Salfit, November 27, 2025 (WAFA) – Ola Muqadi
Last Sunday, the Salfit Governorate bid farewell to one of its most prominent national figures, the fighter Nadhir Farouq Al-Salakhi “Abu Jihad”, who passed away at the age of 58, after a long struggle that formed part of the national history of the governorate, during which he moved between being pursued and imprisoned, then between organizational work positions and serving the prisoners’ movement, before concluding his journey with a long confrontation with illness that did not make him lose his faith and patience.
Al-Salakhi’s name rose to prominence during the First Intifada, when he joined the ranks of the national movement early on. He participated in field national work and was pursued for five years, moving from one area to another, relying on a wide network of supporters in villages and towns. During this time, he moved between the rugged areas of Salfit and Qalqilya, and despite the difficulty of that period and its security conditions, he remained committed to his beliefs, refusing to surrender or leave the field.
Those years were a pivotal moment in his life, shaping a large part of his personality; the pursuit was not just an escape from the occupying forces, but a training in steadfastness and determination, and the creation of resilience that accompanied him in all subsequent stages.
After his arrest, he spent five years in the occupation prisons, during which he was a key player in organizing the ranks of the national movement inside the prisons, boosting morale among the prisoners, and contributing to strengthening the national culture within the sections and prisons.
The organizational staff in Salfit agree that Al-Salakhi was one of the names that played a pivotal role in establishing and building the organizational structure of the Fatah movement in the governorate during the early stages.
For his part, Jamal Hammad “Abu Rajai,” a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Wafa: “Nadhir Al-Salakhi is one of the most prominent historical leaders of the Fatah movement in the Salfit Governorate, and a symbol of the generation that took responsibility for organizational restructuring during one of the most critical political phases. He was one of the first founders of Fatah work in the region, and held the position of member of the district that included the Salfit and Qalqilya governorates, and then became one of the elected members of the first regional committee formed for the Salfit Governorate after the restructuring.”
Hammad adds: “During that sensitive stage in which the movement rebuilt its institutions and bases, the deceased played a pivotal role in establishing and adopting the independent organizational regions, leading to the region in its current form. Abu Jihad represented a living bridge between the pioneering generation led by the martyr Muhammad Ghalib, and the new organizational generation in the town of Al-Zawiya, preserving the unity of the national and Fatah line, and ensuring the continuity of the organizational school for which the movement was known in the Salfit Governorate.”
Hammad emphasizes that Nadhir al-Salakhi was not merely a field commander, but an organizational authority to whom people turned at critical junctures, especially when restructuring, reorganizing, and making sensitive decisions. For this reason, Fatah cadres considered him a pillar in the development of the Salfit region and a central figure in consolidating the movement’s structure and developing its organizational paths over the decades.
Al-Salakhi was known for working away from the spotlight, leaving his mark on the daily details of the movement’s course, and on the cadres who considered his experience a special school of commitment.
Serving prisoners… a responsibility borne with faith
After his release on 5/5/1994, Al-Salakhi took over the management of the Prisoners and Released Prisoners Affairs Authority in Salfit, where he worked on following up on prisoners’ cases and paying attention to their social and legal conditions, and he found himself facing a role that was completely consistent with his personal experience.
He was known for his continuous communication with the families of prisoners and for providing them with the necessary support, which made him one of the most prominent figures associated with the prisoners’ movement in the governorate.
Zahran Al-Deek, the public relations and media officer at the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in Salfit Governorate, told Wafa: “Al-Salakhi carried the issue of the detainees as a personal trust,” and played an important role in representing them and conveying their suffering to official institutions.
Al-Deek explains that the Salakhi phase witnessed extensive activity by the Authority in the governorate, due to his ability to manage files in a balance between legal, social and national aspects, in addition to his follow-up on the cases of veteran prisoners, the sick and released prisoners.
For the past four years, Al-Salakhi faced a debilitating illness that required constant medical attention, but he endured it with the unwavering spirit of a fighter. According to testimonies from his family and comrades, he maintained his smile and composure throughout his treatment, remaining steadfast in his belief until his final days that patience is an integral part of faith and the struggle, and he treated his illness as a challenge like all the others he had faced in his life.
Al-Salakhi was given a solemn funeral procession that set off on Sunday, November 23, 2025, from his hometown of Al-Zawiya, with wide participation from Fatah movement cadres, national action leaders, and representatives of official and security institutions, who affirmed that his departure constitutes a great national loss for the Salfit Governorate and for the general struggle scene.
The funeral was attended by a large number of members of the movement at various organizational levels, in addition to the people of the governorate and the deceased’s comrades, in a scene that reflects the extent of the appreciation he received and the space of presence he occupied in the local consciousness and the course of national work.
With the passing of Nadhir Al-Salakhi, the Salfit Governorate loses one of its prominent national pillars, and a man known in both organizational and community fields.
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E.R.
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