Fatah’s role model: 14-year-old who chose death as a Martyr
Still, after 20 years, a young Palestinian boy who sought and achieved death as a “Martyr” serves Fatah as a role model.
Already from the early beginning of the PA’s terror wave (2000-2005) - the second Intifada – the PA was actively encouraging Palestinian children to seek Martyrdom. One 14-year-old boy, Faris Ouda, deliberately entered into confrontations with Israeli soldiers with the goal of becoming a Martyr. Believing the PA’s brainwashing, Faris left his mother with the words: "Don't worry, mother, Martyrdom is sweet.” [Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 3, 2001] Expecting and hoping to die as a Martyr, Faris had prepared a wreath in his room with his picture and the words “The brave Martyr Faris Ouda.” [Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30. 2000] Palestinian Media Watch published its first report documenting the PA’s promotion of Martyrdom for children, already in November 2000, just two months after Arafat started the PA terror wave. Throughout the terror wave, the PA continued to teach children to “ask for death.”
As part of the recent attempts by the PA and Fatah to prompt the willingness of Palestinians to use violence and terror when the leadership wants it, a Fatah spokesman singled out Faris Ouda as a role model. Glorifying young Palestinians who sacrifice themselves and seek Martyrdom in the fight against Israel, Fatah official Osama Al-Qawsmi mentioned Faris as an example of “greatness” and threatened Israel that it should “remember well” the sight of “Faris Ouda standing opposite the tank”:
Official Fatah Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi: “This is the land of Palestine. Whoever remembers Faris Ouda and ‘the children of the rocks’ knows that this people is great… This people is fighting… Israel doesn’t frighten us – not with its armored vehicles and not with its planes... We have the Palestinian will. We have the Palestinian honor… The image of Faris Ouda standing opposite the tank – Israel needs to remember it well.”
[Official PA TV, June 12, 2020]
Faris Ouda also became Yasser Arafat’s personal role model. Addressing children, Arafat often specifically mentioned Ouda, presenting him as a hero for children to emulate:
Yasser Arafat: "We are saluting the spirit of our hero Martyr, Faris Ouda! Faris Ouda! Faris Ouda! We are proud of you [youth] who represent the steadfastness and the sacrifice of your companion, the hero Martyr, Faris Ouda! Oh, children of Palestine! The peers, friends, brothers and sisters of Faris Ouda."
[Official PA TV, Aug. 4, 2003, July 22, 2003, Aug. 18, 2002]
The status of Faris Ouda as an admired “national hero” was reinforced for years after his death. PMW documented that a riddle for children on official PA TV included the clue: “A knight riding the Martyrdom horse.” A child answering correctly that this referred to Faris Ouda would win a $200 prize:
Child host: "The [clue] to the riddle: The national hero, a small child; A knight riding the ‘Martyrdom’ horse; Martyrdom is bliss. Paradise is yours, the hero of Palestine, who carried a stone to confront a tank. The prize is very high: $200."
[Official PA TV, Sept. 16, 2008]
During the terror wave 2015/2016, a song appeared on Palestinian social media encouraging youth to engage in violence. It mentioned Faris Ouda and was also broadcast by Fatah:
Lyrics: "Go out against the treacherous enemy
Even if you hold [only] a rock in your hand
O you, who will never forget a blood revenge
O vigorous person, get up and strap on the belt of fire
And sound for us the voice of the attack
Go out against the enemy, go out, resist, hit, go out
Through rocks, Faris [Ouda] stood against the arsenal and defeated a tank...
Challenge the enemy
He who humiliates us will not live...
Hold your weapon and load it, leave the revolution burning...
O Fatah fire, burn, constantly and victoriously
Pour the fire of rage on the enemy...
Hand me the weapon and the equipment
Place thousands of cartridges on me
Our enemy will pay with his blood...
I marched determinedly through desert and forests
Holding a submachine gun in my hands which arises out of the rock"
Production – “Fatah Shabiba movement in Palestine”[Fatah-run Awdah TV, Jan. 21, 2016]
When Fatah spokesman Al-Qawasmi recently mentioned Faris Ouda, he also glorified several arch-terrorists, including Abu Jihad who orchestrated attacks in which at least 125 Israelis were murdered; Abu Iyad who headed the terror organization Black September, and planned the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972; and Nazi ally Haj Amin Al-Husseini:
“This people – who some of its leaders were Haj Amin Al-Husseini, Abd Al-Qader Husseini, Yasser Arafat, ‘Abu Jihad’, ‘Abu Iyad’, and all the Martyrs of the Palestinian revolution. This is the land of Palestine.”
[Official PA TV, June 12, 2020]
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