Dirar Abu Seesi
{{Short description|Palestinian engineer}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dirar Abu Seesi
| native_name = ضرار أبو سيسي
| native_name_lang = ar
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1969}}
| birth_place = Jordan
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Palestinian
| children = 6
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Engineer
}}
Dirar Abu Seesi or Abu Sisi ({{langx|ar|ضرار أبو سيسي}}; born in 1969 in Jordan){{cite web | url=http://www.moi.gov.ps/en/news/24839/Palestinian-Ministry-of-Interior-addresses-urgent-appeal-for-Ukrainian-Interior-Ministry-and-demands-to-disclose-the-reasons-for-disappearance-of-Abu-Sisi | title=Palestinian Ministry of Interior addresses urgent appeal for Ukrainian Interior Ministry and demands to disclose the reasons for disappearance of Abu Sisi | publisher=Palestine Ministry of Interior | date=February 27, 2011 | access-date=March 25, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925042630/http://www.moi.gov.ps/en/news/24839/Palestinian-Ministry-of-Interior-addresses-urgent-appeal-for-Ukrainian-Interior-Ministry-and-demands-to-disclose-the-reasons-for-disappearance-of-Abu-Sisi | archive-date=September 25, 2011 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} is a Palestinian engineer. Abu Seesi was a deputy engineer for the Gaza Strip's sole electrical plant, which provides 25% of Gaza's power.{{cite web | url=http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=40884 | title=Gaza power plant reopens after Hamas does deal | website=Middle East Online | access-date=March 22, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204094943/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=40884 | archive-date=December 4, 2010 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} According to Israel, he was also a weapons engineer for the Palestinian Hamas organization. In February 2011, he traveled to Ukraine, his wife's native country, to apply for citizenship, after coming to believe that Gaza was no longer a safe place to raise his six children. He disappeared in Poltava on February 19, and later turned up in an Israeli prison after being kidnapped by Mossad Israeli intelligence personnel.{{Cite web|url=http://ukrpress.net/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%87-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7|title=الأسير أبو سيسي يروي تفاصيل أخرى حول اختطافه من أوكرانيا|date=December 28, 2012|website=أوكرانيا برس}} On April 4, 2011 he was indicted for his work for Hamas and was convicted on March 30, 2015 in a plea bargain. He is known by Israeli security services as the "father of the rockets".{{cite news|title='Father of rockets' in court|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/father-of-rockets-in-court-20110406-1d2v5.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=April 6, 2011 |first=Jason |last=Koutsoukis}}
Abduction
On the evening of February 18, after formally filing the papers for citizenship, Abu Seesi was traveling by train to the Kyiv airport for a reunion with his brother Yussef, who was residing in the Netherlands and whom he had not seen in 15 years. Just outside the city of Poltava, two men, who the family believes were Ukrainian security agents, entered the train and removed Dirar. After that, he disappeared. His wife Veronika, who was in Ukraine at the time as well, did not hear from him for a week. During that period of silence, she summoned the Ukrainian press and made allegations that the Mossad had kidnapped him. On February 27, the Palestinian Interior Ministry demanded that the Ukrainian Interior Ministry disclose the reasons for his disappearance.
Dalia Kerstein, executive director of the Israeli human rights NGO, HaMoked, confirmed that the Gazan engineer was in an Israeli prison. Kerstein identified Abu Seesi's Israeli attorney Michal Orkabi, who confirmed that she represented him, but she could provide no further information due to a security gag order imposed by the Petah Tikva Magistrates' Court preventing her from speaking about the case.{{cite news
|url = http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/63529
|title = Radio Liberty: Palestinian Dirar Abu Sisi put into Israeli prison on February 19
|publisher = Interfax Ukraine
|date = March 16, 2011
|access-date = March 22, 2011
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110403201402/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/63529/
|archive-date = April 3, 2011
|df = mdy
}} On March 20, the gag order was partially lifted with Israel admitting it was holding Abu Seesi.{{cite news| url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/03/israel-israel-admits-to-holding-missing-gazan-engineer.html | title=ISRAEL: Israel admits to holding missing Gaza engineer |work=Los Angeles Times | date=March 21, 2011 | access-date=March 22, 2011 |first=Batsheva |last=Sobelman |location=Jerusalem}}
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees became involved in the case when it determined that Abu Seesi was classified as a refugee. An Associated Press article revealed that the UNHCR's Ukrainian representative asked Ukraine to account for any role its own officials may have played in the disappearance.
Veronika Abu Seesi claimed that Israel kidnapped him because he was the "brain of the power system" and that he had rebuilt it himself after it was destroyed during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post both reported that Abu Seesi had devised a technique enabling the plant to run solely on diesel fuel supplied by Egypt, thus enabling it to no longer be dependent on Israel for its sole source of fuel.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/11/AR2011031102615.html|title=Gaza power plant engineer being held in Israeli prison|first=Joel|last=Greenberg|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 11, 2011 | access-date=March 19, 2011}} The German weekly Der Spiegel indicated that Abu Seesi's abduction was owing to information he had in relation to missing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was being held by Palestinian militants in Gaza.{{cite news|title=Palestinian engineer kidnapped in Ukraine appears in Israeli court|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/31/palestinian-engineer-kidnapped-ukraine-israel|date= March 31, 2011|publisher=The Guardian|first= Conal |last=Urquhart}}{{cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/agententhriller-in-nahost-der-lange-arm-des-mossad-a-753666.html|title=Der lange Arm des Mossad|date=March 29, 2011|publisher=Der Spiegel| first1= Benjamin |last1=Bidder| first2=Ulrike |last2=Putz |first3=Holger |last3=Stark}} Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a live interview with YouTube World View and Channel Two News, said that Abu Seesi is a Hamas man being held in Israel, and he disclosed valuable information.{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4049937,00.html|title=Abu Sisi's wife: He never spoke about Shalit |first=Elior |last=Levy|website=Ynetnews|date=March 30, 2011 | access-date=March 31, 2011}} Israeli officials were insinuating earlier that Abu Seesi was involved in weaponry for Hamas. Israel held Abu Seesi in isolation, denying him family visits, under its security protocol.{{cite web |url=https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-breaks-pledge-allow-imprisoned-gaza-engineer-family-visits/12562 |title=Israel breaks pledge to allow imprisoned Gaza engineer family visits |first=Rami |last=Almeghari |website=Electronic Intifida|date=June 24, 2013 }}
Trial
On April 4, 2011, Abu Seesi was indicted in the Beersheba District Court, charged with "membership in a terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit a crime, and the production of illegal weaponry, assistance to an illegal organization and other various crimes". According to the indictment, Abu Seesi was the central developer of the Qassam rocket, among other rockets and anti-tank missiles, was responsible for upgrading older rockets for Hamas and served as the commander of Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Military Academy.
According to the indictment by Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency, Abu Seesi was recruited into Hamas in 2002 by Sheikh Nizar Rayan. He was asked by Salah Shehade to work to develop weapons for Hamas. Working under Mohammed Deif, the supreme commander of Hamas' military wing, "Abu Sisi was responsible for electrical engineering and dealt mostly with developing boosters and fins that stabilized and enhanced rocket propulsion. These are two factors that are key for increasing a rocket's range and subsequent penetration of a target. In 2005, Abu Seesi was asked by the committee to begin working on increasing the range of rockets that were manufactured domestically in the Gaza Strip. In his work for Hamas, he was able to increase the range of the rockets from six to nine kilometers, and subsequently to 15 kilometers. In 2007, Abu Seesi assisted Hamas in increasing the range of their rockets to 22 kilometers. He was then asked by Hamas to increase the range to between 37 and 45 kilometers, and participated in several experiments during which rockets were tested and fired into the Mediterranean." Under the command of Deif and Ahmed Jabari, Abu Sisi founded a military academy that taught "military tactics and techniques," and "human resources management, time management, crisis management, and general administration."
On March 30, 2015, Abu Seesi was convicted in the Beersheba District Court after pleading guilty as part of a plea bargain arrangement. As part of the deal, the prosecution asked for 21 years imprisonment. While the charges of attempted murder were dropped, other charges such as planning to commit murder, producing weapons, and activity in a terror organization, remained. In July 2015, Abu Seesi was sentenced to 21 years in prison.{{Cite news |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4680012,00.html |title=Palestinian rocket engineer sentenced to 21 years' jail |date=July 14, 2015 |website=Ynetnews}}
See also
References
{{Reflist |refs=
{{cite news|title=Hamas engineer convicted of terror offenses in plea bargain; could get 21 years|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.649505|work=Haaretz|date=March 30, 2015 |first1=Revital |last1=Hovel |first2=Shirly |last2=Seidler |url-access=subscription}}
{{cite news | url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=215100 | title=Shin Bet files indictment against 'rocket godfather' | work=The Jerusalem Post | date=April 4, 2011 | access-date=April 4, 2011 |first=Yaakov |last=Katz}}
}}
External links
- {{cite web |url=http://gdedirar.blogspot.com/ |title=Where's Dirar |language=Russian}}
- {{cite news |first1=Benjamin |last1=Bidder |first2=Ulrike |last2=Putz |first3=Holger |last3=Stark |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,753872,00.html |title=The Long Arm of Mossad: A Palestinian Disappears in Ukraine |work=Der Spiegel|date=March 29, 2011}}
- {{cite news |first=Gabriel |last=Gatehouse |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14529749 |title=Israel, Ukraine and the mysterious case of Dirar Abu Sisi |work=BBC News |date=August 24, 2011}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Seesi, Dirar}}
Category:2000s missing person cases
Category:Formerly missing people
Category:Israel–Ukraine relations
Category:Kidnapped Palestinian people
Category:Missing person cases in Ukraine
Category:Palestinian engineers
Category:Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel
Category:People from the Gaza Strip