Imad Omran, or Tawfiq Shoufali, is a Palestinian activist from the village of Burin, south of Nablus. He participated in confronting the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982, and was one of the perpetrators of the Vienna operation in 1985 in response to the Sabra and Shatila massacre. He was injured during the operation and was arrested by the Austrian authorities and sentenced to life imprisonment. He spent the rest of his life behind bars until his death in 2024.
Birth and upbringing
Imad Omran, known as Tawfiq Shofali, was born in 1965. He is from the village of Burin, one of the villages south of Nablus in the West Bank. The Omran family is one of the well-known families in this village.
Thought and ideological orientation
Imran holds a Palestinian nationalist orientation influenced by the struggle movements. He believes in armed struggle against the Israeli occupation, and considers armed resistance and direct response to the occupation and its massacres a means to achieve the freedom and independence of the Palestinian people.
The struggle experience
Imran was involved in the struggle since he was young. He joined the ranks of the Palestinian revolution and participated in the battles to confront the invasion of Beirut in 1982 when he was 17 years old.
He also participated in carrying out the Vienna Airport operation in response to the Sabra and Shatila massacre. He was 20 years old at the time, but he was injured during the operation, which made it easy for the Austrian authorities to arrest him. His life behind prison bars began after he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
His revolutionary activity did not stop despite being behind bars, as he participated in the events of a rebellion in the Austrian “Graz Carolau” prison, which caused 19 years to be added to his sentence.
Other sentences were issued against him – while he was in prison – due to his repeated rebellion, the most prominent of which was after he managed to escape in 1995, but the Austrian authorities were able to arrest him again.
The last sentence added to his sentence was in 2016, on charges of resisting authorities and refusing discipline inside the prison.
Vienna Process
On December 27, 1958, fedayeen carried out an operation targeting the ticket offices of the Israeli El Al airline at Vienna International Airport, attacking a delegation of passengers heading to Tel Aviv with hand grenades, in response to the Sabra and Shatila massacre, one of the most heinous massacres committed by the Israeli occupation.
The operation resulted in the killing of 3 people and the injury of 39 others. The authorities were able to kill one of the perpetrators and arrest two others, one of whom was Imad Omran, after a chase by the police and El Al security guards.
Death
Imad Omran died on September 14, 2024, in his cell in Krems Prison in Austria, at the age of 60, two-thirds of which he had spent behind bars.