By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Palestinian Media Watch Report,
December 14, 2006.
The recent suicide terror attacks by two Palestinian women, including
57-year-old grandmother Fatima Najar, has brought the subject of women
terrorists to the forefront of Palestinian consciousness. This is part of a
longstanding pattern in which PA society routinely turns terrorists into heroes
and role models, naming schools, sporting events, streets and even poetry
collections for terrorists.
TV programming and newspapers, controlled by both Hamas and Fatah,
enthusiastically cheer these terrorists and their murders, while endorsing and
encouraging women to follow in their terrorist footsteps:
“In Beit Hanun we gave the the Palestinian women’s revolution… the
Palestinian woman was not satisfied with what she gave, she gave her son and
her husband and her brothers she was not satisfied with that& but she
wanted to be on the front lines, next to the man.”
PA broadcast this interview with a man on the street:
“Our children, our women, our men
they are all potential Martyrs…
I say to the entire world
the Jews are weaker than you imagine.
Even our women are stronger than the Zionists.”
The Hamas daily used the following headline to introduce one story:
“The Female Shahida (Martyr) Um Tha’ir said to her sisters: ‘Go forward, go
forward, as today is my wedding and the Shahada my desire!'”
The reference to her wedding is based on the Islamic teaching that the male
Muslim Martyr, the Shahid is rewarded with 72 dark-eyed maidens, and a
repeated PA teaching that the female Martyrs will greet and marry a male
Martyr.
The current actions by women have sparked articles recalling the names and
actions of past female terrorists. These earlier terrorists are featured as the
precursors to the new heroines, who in turn are being portrayed as role models
for the future.
Past female terrorists recently recalled as heroines and role models include:
Dalal al-Maghribi – Her bus hijacking killed 36 vacationing Israelis (1978)
Wafa Idris – First female suicide terrorist killed 1, wounded 90 (2002)
Ayaat al-Akhras – Youngest female suicide terrorist, age 17, killed 2
(2002)
Hanadi Jaradat – Suicide terrorist, killed 21, wounded 48 (2003)
Andalib Taqatiqah – Suicide terrorist, killed 6, wounded 60 (2002)
Re’em Al-Riyashi – Suicide terrorist, killed 4, wounded 10 (2004)
Hiba Daraghimah – Suicide terrorist, killed 3, wounded 50 (2003)
The repeating theme is that the actions of the new terrorists are a continuation
of the earlier feats of women terrorists, as well as an inspiration and a
precedent for the coming generations: “In the streets of Beit Hanun, a side of
the beautiful look of the Palestinian woman was displayed. It is the look of
resistance . Since beauty has power, as proven in the past by Dalal
and her sisters, when they set the precedent for the Beit Hanun
women of the present.”
Dalal al-Mughrabi
The more brazen and successful the attack, the more it is promoted as heroic
and exemplary. Dalal al-Mughrabi, mentioned above, holds a special place of
honor in Palestinian society. She participated in a 1975 terror attack that killed
36, which remains one of the most murderous in Israel’s history.
There are a number of girls’ schools named for Mughrabi, and numerous TV
programs and quizzes for children have glorified her since the establishment of
the Palestinian Authority. This recent article glorified her participation in the bus
hijacking and admiringly credits her with the killings:
“A hostage operation on the Palestinian shore. She managed
to get to the main road, leading to Tel-Aviv, she took over an Israeli bus and its
passengers, who were soldiers and held them hostage – a real war took place,
during which Dalal blew up the bus with all the passengers inside. They were all
killed.”
Facts are often distorted to increase the heroism. In this case, the 36 killed on
the hijacked bus were not soldiers, but families on a vacation outing. Note also
that the official PA daily still defines Israel’s Northern coast as “Palestine.”
Wafa Idris
Wafa Idris, the first woman suicide terrorist, has a unique place among the
women’s honor roll. Suicide terror was seen as something that young women
dreamed of but never attempted, until Wafa Idris broke the taboo in 2002 and
became the first woman suicide terrorist. She paved the way for others in this
‘magnificent convoy’:
“The Shahada dreams of young women kept coming into the mind of many of
them, until Wafa Idris trained this magnificent convoy during the Al Aqsa
Intifada in 2002. After that, Darin Abu Ishah followed in her footsteps in 2002.
This is how the young women competed amongst themselves and in the skies
of Palestine their luster shined: Ayyat Al-Akhras, Andalib Taqatiqah, Hibah
Daraghimah, Hinadi Jaradat, Reem Al-Riyashi.”
Palestinian women’s terror today is said to be the model for all Arabs. The
actions of these female Palestinian terrorists are presented as a role model for
all Arabs, and the vanguard of new approaches to jihad:
“The Palestinian woman continues setting the example and model for
preparing Shahids and Jihad warriors. They rushed,
without even thinking about their lives& or about the death or injury awaiting
them. The women left to set an example and show another way in the art of
Jihad and resistance (terror).”
They are compared to Al Khansa, another heroine of Arab history, who
celebrated the deaths of her four sons for Allah:
“Oh, Arabs!… Did the Khansas of Beit Hanun not wake you from your deep
slumber? When will the Arab weapon appear to announce the dawn of a new
era? The rust ate away at these Arab weapons, which are not displayed except
during marches. these are Zionist soldiers, well armed and well trained,
running away from the battle thwarted by the Khansas of Palestine, who
accomplished, with their courage and power an Arab victory to serve as an
example and model in this time of Arab self-abasement.”
