DEFEND JERUSALEM has requested that Minister for Internal Security Omer Bar-Lev revoke the permanent residency status of Amhad al-Rawidi, the trusted advisor on all matters Jerusalem to Mahmoud al-Abbas (aka Abu Mazen), the president of the Palestinian Authority, including efforts to undermine and threaten Israeli sovereignty in the capital.
Ahmad al-Rawidi is a resident of Silwan in East Jerusalem inside the boundaries of the State of Israel. He is an officer of the Palestinian Authority who is Abu Mazen’s advisor on all matters Jerusalem. Previous to his current posting, al-Rawidi was the Jerusalem Unit Bureau Chief inside the PA President’s Office. Al-Rawidi is also a high-ranking member of a group known as Islamic Cooperation in Palestine and is considered an “ambassador” of that organization. But al-Rawidi’s true prominence has come as a result of his working in support of the efforts of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah to incite violence and terror inside the Israeli capital.
Ahmad al-Rawidi has used his offices inside the Palestinian Authority and Fatah to advance a campaign of incitement and terror against the State of Israel with the confines of Jerusalem being his primary battlefield focus. He has used his pulpit, Fatah and PA thugs, and social media, to prompt Jerusalem’s Arab residents to “defend al-Aqsa,” which is a common phrase used when Palestinians call for violence against Jews. He has openly called for the Arab citizens of Jerusalem to disobey the police and ignore the rulings of local courts. Al-Rawidi was one of the leading figures behind the violence that erupted in the Old City of Jerusalem in May 2021. And, during these hostile and illegal activities, he is not a lone wolf but rather a serving member of the Palestinian government who personally advises the Palestinian Authority president.
Ahmad al-Rawidi has waged a relentless and ongoing war against Israeli law and order and public safety inside Jerusalem. Israel’s security services have detained al-Rawidi in the past. His home has been raided. None of these actions by the Israeli police and the counterterrorism services have deterred him from his activities. His presence inside Israel must not continue.
Ahmad al-Rawidi is a threat to Israel and the safety of Jerusalem. As a result, DEFEND JERUSALEM respectfully requests that the Israeli Ministry for Internal Security once and for all revoke his permanent residency status and bar him from entering the State of Israel and the precincts of Jerusalem.
