Related Post
A Palestinian sheikh known for his affiliation to the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation), and his rejection of the occupation with all its tools and forms. He was also known for his firm stance in loving and defending the land of Palestine, and rejecting any solution other than the “gun” to liberate it.
He spent his basic education in the city of Tubas in the northern West Bank, before moving on to complete his secondary studies in the vocational department in Nablus, and then his university studies in the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Despite his continuous struggle against the occupation and his paying the price for his personal and intellectual stances, with his and his three children being arrested several times, and the occupation’s repeated raids on his home; His fame spread even more after his martyrdom, especially after his name was recorded at the top of the list of captured martyrs, the first prisoner martyr in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” war launched by the resistance on October 7, 2023.
Birth and upbringing
Sheikh Omar Daraghmeh – or “Abu Al-Nimr” as he was nicknamed – was born in the city of Tubas in the northern West Bank on August 24, 1965, and grew up in a religious family that filled its life with struggle and sacrifice.
In Tubas, he received his basic education, and he worked when he was young, like any young man there, in agriculture, as Tubas is the western gateway to the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley.
Since his childhood, he was known for his courage, kind-heartedness, and love among people. These are qualities that contributed to shaping his personality in the future, so that he would be influential among his acquaintances and the people of his country, so he became busy with reform and serving the masses.
On February 5, 1990, Omar married his cousin, and from her he had 5 children: 3 young men: Nimr, Hamza, and Muhammad Rasul, and two daughters.
Study and scientific training
After completing the tenth grade, he moved to the industrial school in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, where he obtained a high school diploma in the industrial branch with a grade of 74%.
This qualified him to join Palestine Polytechnic University in the city of Hebron in the south of the West Bank, where he studied and graduated with a degree in architecture on November 23, 1986.
Omar Daraghmeh gained a wide culture through his personal follow-ups, and was influenced by the ideology of the resistance in general, without following a specific sheikh to study under him. He loved the Qur’an and preserved its recitations in it. He became more attached to his religion, so he attended the mosques of his city, especially the “Martyr’s Mosque” near his home, and was keen to pray. In it at all times.
Political and practical experience
Omar Daraghmeh was influenced by political parties, and initially belonged to the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (to open), but he was not active in it, and that did not spare him from being arrested by the Israeli occupation 4 times in the period between (1987-1991), and he spent about two years in administrative detention, and his arrest file remained secret without a specific charge.
On May 5, 1991, the occupation arrested his cousin, Aqab Nimr Daraghmeh, after he was shot by the Israeli army, announcing his martyrdom 11 days later in circumstances very similar to the martyrdom of Omar Daraghmeh later.
Omar was soon more and deeply influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, and he got to know a group of young people in it. He later announced his joining the Hamas movement on April 5, 2002, when his brother Ashraf Daraghmeh was martyred on that day, after “Iranian” planes bombed…F 16“Israeli and cell missiles Al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of the Hamas movement) in his city of Tubas.
He later moved on to become one of the leaders of the Hamas movement, and a series of targeting of him and his family began by the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian security services alike. He and his three sons were arrested and summoned for interrogation several times.
In 2018, about 3 decades after his last arrest, Daraghmeh was arrested again and sentenced to 4 months in administrative prison. His last arrest was on October 9, 2023, when the occupation raided his house in Tubas, and arrested him and his son Hamza.
Since joining the Hamas movement, Omar Daraghmeh seemed more inclined toward armed resistance work, and he used to repeat his saying, “As long as the gun is in the hands of those who fear God and fight for the sake of God, then I am with him, and if Hamas abandons the gun, I will leave it.” But he also used to say, Hamas is the best person to protect this rifle.
Jobs and responsibilities
Sheikh Omar Daraghmeh did not work as a university major in architecture, nor did he hold an official position or hold a government position, especially during the era of the Palestinian Authority. After his graduation, he set out to work within the Green Line in an effort to establish himself and build his family.
Then he soon joined the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for 5 years, before he was fired because of his affiliation to the Hamas movement, but he did not care about that and chose to be free in his work, so he established a grocery store to support him and his family.
After Hamas won the Legislative Council elections in 2006, he was employed in the Ministry of Local Government in Tubas, but that did not last long, as he was dismissed like others appointed by the government at the time, and he was dismissed after the events of the division on June 4, 2007.
He worked as a merchant for a period of time before returning to his work in agriculture, which he started at a young age, until the occupation arrested him and ended his life.
He chose public work, and nominated himself twice for the municipal council elections in Tubas on lists of the Hamas movement. One of them failed to take place, and the other was unsuccessful in it, but he continued his role in community and civil work.
Assassinate him
On October 9, 2023, Sheikh Omar Daraghmeh was arrested, accompanied by his son Hamza, from his house, after Israeli soldiers stormed it and took down its main gate.
Only two weeks after his arrest, on October 23, 2023, his martyrdom was announced inside Megiddo Prison in northern occupied Palestine, in an “assassination” operation resulting from severe torture, as said by the Hamas movement and Palestinian institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs.
