European countries to vote against the granting of official status to the Palestinians at the United Nations. That made the country a prime target for terrorism should the Palestinian Authority go back to that method of international relations.
If I were the head of the Czech government, I would expel the Palestinians and cut diplomatic relations. It is completely unacceptable for diplomats to bring huge weapons caches into another country under cover of diplomacy.
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