Official PA media glorifies murderer of US tourist, Taylor Force
PA TV glorifies murderer of American Taylor Force,
- Official PA TV reporter: “Martyr Bashar Masalha, 22, ascended to Heaven in Jaffa on March 8 [2016]... He returned and was embraced by his homeland as a Martyr within it.”
- Poster at funeral called him “Heroic Martyr”
- Official PA daily: “Masalha died as a Martyr... after carrying out a stabbing operation in Jaffa, in which he killed an American tourist.”
Reporting on the funeral in which hundreds participated, official PA TV glorified the murderer calling him “the Martyr” - “Shahid” - 11 times. Becoming a Martyr in Islam represents the highest religious achievement that can be attained by a Muslim, according to PA teachings, and the Martyr is granted numerous rewards. The PA TV reporter explained that the funeral was “a large national wedding befitting of Martyrs.” The reference is to Islamic belief that a Martyr marries 72 Dark-Eyed Virgins in Paradise:
PA TV reporter: “His family, friends, and people of the region took it upon themselves to ensure that this [burial] would be a large national wedding befitting of Martyrs... The Martyr was accompanied to his last resting place in the cemetery for Martyrs in Hajja.”
Worse still, Abbas has justified the attacks. After Palestinians had carried out 65 stabbing attacks, 8 shooting attacks, and 8 car ramming attacks, in which a total of 14 Israelis were murdered and 167 were wounded, Abbas defended them as part of a “popular peaceful uprising”:
The following is a longer excerpt of the report on PA TV News, glorifying the murderer as a "Martyr”:
Official PA TV reporter: "After delays by Israel in the transfer of his body, Martyr Bashar Masalha’s family, from the village of Hajja, east of Qalqilya, received their son in the evening... The Martyr Bashar returned from Qalqilya to his village Hajja in a procession... His family, friends, and people of the region took it upon themselves to ensure that this [burial] would be a large national wedding (i.e., to the 72 Virgins in Paradise) befitting of Martyrs... The Martyr was accompanied to his last resting place in the cemetery for Martyrs in Hajja..."
Official PA TV reporter: "Martyr Bashar Masalha, 22, ascended to Heaven in Jaffa on March 8 [2016] (i.e., he was shot after killing US tourist)... He returned and was embraced by the soil of his homeland as a Martyr."