CONTROVERSIAL DEATH

Memorial service for Palestinian activist reveals more layers

Family, friends remember activist and teacher

By Eileen E. Flynn

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Ever since Riad Hamad’s body was found bound in Lady Bird Lake last month, the Palestinian activist whose charity was being investigated by the FBI has been either glorified on the Web as a martyr for the cause or vilified as a leftist zealot who intentionally staged a suspicious suicide. The picture that emerged at Hamad’s memorial service Saturday reflected a far more complex man who was at turns goofy, passionate, mischievous, abrasive and loving but whose final weeks were marked by agitation and fear.

Dozens of Hamad’s family, friends and co-workers gathered at St. James’ Episcopal Church on Webberville Road on a hot afternoon to share memories and photos and pledge to continue helping Palestinian children through the Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund that Hamad ran. A few people wore kaffiyehs, the checkered Palestinian scarf, and spoke strongly against the Israeli government.

But the service explored many facets of Hamad’s personality and steered clear of the conspiracy theories surrounding his death that have grown on pro-Palestinian Web sites and e-mail strings since Hamad’s body was found April 16. Already known internationally for his relief work, in death, Hamad has become a global cause célèbre among those who supported his cause.

On Saturday, mourners paid tribute to the father who would sign e-mails “always remember daddy loves you” to his two adult children, Rita and Abdullah. The Clint Small Jr. Middle School technology teacher who teased boys with long hair by calling them hippies. The chef who loved to whip up babaghanouj and baklava for his friends. The man who would sacrifice his comfort to help others, sometimes forgoing a hotel and sleeping in his car to save money for Palestinian children.

Hamad’s widow, Diana HajAli Hamad, a petite woman in a long maroon tunic with gold trimming, recalled their courtship in Beirut, Lebanon, almost 30 years ago. Every time they dined at their favorite cafe, she said, Riad would hand her the bill just to annoy the male chauvinist waiter. Twenty years ago, Riad persuaded her to move to Austin, the city he fell in love with as a University of Texas student.

Diana Hamad’s voice never broke as she said, “I stand before you in the house of God feeling like my heart has been ripped out of my chest.”

A slide show depicted a joyful man who adored his wife, children and cats and enjoyed mugging for the camera.

His death came as a shock, Hamad’s son Abdullah said. When the 55-year-old Hamad’s body was discovered, his ankles and feet were bound, and his eyes were covered with duct tape. Police said they believed it was a suicide, saying it appeared Hamad could have tied his own hands and that evidence suggested he had walked from his car to the lake. The cause of death from the Travis County medical examiner’s office isn’t expected for a couple of weeks.

Police also reported after his body was found that family members had said he’d been showing suicidal tendencies. A colleague who might have been the last to speak with Hamad has since said he believes it was suicide.

But Hamad’s brother-in-law denied Saturday that the family had described him as suicidal. And the circumstances have fueled online theories that Hamad was killed by the U.S. government or Israeli operatives.

Roberta Clark, a spokeswoman for the Austin chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, referred to Hamad’s death as a tragedy but said that rumors pointing the finger at Israel “are hateful and hurtful and they fuel the flames of those who are anti-Semitic and/or anti-Israel.”

In a telephone interview Saturday night, she said Israel, which marks its 60th anniversary this month, is committed to peace with its neighbors but cannot be “partners in peace” with leaders who support suicide bombers.

Before Saturday’s service, Diana Hamad said the family did not want to make a statement about her husband’s death. But during her talk, she did allude to her husband’s distress over the FBI’s seizure of his computers in February. She said he was working on a paper for a professor and was upset that he would not make the deadline.

Hamad also spoke with his middle school co-worker Mark Kelly about his anguish over the suspicion that surrounded his charity work.

“(He) was tormented by the defamation of being labeled a terrorist,” Kelly said. He said Hamad would ask him, “What have I done?”

Federal authorities this year authorized a search warrant of his home as well as a safe deposit box and storage unit. Authorities said that he received $633,965 in donations and that he sent some of the money — about $527,000 — to the Middle East. But according to an affidavit, authorities “can not determine the ultimate disposition of these funds at this time.”

The affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Austin in February said authorities think Hamad was using the donated money for personal use and not paying federal income tax on it, that he failed to file several income tax returns from 2000 to 2006 and did not pay any taxes on earned income during those years. Hamad filed a document with the IRS titled “Redirect TAX Money AWAY from Israel,” the affidavit said.

Friends said Hamad might have been a sloppy bookkeeper, but he lived frugally and gave everything he raised back to Palestinian families. Anna Baltzer, a friend, said Hamad purchased Palestinian hand-made goods such as olive wood carvings and embroideries, sold them and returned the profits to Palestinian families.

“He was sort of a one-man wonder,” Baltzer said. “Whenever I would see him, he would be working from the minute he woke up to the minute he went to sleep.”

But the lingering suspicions and pressure from the government, she said, took a toll.

Hamad had assigned his charity to an umbrella group in California, the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees. Paul Larudee, who ran the organization, said Hamad wondered whether his involvement with the Free Gaza Movement, an organization that opposes Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip, prompted the investigations.

“He felt … (federal authorities) were closing in on him,” Larudee said.

Israel withdrew its troops from Gaza and evacuated Jewish settlements there nearly three years ago but has made several military incursions since then in response to rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled region.

Larudee believes he was the last person to speak to Hamad before he died. His position, he said, is that Hamad “did take his own life but he took it with a view of fueling the speculation that has in fact accompanied his death.” Bloggers who have been critical of Hamad’s work have offered the same suggestion.

At Saturday’s service, no one addressed the conspiracy theories.

“That’s not what we’re here for,” Kelly said. Later in his eulogy, he described Hamad as agitated in the week’s leading up to his death.

“I can only hope that he has found peace now,” he said.

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