Courage, spirit of sacrifice, and determination were the main traits that distinguished Ammar al-Ghoul, something testified by both his enemies and his comrades. He was very proficient in the use of the Russian-made RPG-7, and was even nicknamed Ammar RPG because he and one of his comrades were able to fight an Israeli tank column with these rockets. This was said to have delayed Israel’s invasion of Beirut for a full day in the 1980s. 

Courage, spirit of sacrifice, and determination were the main traits that distinguished Ammar al-Ghoul, something testified by both his enemies and his comrades. He was very proficient in the use of the Russian-made RPG-7, and was even nicknamed Ammar RPG because he and one of his comrades were able to fight an Israeli tank column with these rockets. This was said to have delayed Israel’s invasion of Beirut for a full day in the 1980s. 

Al-Ghoul was born in 1948, the year when most of the Palestinian territories were occupied by Israel and some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes. He grew up in the Gafsa province, south-west of Tunisia, and though he travelled to many Arab countries, he died aged 66 in the home town he loved so much.

In the mid-1970’s, Ammar joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) when he was not yet 30 years old, together with many Arab fighters who joined the Palestinian resistance in 1982. He participated in many battles defending Palestinian areas during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Nickname: Walid al-Tounisi

“It is not enough to start our lives as heroes and freedom fighters. What is more important is to end our lives without turning against our own principles,” was something he used to repeat all the time, Amal Yousef Nawfal said of her husband Ammar – or Walid as she used to call him.

Speaking to Correspondents, Nawfal, a Palestinian who once lived in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon, said that she never felt alone as long as she was with her husband. She used to support him in times of hardship, she said, and was at home in any country in the world as long as Ammar was with her. “The only time I ever felt alienated was during the last five months,” she said. “After Ammar passed away.”

She described Ammar as a boyfriend, a husband, a brother and a comrade in her struggle. He was a stranger who came all the way from Tunisia to join the PFLP military academy in Beirut, where he was trained for the front lines against Israel. At the time, she was still a young girl, working for the military academy.

She married Walid despite her family’s objections, and during her long stay in Beirut, she only saw him every two weeks, and when even this became impossible, she used to go to the front lines to see him. Amal told many stories of her husband’s heroism during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1978, her face flushed with pride. She told of how the Israelis held him for 16 hours together with his friends, known only as the “Iraqi Guevara,” and the “Jerusalem Falcon.” He was rewarded for this by George Habash, founder of the PFLP, who gave him his own pistol in recognition of his endeavours.

Walid continued to fight for the PFLP, but was at first not allowed to return to Tunisia. He travelled to Algeria and from there to Libya to visit his sick mother during his holiday, but then he quickly returned to Beirut to join the fighters when he heard of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. His wife, who was pregnant then, begged him to stay with her, but he refused. He insisted on going to battle, telling his wife, “I came here to fight, not to hide.” He left her and joined the fighters and she heard nothing of him for months.

Arrested and tortured

Ammar chose to wear his military uniform and fight at a time when many Palestinian fighters wore civilian clothes and hid to escape capture. He joined the battle and was able to launch a number of attacks on the Israelis. He was later captured when one of his comrades was injured, and he carried him for a long way until he felt that he would not survive his wounds. He left him on the ridge of a valley and hid in a bush, only to be arrested by an Israeli military patrol.

Nothing was known of him or his injured comrade for several months. The wife heard nothing until a few months after the invasion, and only knew his whereabouts when the Red Cross told her that her husband had been captured, tortured, and taken to a detention centre at the Ain al-Hilweh camp. There he started to form new fighting cells.

Ammar was supposed to be released in a prisoner exchange deal in 1985. His daughter Rania was among many relatives waiting at the border – but her father didn’t show up. He had chosen not to leave prison without his comrades.

More trouble at home

War, captivity, and torture were not the last episodes of Ammar’s life. More was waiting for him back home. When he arrived in Tunisia, Ammar was detained and then released under pressure from the PFLP and other organizations, who criticised the Tunisian authorities for trying to force him to give information. Ammar went on to live his life in Tunisia as a stranger and captive in his home country.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime separated him from his family when it refused to acknowledge his marriage license with Amal because only his nickname, Walid al-Tounisi, was on it. Although procedures for correcting this issue should have been easy, the regime made Amal leave her husband while she was pregnant with her second daughter and forced her to return to Beirut. She was later joined by Ammar’s brother-in-law, who was given a legal authorization to re-enter Ammar into a marriage contract with Amal.

According to statements he made to an international human rights organization, the authorities continued to harass Ammar for more than two decades, depriving him of an opportunity to make a living as they tried to pressure him into cooperating with the authorities.

The coffee shop he owned was destroyed and until the revolution in 2011, his house was under regular police surveillance. He tried to shield his wife and children from harassment, but never expressed regret for anything he did. “I was aware of the risks and I only hope that there is an independent judiciary and media,” he used to tell her. He said his only hope was that his suffering would serve the cause of the Tunisian people and make them reach their freedom.

A painful end

Ammar also suffered serious health issues. He lived with diabetes and suffered blood pressure problems that affected his sight. He underwent many operations, after which the fighter known for his stamina strength in the 1970’s grew very weak. His isolation and ill-health made a big impact on his morale, and he lost contact with many old friends and comrades.

He fought for months against his illnesses, but died on 23 April 2014, the same day his comrade Umran Miqdad passed away. Lezhar al-Dawi, a Tunisian artist, recounted the last moments of his life: “In the early morning hours, the soul of Ammar, the freedom fighter, left his weak body after a bitter struggle with his disease. He lived a life full of manhood and he died with pride. He never bowed his head to any person and he never asked anyone for help.”

Al-Dawi added that despite Ammar’s miserable living conditions, he continued to support his family from a vegetables cart at a marketplace in Gafsa. “His son, who looks like a Palestinian, and who has the same stubbornness and pride of his father, was sitting next to his coffin,” he remembered. Ammar al-Ghoul was born in a barren village and left his wife and sons to tell his stories. These are the stories they will always hold on to, as they attempt to cope with his absence.