A Hamas terrorist involved in two suicide bombings and released as part of ransom for October 7 hostages was featured in a Sunday night webinar hosted in collaboration with organizations operating in the United States and Canada.
Hamas terrorist Othman (or Osman) Bilal, who was reportedly involved in the planning of bombings that killed 12 people, was featured alongside Masar Badil/Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement founder Khaled Barakat and Birzeit University professor Dr. Wedad Barghouti in a panel on the First Intifada.
The Intifada of Stones online seminar was organized by Masar Badil and its youth movement Tariq El-Tahrir, both of which operate in Canada and the US, in collaboration with the Vancouver-based Basil Al-Araj Prisoner Committee, the Seattle-based Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return at University of Washington (SUPER UW), and Spanish organizations Al-Yudur Palestinian Youth and Encampment for Palestine Madrid.
The advertisements shared by Masar Badil, Tariq El-Tahrir, SUPER UW, and the Al-Araj Committee on Friday didn’t detail that Bilal was one of hundreds of terrorists released in February in exchange for hostages Avera Mengistu, Eliya Cohen, Hisham al-Sayed, Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Tal Shoham, but at the beginning of the webinar, a host confirmed that he was the same Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades operative.
Bilal was serving 27 life sentences before he was released. According to the Palestinian Information Center, Bilal was involved in the planning of the July 1995 Ramat Gan and August 1995 bus suicide bombings, which collectively murdered 12 and wounded over 140.
Bilal explained to webinar participants that the First Intifada was important because it served as a “popular school” for “revolution and resistance” and more “violent militant action against the occupation.” The uprising led to other acts of “resistance,” including the Second Intifada and the October 7 massacre.
Stone throwing developed a mentality of resistance, said Bilal. He encouraged all tools to be used “depending what benefits best the struggle,” be it boycotts, protest, “armed resistance,” or “violent militant actions.”
October 7 was "felt with a lot of hope," said the host.
Barghouti echoed Bilal about the importance of the First Intifada for the Palestinian psyche, saying it “led to the victories and triumphs that we eventually achieved on October 7.”
According to Palestinian Media Watch, the Birzeit professor is the mother of Qassam Barghouti, who was part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine cell that conducted the 2019 Ein Bubin bombing that murdered 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb and wounded her father and brother.
According to PMW, in 2020 she praised her son, stating that “the most important achievement that we have made in our lives is that we gave birth to heroes such as these.”
Barakat was sanctioned by the US Treasury Office Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) last October for serving as a leader of the PFLP abroad, a position that had previously been reported by Palestinian news sources.
The 2024 addition of Barakat to the designated nationals list also saw the joint designation of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as a sham charity front for the PFLP. The Canadian citizen concealed his involvement with Samidoun, which is officially led by his wife, Charlotte Kates. Much of Masar Badil’s senior leadership are senior officers of Samidoun.
One of the webinar hosts noted that October 7 filled many with "a lot of hope."
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs condemned Canadian groups hosting the event linked to Canadian designated terrorist entities.
“The government must ensure that the promotion of these illegal and dangerous entities has real consequences,” CIJA said on X/Twitter. “Canadians deserve to be protected from terrorist threats.”
A physical gathering was also held in Madrid, the first organized by Tariq El-Tahrir in the country, and is set to be part of a monthly Path of Liberation Series of lectures, “covering a range of critical topics related to building a revolutionary youth alternative to the liquidationist Oslo path.”