The Arab Lawyers Union, based in Cairo, representing lawyers and bar associations in 15 Arab countries, gave its highest award to Hanadi Jaradat, posthumously, of course, on Oct. 12. She was the female suicide bomber who killed 21 people in Haifa’s Maxim Restaurant in 2003. The award was decided upon last month by the ALU’s Palestine Committee and cites her “defense of Palestine and the Arab Nation.”
We could understand but deplore such an award being given by radical revolutionaries or terrorist organizations; but not by attorneys and their associations. As lawyers, we advise, represent, advocate and make peace between adversaries. Extolling the killing of innocents has no place in our profession. This glorification of terror brings shame on us all, and we must register our unequivocal condemnation in the strongest terms.
