Palestinian cause unites Tunisians, claims former president

People gather to offer their condolences in front of 49-year-old Tunisian engineer and drone expert Mohamed Al-Zawari’s house in Sfax, Tunisia on December 18, 2016 [Houssem Zawari / Anadolu Agency]

People gather during a demonstration, in support of the investigation the murder case of Mohamed Al-Zawari at Habib Bourgiba on 18 December 2016 [Christian Michelides/Wikipedia]

People gather to offer their condolences in front of 49-year-old Tunisian engineer and drone expert Mohamed Al-Zawari’s house in Sfax, Tunisia on December 18, 2016 [Houssem Zawari / Anadolu Agency]

People gather to offer their condolences in front of 49-year-old Tunisian engineer and drone expert Mohamed Al-Zawari’s house in Sfax, Tunisia on December 18, 2016 [Houssem Zawari / Anadolu Agency]

People gather to offer their condolences in front of 49-year-old Tunisian engineer and drone expert Mohamed Al-Zawari’s house in Sfax, Tunisia on December 18, 2016 [Houssem Zawari / Anadolu Agency]

People gather to offer their condolences in front of 49-year-old Tunisian engineer and drone expert Mohamed Al-Zawari’s house in Sfax, Tunisia on December 18, 2016 [Houssem Zawari / Anadolu Agency]

People gather to offer their condolences in front of 49-year-old Tunisian engineer and drone expert Mohammad Al-Zawari’s house in Tunisia after he was assassinated [Houssem Zawari / Anadolu Agency]

The former President of Tunisia, Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, said on Monday that the Palestinian cause alone unites Tunisians with its love and proud resistance. He made his comments at a memorial service for aviation engineer Mohamed Al-Zawari, who was assassinated last week by, it was said in Maariv, Israeli Mossad agents.

Marzouki said the large turnout for the service sends two messages: the first is a confirmation of the Palestinian resistance and the second is a confirmation of Tunisia’s national sovereignty which was violated by Israel. “We are proud of martyr Al-Zawari and the Palestinian resistance and we are ashamed of those who are attacking innocent people in Western countries,” he told the audience.

Marzouki used the opportunity to demand the lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip. The human conscience, he insisted, cannot accept that two million people are placed under such a blockade. The Tunisian human rights activist laid the “main responsibility” for the effectiveness of the siege at the door of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

In Gaza itself, meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, also organised a memorial service to honour Al-Zawari. The movement made its own allegation that Mossad killed the engineer.