Blood worship? Palestinians "insist on being scented with Martyr's blood"
Blood worship?
Palestinians "insist on being scented
with Martyr's blood"
Palestinians "insist on being scented
with Martyr's blood"
Dead terrorist's blood is "pure"
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
An article in the official PA daily described a dead terrorist's blood in romantic and poetic terms, presenting it as something Palestinians cherish. According to the PA daily:
"[Palestinians] insisted on being scented with the Martyr's blood... The residents of Jerusalem looked at the blood spots which were still on the ground and on the water which turned slightly red from it, formed a circle and recited the [Quranic Sura] Al-Fatiha for the Martyr's [soul]."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 15, 2015]
The paper's description of the almost worship-like attitude to the blood of the "Martyr" resonates PA ideology, which portrays dying as a Martyr as an ideal. As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, Martyrdom-death is regularly glorified by Fatah and the PA.
The idea that the Martyr's blood is fragrant is a concept found in Islam. One Hadith (sayings and practices attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad) teaches about the blood of the Martyr on Resurrection Day: "Its color saffron, and its odor musk" [Sunan Abi Dawud 2541, Book 15, Hadith 65]
The PA has reiterated the idea of the Martyr's blood being pure and fragrant. During the PA terror campaign from 2000-2005 (the second Intifada), official PA TV broadcast a video hundreds of times aimed at children, presenting Martyrdom-death as an ideal. It repeated the verse: "How sweet is the fragrance of the Martyrs":
Click to view
It is also significant that the PA daily article distorted what took place during the terror attack. The PA daily article reported on the terrorist's death but failed to mention the announcement by Israeli police that terrorist Basel Sidr had tried to stab Israeli policemen. Instead, it claimed that the Israeli soldiers who shot and killed Sidr were joyous:
"Soldiers armed with weapons are smiling, after having unloaded their rage and bullets onto the body of the 20-year-old Martyr (Shahid) Basel Sidr... [at] the Damascus Gate, which started to cry blood for the Martyrs who fall one by one on the Al-Aqsa [Mosque's] gates and the [Jerusalem] city gates."
"The distance between the bullet and death was short. Basel fell after one of the guards shot two bullets at him. Then, more soldiers who expected medals of honor for having riddled his body with bullets [shot him]... Men of Israel's General Security Service spread around the area, before the rest of the teams came to document the killing, and the Martyr's body was taken in a plastic bag, and the soldiers continued smiling after that as well."
Another article also demonized Israelis, repeating the claim that Israeli leaders "mobilize, enlist and arm their people and encourage them to spill our blood and commit cold-blooded murders," stating that the entire Israeli government is calling for murder:
"All the mouths in the [Israeli] right-wing government call for murder while our blood is on their teeth, and all the [Palestinian] mouths call to protect ourselves against the attack planned in advance to devour the holy city, taking advantage of the current Arab weakness."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 15, 2015]
The following are longer excerpts of the two articles:
Headline: "In Jerusalem - the Damascus Gate cries of pain, [Israeli] soldiers smile and Martyrs fall one by one?!"
"[Israeli] soldiers armed with weapons are smiling, after having unloaded their rage and bullets onto the body of the 20-year-old Martyr (Shahid) Basel Sidr, in the 'Nablus Gate' plaza, or what is called Damascus Gate, which started to cry blood for the Martyrs who fall one by one on the Al-Aqsa [Mosque's] gates and the [Jerusalem] city gates, with which the [Israeli] soldiers and settlers do as they please.
The time was about 4:20 p.m.
The road from the Damascus Gate to the Old City was being divided up by the occupation's checkpoints. At every checkpoint there was a group of at least four men, armed with weapons, with their fingers on the trigger, their eyes waiting for prey or a suspicious movement. Two bullets broke the cautious calm, putting an end to danger-shrouded quiet. Afterwards there was a hail of gunshots, which guaranteed the reenactment of the [death] sites, in a city where death has become an everyday thing. Basel ran down the stairs of the Damascus Gate, dressed in military uniform and holding a knife. In front of him were two security guards, and one behind him, and in the middle - a settler, with another armed security guard. A few meters from the gate stood a group of soldiers.
The distance between the bullet and death was short. Basel fell after one of the guards shot two bullets at him. Then, more soldiers who expected medals of honor for having riddled his body with bullets [shot him].
The soldiers ran down Al-Wad Street and the remaining streets, and shut the old city gates. Men of Israel's General Security Service spread around the area, before the rest of the teams came to document the killing, and the Martyr's body was taken in a plastic bag, and the soldiers continued smiling after that as well.
A number of the Jerusalem occupation municipality workers waited at the Damascus Gate, at the inner side of the closed gate until they were authorized to come out and remove the traces of the occupation's crime. Upon receiving a phone call, four came out with water and cleaning utensils and there, at the historic theater in front of Damascus Gate, they cleaned pure blood, and afterwards the soldiers opened the gates.
However, the rebellious [Palestinian] residents of Jerusalem insisted on being scented with the Martyr's blood, and one of the mothers shouted angrily at the soldiers and her son who was at her side tried to calm her down, but the pain and the rage made them curse the soldiers. The residents of Jerusalem looked at the blood spots which were still on the ground and on the water which turned slightly red from it, formed a circle and recited the [Quranic Sura] Al-Fatiha for the Martyr's [soul]."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 15, 2015]
Basel Sidr - A 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist who tried to stab Israeli policemen near Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on Oct. 14, 2015. Sidr was shot and killed when he tried to escape.
Op-ed by Hafez Al-Barghouti, regular columnist for the official PA daily:
"As opposed to the bestial statements of the leaders of Israel, who mobilize, enlist and arm their people and encourage it to spill our blood and commit cold-blooded murders, President Mahmoud Abbas has spoken to us with the wise words of one who sees what we don't see, as the occupation wants us to remain inside its favorite cycle, the blood-cycle, and makes us bear the consequences of its provocations and inhuman actions against our people in Jerusalem and our holy places.
All the mouths in the [Israeli] right-wing government call for murder while our blood is on their teeth, and all the [Palestinian] mouths call to protect ourselves against the attack planned in advance to devour the holy city, taking advantage of the current Arab weakness. It is possible that the president's insistence on opposing any change [of the status-quo] at the Al-Aqsa Mosque clarifies that what the [Israeli] right-wing government is plotting will fail, because our people is determined to defend its holy places, even if the others abandon us."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 15, 2015]
The full Hadith mentioning the blood of the Martyr:
"The Messenger of Allah said: If anyone fights in Allah's path as long as the time between two milkings of a she-camel, Paradise will be assured for him. If anyone sincerely asks Allah to be killed and then dies or is killed, there will be a reward of a martyr for him. Ibn al-Musaffa added from here: If anyone is wounded in Allah's path, or suffers a misfortune, it will come on the Day of resurrection as copious as possible, its colour saffron, and its odour musk; and if anyone suffers from ulcers while in Allah's path, he will have on him the stamp of the martyrs."
[Sunan Abi Dawud 2541, Book 15, Hadith 65]