5-Jan-12: What the blood-soaked career of an "adviser on local government matters" reveals about the 'moderate' PA leader's thinking

Esh-Kodesh Gilmore, of blessed memory.

Esh-Kodesh Gilmore was 25, married for three years and the father of an angel-faced 18-month old daughter called Taliah (we have spent weekends together with the Gilmores).

Esh-Kodesh worked as a part-time guard at the Bituach Leumi (national insurance/social security) branch in East Jerusalem, an office that provides benefits to an almost entirely-Arab clientele. He was working there when a man walked up to him and shot right into his neck at point-blank range around noon on October 30, 2000.

The terrorist was operating under the name "Martyrs of the Al-Aqsa Intifada". In fact, as a subsequent trial established, the planning and execution of the cold-blooded murder was done by men of Force 17. It's a so-called special operations unit under the command of Yasser Arafat and skilled in acts of terrorism, especially murder. At various times, it was been called the Palestinian Presidential Guard. The BBC reported at the time of Esh Kodesh's murder that Arafat "regards them as some of his most trusted security personnel."  

So, evidently, does the man who stepped into Arafat's shoes. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas elevated a man called Mahmoud Awad Damra, known also by the nom-de-guerre Abu Awad, to become the head of Force 17 in May 2006. Not long afterwards, Damra was arrested by Israeli authorities. [We wrote about this at the time: "6-Sep-06: Reduction in Force 17".] He was tried and sentenced in 2006 to 15 years in prison for his role in terror attacks against Israelis including the murder of Esh-Kodesh Gilmore.

But this is the upside-down world of the Palestinian Arab clique and their perverted morality. While still behind bars, this Damra was promoted by the 'moderate' Abbas to the rank of major-general in 2009. On October 18, 2011, he walked out of his Israeli prison cell a free man, thanks to the infamous Gilad-Shalit-for-murderers deal. And this week, by presidential decree, Mahmoud Abbas appointed Mahmoud Awad Damra as his presidential adviser on local government.

If local government is where they deal with garbage and effluent, then Damra has been appointed to the right place. Still, in the name of justice, we're hoping the man will return to where he belongs, behind bars.