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Zakaria Zubeidi, a former militant and theater leader, reflects on the failure of various forms of Palestinian resistance to achieve statehood. He expresses despair after his release from prison, citing the destruction in Gaza and the ongoing conflict. Zubeidi is now studying Israel studies.
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- AI Headline
- Palestinian Whose Resistance Took Many Forms Now Despairs
- Simplified Title
- Zakaria Zubeidi Reflects on Futility of Palestinian Resistance
- AI Excerpt
- Zakaria Zubeidi, a former militant and theater leader, reflects on the failure of various forms of Palestinian resistance to achieve statehood. He expresses despair after his release from prison, citing the destruction in Gaza and the ongoing conflict. Zubeidi is now studying Israel studies.
- Subject Tags
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Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Zakaria Zubeidi Resistance Gaza West Bank Prisoners Fatah Intifada
- Context Type
- Analysis
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1.000
- Context Details
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{ "tone": "analytical", "perspective": "neutral", "audience": "general", "credibility_indicators": [ "expert_quotes", "first-person accounts", "historical context" ] }
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Completed
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- Donato V. Pompo
- Submission Date
- August 13, 2025 at 2:50 PM
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{ "source_type": "extension", "content_hash": "17ba0ca21d3e23db4c2c11185e7c04fdafcee854faf360d68dc30a11673c88cc", "submitted_via": "chrome_extension", "extension_version": "1.0.18", "parsed_content": "Middle East CrisisThe LatestFood CrisisSending Aid Into GazaGazan Cash ShortageIsraeli Hostages in GazaA Weakened HezbollahWhen Zakaria Zubeidi was suddenly freed from an Israeli prison in January, it was a rare and fleeting moment of joy for Palestinians.Hundreds turned out in Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to celebrate Mr. Zubeidi\u2019s arrival from jail, cheering him as a returning hero. They chanted his name as he took his first steps of freedom, some of them hoisting him on their shoulders. A child clutched a tin of hair gel that Mr. Zubeidi had given him six years ago, before he was jailed. \u201cI want to show Uncle Zakaria that I kept it,\u201d said Watan Abu Al Rob, 11, \u201cand I\u2019ll only use it now that he is free.\u201dMr. Zubeidi, 49, is the best-known of the Palestinian prisoners swapped for Israeli hostages during a brief truce in Gaza earlier this year. In the early 2000s, he inspired Palestinians \u2014 and terrified Israelis \u2014 by leading a militant group affiliated with Fatah, Hamas\u2019s secular rival.He drew international attention when, several years later, he stopped fighting and helped set up a theater. Jailed a decade later, he cemented his legend when he briefly escaped prison through a tunnel, before being recaptured days later.Now, months after his release, Mr. Zubeidi has become emblematic of something else: a sense of hopelessness that imbues Palestinian life. In a recent conversation with The New York Times \u2014 his first major interview as a free man \u2014 Mr. Zubeidi said he felt that his life as a militant, a theater leader and a prisoner had ultimately proved futile. None of it had helped forge a Palestinian state, he said, and it may never do so.\u201cWe have to reconsider our tools,\u201d Mr. Zubeidi said in an interview in Ramallah. \u201cWe founded a theater, and we tried cultural resistance \u2014 what did that do?\u201d he asked. \u201cWe tried the rifle, we tried shooting. There\u2019s no solution.\u201dImageCrowds greeted Mr. Zubeidi upon his arrival in Ramallah in the West Bank, after he was released during a hostage and prisoner exchange in January.Credit...Ahmad Gharabli\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty ImagesAs if to illustrate his point, Mr. Zubeidi removed several dentures from his jaw \u2014 revealing an entirely toothless mouth. His teeth and jaw had been broken, Mr. Zubeidi said, during his recent incarceration. He was already in custody during Hamas\u2019s raid on Israel in October 2023; in the weeks that followed, the prison guards repeatedly beat him, he said. The descriptions of his treatment echoed testimonies from at least 10 other prisoners jailed in Israel since the start of the war who were interviewed by The Times.In a statement, the Israel Prison Service said it was \u201cnot aware of the claims you described, and as far as we know, no such events have occurred.\u201dCut off from the news media in jail, Mr. Zubeidi emerged after 16 months of war to discover that Gaza had been decimated by Israel\u2019s counterattack. He found large parts of Jenin, his hometown in the northern West Bank, destroyed and depopulated by Israeli raids. His own home \u2014 in an area sealed off by the Israeli military \u2014 was unreachable. His 21-year-old son, also a militant, had been killed in an Israeli strike. On every front, Palestinian strategies seemed to be failing.Want to stay updated on what\u2019s happening in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we\u2019ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.\u201cBut what is the solution?\u201d Mr. Zubeidi asked. \u201cI\u2019m asking that question myself.\u201dAs a young militant, Mr. Zubeidi had a clearer sense of mission.In the early 2000s, following the collapse of peace talks, he joined a militia in Jenin in the belief that it was the best way of achieving Palestinian sovereignty. The immediate spur was a provocative visit by an Israeli leader, accompanied by hundreds of police officers, to a major mosque complex in Jerusalem that is built on the site of an ancient Jewish temple. Protests and unrest broke out in Arab areas of Israel, prompting a deadly Israeli crackdown that horrified Mr. Zubeidi.ImageDemonstrators in Ramallah in the West Bank in October 2000. Unrest and violence broke out after a right-wing Israeli politician, Ariel Sharon, made a provocative visit to a major mosque complex in Jerusalem. Credit...Waizmann\/Ullstein Bild, via Getty ImagesAs the protests escalated into an armed uprising, known as the second intifada, Mr. Zubeidi joined the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a major Fatah-affiliated armed group in Jenin, swiftly rising in the ranks to become its leader.To Israelis, Mr. Zubeidi was a terrorist. Palestinians killed roughly 1,000 Israelis during the five-year intifada, as the uprising morphed from protests to bombing and shooting attacks on Israeli buses, nightclubs, hotels and cafes. Mr. Zubeidi denies involvement in any murder, but he was accused of ordering several of these attacks, including a shooting at the offices of a political party that killed several people. He was eventually charged with 24 offenses, mostly related to violence, but no verdict was reached before his release.\u201cHis release is dangerous,\u201d Bella Avraham, the wife of a victim of that attack, told the Israeli news media after Mr. Zubeidi was freed. \u201cI expect the state to hunt him down until his last day.\u201dTo Palestinians, however, Mr. Zubeidi was a freedom fighter who led the defense of Palestinian land against an occupying army. Israelis killed about 3,000 Palestinians during the second intifada. When the Israeli military raided Jenin in 2002, destroying much of Mr. Zubeidi\u2019s neighborhood, he led a squad of gunmen that tried to repel the attack. He drew international attention after featuring in a documentary, \u201cArna\u2019s Children,\u201d that chronicled some of this paramilitary activity.In one memorable scene, the filmmakers documented an argument about guerrilla tactics between Mr. Zubeidi and a fellow fighter, Ala Sabbagh. Mr. Zubeidi survived the Israeli raid by hiding in the ruins, and disapproved of Mr. Sabbagh\u2019s decision to survive by surrendering to the soldiers.\u201cI\u2019d never give myself up,\u201d Mr. Zubeidi boasted to his friend. \u201cNever!\u201d\u201cI\u2019d rather die,\u201d Mr. Zubeidi added later.ImageMr. Zubeidi in 2004 in the West Bank city of Jenin, when he was leading a militia affiliated with the Fatah movement led by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose portrait is in the framed photo.Credit...Saif Dahlah\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty ImagesIn time, Mr. Zubeidi took a more nuanced approach to battling Israel. As the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships tried to restore calm, Israel offered an amnesty in 2007 to hundreds of militants, including Mr. Zubeidi, on the condition that they give up their arms.Mr. Zubeidi accepted, telling interviewers at that time that the intifada had failed. He shifted his focus to a theater he had recently founded with a leftist Israeli actor and a Swedish activist. The Freedom Theater in Jenin organized drama workshops for young people in the city \u2014 a program that continues \u2014 and staged adaptations of works like \u201cWaiting for Godot\u201d and \u201cAnimal Farm.\u201dMr. Zubeidi did not direct any plays, but his involvement in the theater\u2019s administration helped insulate it from the opposition of Jenin\u2019s conservative residents.Mr. Zubeidi\u2019s ultimate goal was still to end the Israeli occupation, he said. But his involvement in the theater reflected an evolving approach to achieving that goal. His aim was not to replace or renounce armed Palestinian activity, but to provide it with an intellectual and cultural ballast.\u201cThe media said Zakaria moved from armed struggle to cultural struggle,\u201d Mr. Zubeidi told us, referring to himself in the third person. \u201cBut it\u2019s not about being one thing or another,\u201d he added. \u201cHow did I open the theater door? I broke it with my rifle.\u201dImageThe entrance to the Freedom Theater, in Jenin in 2022, which Mr. Zubeidi helped to found. It provided drama classes and performance space, especially for many young Palestinians.Credit...Nasser Nasser\/Associated PressAccusing him of breaking the terms of his amnesty, Israel rearrested him in 2019, setting the stage for his most memorable exploits yet. As he awaited trial in 2021, Mr. Zubeidi escaped his prison cell through a 32-yard tunnel that a group of fellow inmates had dug from their cell\u2019s bathroom.Though all six escapees were rearrested within days, and Mr. Zubeidi was convicted for the jailbreak, their quest for freedom captivated and galvanized Palestinians, enshrining Mr. Zubeidi\u2019s cult status. Until Israel\u2019s bombardment devastated the territory, murals commemorating the escape could be found on walls as far away as Gaza City.Yet Mr. Zubeidi looks back on the escape with characteristic ambivalence, viewing it as both necessary and counterproductive.\u201cIt was impossible for me to be imprisoned and not seek freedom,\u201d he said. \u201cThe prisoner who does not think about escaping prison does not deserve freedom.\u201dHe got stuck in the tunnel for 10 minutes and had to be dislodged by a fellow escapee, he said. When he finally felt the warm night air on his skin, he said, it was like \u201cfreedom flooding into my veins.\u201dYet the escape ultimately achieved little, he said.He always knew it would end in death or recapture, he said, and sure enough, Israeli policeman found Mr. Zubeidi days later, hiding in a truck.The episode prompted the Israeli prison service to impose harsher conditions on Palestinian prisoners, and Mr. Zubeidi himself was placed in solitary confinement.For Mr. Zubeidi, it is an outcome that exemplifies the bind faced by all Palestinians, whether they oppose Israel through peaceful or violent means.ImageMr. Zubeidi said he felt that his life as a militant, a theater leader and a prisoner had ultimately proved futile. None of it had helped forge a Palestinian state, he said.Credit...Samar Hazboun for The New York TimesThe intifada failed to dislodge Israel. But the Palestinian Authority, the semiautonomous body that cooperates with Israel to administer Palestinian cities in the West Bank, has failed to achieve statehood with its peaceful approach.For many Israelis, that is because the P.A. is too insincere, too incompetent and too weak to be trusted with a state.But Mr. Zubeidi says it is Israel that is the obstacle \u2014 too strong to be defeated with violence, and too selfish to reward genuine Palestinian partnership with statehood.\u201cThere is no peaceful solution and there is no military solution,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy? Because the Israelis don\u2019t want to give us anything.\u201d\u201cIt\u2019s impossible to uproot us from here,\u201d Mr. Zubeidi concluded. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t have any tools to uproot them.\u201dStill, Mr. Zubeidi has not given up the search for an answer. Since his release, he said, he has begun studying for a Ph.D. at Birzeit University, a leading Palestinian college, that he hopes will help him better understand the complexities of the conflict.The subject?Israel studies.Lia Lapidot contributed reporting from Tel Aviv and Gabby Sobelman from Rehovot, Israel.A correction was made on\u00a0Aug. 12, 2025:\u00a0An earlier version of this article misstated, in two instances, the month in which Zakaria Zubeidi was freed. It was January, not February.When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn morePatrick Kingsley is The Times\u2019s Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.A version of this article appears in print on Aug. 13, 2025, Section A, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: Palestinian Whose Resistance Took Many Forms Now Despairs. Order Reprints | Today\u2019s Paper | SubscribeSee more on: The Israel-Hamas WarShare full articleRelated ContentAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT", "ai_headline": "Palestinian Whose Resistance Took Many Forms Now Despairs", "ai_simplified_title": "Zakaria Zubeidi Reflects on Futility of Palestinian Resistance", "ai_excerpt": "Zakaria Zubeidi, a former militant and theater leader, reflects on the failure of various forms of Palestinian resistance to achieve statehood. He expresses despair after his release from prison, citing the destruction in Gaza and the ongoing conflict. 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<html lang="en" class="story nytapp-vi-article nytapp-vi-story story nytapp-vi-article " data-nyt-compute-assignment="fallback" xmlns:og="http://opengraphprotocol.org/schema/" data-rh="lang,class"><head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>Zakaria Zubeidi, Palestinian Militia and Theater Leader, Speaks After Release From Prison - The New York Times</title> <meta data-rh="true" name="robots" content="noarchive, max-image-preview:large"><meta data-rh="true" name="description" content="Zakaria Zubeidi inspired Palestinians and horrified Israelis. Freed from jail during a recent truce, he questions what his many lives have achieved."><meta data-rh="true" property="twitter:url" content="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/world/middleeast/zakaria-zubeidi-palestine-interview.html"><meta data-rh="true" property="twitter:title" content="Zakaria Zubeidi, Palestinian Militia and Theater Leader, Speaks After Release From Prison"><meta data-rh="true" property="twitter:description" c... - Parsed Content
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Middle East CrisisThe LatestFood CrisisSending Aid Into GazaGazan Cash ShortageIsraeli Hostages in GazaA Weakened HezbollahWhen Zakaria Zubeidi was suddenly freed from an Israeli prison in January, it was a rare and fleeting moment of joy for Palestinians.Hundreds turned out in Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to celebrate Mr. Zubeidiβs arrival from jail, cheering him as a returning hero. They chanted his name as he took his first steps of freedom, some of them hoisting him on their shoulders. A child clutched a tin of hair gel that Mr. Zubeidi had given him six years ago, before he was jailed. βI want to show Uncle Zakaria that I kept it,β said Watan Abu Al Rob, 11, βand Iβll only use it now that he is free.βMr. Zubeidi, 49, is the best-known of the Palestinian prisoners swapped for Israeli hostages during a brief truce in Gaza earlier this year. In the early 2000s, he inspired Palestinians β and terrified Israelis β by leading a militant group affiliate...
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Claims from this Source (51)
All claims extracted from this source document.
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π€ The author π News Article π·οΈ Palestinians , Prison π a116131d-c1a2-4146-8b15-c4512a6dced9Simplified: When Zakaria Zubeidi was freed from Israeli prison in January it was a rare moment of joy for Palestinians
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Simplified: They chanted his name as he took his first steps of freedom
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Simplified: A child clutched a tin of hair gel that Zubeidi had given him six years ago
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Simplified: Zubeidi drew international attention when he stopped fighting and helped set up a theater
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Simplified: Jailed a decade later Zubeidi cemented his legend when he briefly escaped prison through a tunnel
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Simplified: In a recent conversation with The New York Times Zubeidi said his life as a militant theater leader and prisoner had proved futile
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Simplified: None of it had helped forge a Palestinian state
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Simplified: Zubeidi said we have to reconsider our tools
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Simplified: We tried the rifle we tried shooting there is no solution
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Simplified: Zubeidi removed several dentures from his jaw revealing an entirely toothless mouth
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π€ Israel Prison Service π News Article π·οΈ Denial π a116132b-ecfb-4952-9074-4182ef31ce69Simplified: The Israel Prison Service said it was not aware of the claims described
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π€ The author π News Article π·οΈ Destruction , Israeli Raids π a116132d-ed05-45ce-b948-8bb4993969f9Simplified: Zubeidi found large parts of Jenin destroyed and depopulated by Israeli raids
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Simplified: His own home was unreachable
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Simplified: On every front Palestinian strategies seemed to be failing
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π€ The author π News Article π·οΈ Accusation , Violence π a1161337-9b33-453a-95c1-1c30007cbc46Simplified: Zubeidi denies involvement in any murder but was accused of ordering several attacks
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Simplified: He was charged with 24 offenses mostly related to violence
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Simplified: Mr Zubeidi survived Israeli raid by hiding in ruins
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Mr. Zubeidi disapproved of Mr. Sabbaghβs decision to survive by surrendering to the soldiers.0.500Simplified: Mr Zubeidi disapproved Mr Sabbagh's decision to survive by surrendering to soldiers
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Simplified: Mr Zubeidi in 2004 in Jenin West Bank city led militia affiliated with Fatah movement
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Simplified: Israel offered amnesty in 2007 to hundreds of militants including Mr Zubeidi on condition they give up arms
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Simplified: He shifted focus to theater he recently founded with leftist Israeli actor and Swedish activist
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Simplified: Freedom Theater in Jenin organized drama workshops for young people and staged adaptations of works like Waiting for Godot and Animal Farm
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Simplified: Mr Zubeidi did not direct plays but his involvement in theater's administration helped insulate it from opposition
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Simplified: His aim was not to replace or renounce armed Palestinian activity but to provide it with intellectual and cultural ballast
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Simplified: Media said Zakaria moved from armed struggle to cultural struggle Mr Zubeidi told us
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Simplified: It's not about being one thing or another he added
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Simplified: How did I open theater door I broke it with my rifle
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Simplified: Israel rearrested him in 2019 accusing him of breaking amnesty terms
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Simplified: Mr Zubeidi escaped prison cell through 32-yard tunnel in 2021
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Simplified: Murals commemorating escape could be found on walls as far away as Gaza City until Israel's bombardment devastated territory
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Simplified: It was impossible for me to be imprisoned and not seek freedom he said
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He got stuck in the tunnel for 10 minutes and had to be dislodged by a fellow escapee, he said.0.500Simplified: He got stuck in tunnel for 10 minutes and had to be dislodged by fellow escapee he said
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Simplified: Escape ultimately achieved little he said
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Simplified: None of it had helped forge Palestinian state he said
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Simplified: Intifada failed to dislodge Israel
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Simplified: Palestinian Authority has failed to achieve statehood with its peaceful approach
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Simplified: For many Israelis P A is too insincere too incompetent and too weak to be trusted with state
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Simplified: Mr Zubeidi says Israel is obstacle too strong to be defeated with violence and too selfish to reward Palestinian partnership with statehood
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Simplified: There is no peaceful solution and there is no military solution he said
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Simplified: Why because Israelis don't want to give us anything
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Simplified: We don't have any tools to uproot them