Monday, February 27, 2006
Here's the latest from Palestinian Media Watch (in full - not yet on web):
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
The interview features the mother of Wafa Al-Bas, a 21-year-old Palestinian woman who was arrested at the Erez border crossing in June 2005 with a 20-pound bomb inside her underwear. Her target was the outpatient clinic of Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where she had been receiving regular treatments for serious burns to 45 per cent of her body from a gas stove explosion in her home.
Her greatest wish, she said later, was to kill 30 to 50 Israelis, including children. The hospital attack would likely have killed or maimed the Israeli doctor who had saved her life.
In last week's PA TV interview with Wafa's parents, her mother says the event was hard for her - not because her daughter was on a suicide mission, but because she was arrested...
"If it was a boy, I would have supported, but since she is a girl I discouraged."
Once again, the message to Palestinian society from broadcasts like this is that suicide bombing is not wrong. Indeed, it is seen as an honor and a joy to raise a child to be a suicide bomber - at least if that child is a son.
Following the transcript of the interview are a series of examples of Palestinian mothers expressing joy on Palestinian television that their children became suicide terrorists - a popular subject on PA TV for many years.
Transcript of Interview:
Interviewer: "How did you receive the news of Wafa's arrest?"
Wafa's mother: "When I received the news, it was hard for me. Hard."
Interviewer: "Excuse me, was the hardship in that she failed in the martyrdom-seeking operation and was arrested, or in the arrest itself?"
Wafa's mother: "The arrest itself. Her wish was martyrdom, Wafa, since she was a little girl."
Interviewer: "Meaning, you hoped she would be a martyr?"
Wafa's mother: "Her wish was to be a martyr."
Interviewer: "Did you encourage her?"
Wafa's mother: "To tell you the truth, I didn't encourage her. I talked to Wafa about the issue, about not agreeing to it because she is a girl. Were it a boy, I would have supported, but since she is a girl, I discouraged."
[PA TV, February 20, 2006]
Previous Examples
- Mother of suicide terrorist: My son's martyrdom was as a wedding, a time of joy, November 17, 2004
- Mother of suicide terrorist: "Mothers make sounds of joy [on their son's martyrdom] because she wants him to reach martyrdom... I wanted the best for him... [it was] honor for us," November 28, 2003
- Mother of Suicide Terrorist: He told me to "pray for me that I will be a martyr," December 5, 2002
- Mother of suicide terrorist: All the martyrs are my sons, September 24, 2002
More examples of mothers expressing joy, and of Palestinian cultural and religious figures saying how mothers should be happy at news of their sons' martyrdom can be seen on the Palestinian Media Watch website.
I appreciate your article. I have cited to it on my own blog. How can we stop the Palestinians when they value the deaths over the lives of their own children. The muslim religion and value system is becoming bigger and more influential. I cannot understand how parents can feel this way regardless of their religious beliefs. But I suppose I am just unable to identify with that way of thinking. It seems like religion to Muslims is like eating and breathing - a necessity of life. They do not question the veracity of the religion or their leaders. It is frightening because that means they act as "one" as opposed to individuals with their own thoughts and feelings.