Word: shaka
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Exactly 30 minutes later, in the Arab industrial city of Nablus, 35 miles north of Ramallah, Mayor Bassam Shaka'a, 49, said goodbye to his wife Anaya and his son Nidal, 18. Ordinarily, Nidal performed the chore of starting up the engine on his father's battered 1966 Opel, which was parked in the family courtyard, but on this morning the youth was studying for his high school exams. As the mayor started the ignition and depressed the clutch, a bomb exploded, severing both of his legs. Nidal ran to the car, and cradling his father...
...expulsion order imposed on him for allegedly having spoken out in support of Palestinian terrorism. It was a dramatic finale to an embarrassing episode that had drawn wide international criticism of Israel and confused the Middle East peace process with Egypt. The Jerusalem Post hailed the freeing of Shaka'a as "a triumph for common sense...
...mayor had been arrested four weeks ago, following the leak of a private conversation between Shaka'a and General Danny Matt, Israeli military administrator of the occupied territories. Despite the mayor's denials that he had expressed any approval of Palestinian terrorist acts, Defense Minister Ezer Weizman ordered him deported to Jordan; the Cabinet unanimously affirmed the decree...
...Shaka'a embarked on a 14-day hunger strike, during which he was to lose 26 pounds. Other mayors in the Gaza Strip and West Bank staged an angry protest demonstration and then resigned en masse. In a letter to Premier Menachem Begin, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance bluntly urged reconsideration of the deportation order. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat publicly complained that "such measures do not contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of confidence" for the slow-burning negotiations on Palestinian autonomy...
...West Bank, then reviewed the case; last week it was announced that Shak'a's deportation order had been annulled. Among the "many considerations" involved in the turnabout, General Ben-Eliezer explained, were "the welfare of the city of Nablus and the welfare of Mr. Shaka'a's family." He might have added that the well-being of Begin's embattled government had also been a factor. In fact, nobody seemed happier with Ben-Eliezer's decision than the Premier. With obvious relish, he announced that he would meet Sadat at a summit...