Ramadan in the PA - A time for glorifying terror
Ramadan in the Palestinian Authority -
A time for glorifying terror
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
A time for glorifying terror
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
During the month of Ramadan, the Palestinian Authority made a special effort to honor Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel.
The Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake, stepped up his honorary visits to the homes of families of prisoners. Likewise, the two programs on PA TV directed at and about prisoners were broadcast every day as opposed to the usual twice weekly broadcasts. Many of the prisoners glorified by PA TV, the minister and other PA officials are terrorists imprisoned for murdering Israeli civilians in terror attacks.
The PA TV program In a Fighter's Home, which honors prisoners with visits to their families' homes, chose to glorify, among others, terrorist prisoners Anas Jaradat, who headed the Islamic Jihad in Jenin and was responsible for 3 car bombings in Israel, causing the death of dozens; Ahlam Tamimi and Muhammad Wael Daghlas, both accomplices of the suicide bomber who attacked the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem in August 2001, killing 15 people, 7 of them children; and Yasser Al-Sharbati who was involved in planning a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. (For complete translations, see below.)
Terrorist Anas Jaradat was glorified further when a Fatah official referred to him as "the heroic Jihad-fighter prisoner Anas Jaradat" and said the following:
"What Anas and all the heroic prisoners did is a glorious deed (i.e., 3 car bombings), a badge of honor for him, for his family... for our Palestinian people, and for all the free and noble people of our nation."
Click to view PA TV honoring terrorist Tamimi
Terrorist Al-Sharbati was also honored when the District Governor of Hebron, Kamel Hamid, awarded his family a gift from PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and conveyed his greetings during a visit at which the Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake, was also present.
The PA TV program For You honored terrorist prisoner Salim Hajja, calling him the "heroic fighter prisoner" and included words of praise by his mother-in-law who stated how "proud" she is, and his son who said: "Daddy is a hero. I am very proud of him." Salim Hajja is serving 16 life sentences for involvement in three suicide bombings; the bombing of a night club, the Dolphinarium, in June 2001 in which 21 people were killed and 120 wounded; the Sbarro restaurant bombing in Aug. 2001 in which 15 people were killed and over 100 wounded; and a suicide bombing of a bus in Haifa in Dec. 2001 in which 15 were killed and 40 wounded. (For complete translations, see below.)
Dead terrorists, in PA terminology "Martyrs," were also honored during the Ramadan. A special representative of President Mahmoud Abbas laid a wreath on the grave of Amin Al-Hindi, who was one of the senior planners of the murders of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Speaking at the event, Abbas' representative said:
"Al-Hindi left us early. From the time he joined the ranks of the Palestinian revolution in 1962, he was a pinnacle of giving... We shall not forget him; we had hoped that he would be at our side on our difficult path..."
The article in the official PA daily further mentioned that Al-Hindi was "directly connected to the Munich operation of 1972."The PA TV program The Best Mothers chose to visit the mother of Darin Abu Aisheh, a suicide bomber who blew herself up at a roadblock in 2002, wounding three Israelis, as well as the mother of bomb maker Yusuf Shaker Al-Asi from Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
PA TV is directly under the control of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' office.
Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA practice of glorifying terrorists.
Click to view PMW report From Terrorists to Role Models.
The following are these and more examples of the PA's honoring of terrorist prisoners and "Martyrs" during the Ramadan (chronologically as they appeared):
PA TV program In a Fighter's Home visited the home of prisoner Amer Abu Sarhan, convicted of stabbing 3 Israelis to death in 1990.
PA TV host: "Welcome, dear viewers, to this episode about the heroic prisoner Amer Abu Sarhan from Al-Abidia."
District Governor of Bethlehem, Abd Al-Fattah Hamayel: "I'm glad to be in this thriving home, home of the father of the heroic prisoner, Amer Abu Sarhan. We honor him greatly through you [PA TV]. To all his fellow prisoners -- the brave and heroic who are resolute in Ribat [religious conflict] -- to the glorious female prisoners in the occupation's prisons -- we salute you and express our utmost appreciation and pride."
District Governor of Bethlehem, Abd Al-Fattah Hamayel: "I'm glad to be in this thriving home, home of the father of the heroic prisoner, Amer Abu Sarhan. We honor him greatly through you [PA TV]. To all his fellow prisoners -- the brave and heroic who are resolute in Ribat [religious conflict] -- to the glorious female prisoners in the occupation's prisons -- we salute you and express our utmost appreciation and pride."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 2, 2011]
PA TV program The Best Mothers interviewed the mother of a bomb maker from Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, named Yusuf Shaker Al-Asi. PA TV included in the edited feature a poem and a poster of the bomb maker with an inscription praising Martyrdom for Allah: Mother: "People always told me, 'Marry him off, so he will bring you happiness.'
I said to him (my son), 'I want to marry you off.'
He said, 'Are you laughing at me? Just one wife?'
I asked him, 'What do you want? Four, according to [Islamic] tradition?'
He said: 'I won't rest until I have 70 [wives].'
'I want 70', he told me."
Photograph of Al-Asi shown, with inscription: "Allah, before we die we ask Your forgiveness, and when we die - Shahada (death for Allah), and after death - Paradise, Master of the world." (One of many versions of popular Islamic/Muslim prayer.)
Poem displayed: "Do not weep and do not be upset; be most patient in a most beautiful way... Don't think that I am dead when I die as a Shahid; rather, I have truly achieved a good life... I am living well in my Paradise... Oh mother, how beautiful Paradise is! There are Dark-Eyed [virgins]... Life is precious, but for the Shahid it is like a seed... There I shall remain with goodness forever... So be happy, smile and rejoice."
I said to him (my son), 'I want to marry you off.'
He said, 'Are you laughing at me? Just one wife?'
I asked him, 'What do you want? Four, according to [Islamic] tradition?'
He said: 'I won't rest until I have 70 [wives].'
'I want 70', he told me."
Photograph of Al-Asi shown, with inscription: "Allah, before we die we ask Your forgiveness, and when we die - Shahada (death for Allah), and after death - Paradise, Master of the world." (One of many versions of popular Islamic/Muslim prayer.)
Poem displayed: "Do not weep and do not be upset; be most patient in a most beautiful way... Don't think that I am dead when I die as a Shahid; rather, I have truly achieved a good life... I am living well in my Paradise... Oh mother, how beautiful Paradise is! There are Dark-Eyed [virgins]... Life is precious, but for the Shahid it is like a seed... There I shall remain with goodness forever... So be happy, smile and rejoice."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 2, 2011]
PA TV program In a Fighter's Home visited the home of prisoner Anas Jaradat. Jaradat headed the Islamic Jihad in Jenin and was responsible for 3 car bombings in Israel, causing the death of dozens. He is serving 35 life sentences.
Father: "I send greetings to [my son] Anas, who is a real hero. When I say 'hero' I recall all the actions which he carried out. (i.e., 3 car bombings) He is a hero in the full sense of the word. The reports that we hear confirm his heroism."
Father begins to cry
PA TV Host: "You are the hero's father. We don't want to see the hero's father cry."
Secretary of the Fatah branch in Jenin, Ata Abu Ramila: "We say to brother Anas - the heroic Jihad-fighter prisoner Anas Jaradat - and to all the heroic prisoners: ... What Anas and all the heroic prisoners did is a glorious deed (i.e., 3 car bombings), a badge of honor for him, for his family... for our Palestinian people, and for all the free and noble people of our nation. The occupation (i.e., Israel) will pass away, Allah willing. The occupation will pass away only through the pure blood which has poured from our courageous Martyrs, and through the suffering of our heroic prisoners, first among them this heroic prisoner, Anas Jaradat."
Father begins to cry
PA TV Host: "You are the hero's father. We don't want to see the hero's father cry."
Secretary of the Fatah branch in Jenin, Ata Abu Ramila: "We say to brother Anas - the heroic Jihad-fighter prisoner Anas Jaradat - and to all the heroic prisoners: ... What Anas and all the heroic prisoners did is a glorious deed (i.e., 3 car bombings), a badge of honor for him, for his family... for our Palestinian people, and for all the free and noble people of our nation. The occupation (i.e., Israel) will pass away, Allah willing. The occupation will pass away only through the pure blood which has poured from our courageous Martyrs, and through the suffering of our heroic prisoners, first among them this heroic prisoner, Anas Jaradat."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 3, 2011]
PA TV program The Best Mothers chose to visit the mother of Darin Abu Aisheh, a suicide bomber who blew herself up at a roadblock in 2002, wounding three Israelis. PA TV focused on a poster of the terrorist displayed in the mother's home with the following text and Quran quote: 
"Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers" [Quran 14, 9][Quran translation from the Yusufali
translation,http://bit.ly/CF3K8]
"The Palestinian National Liberation Movement - Fatah - Beit Wazan branch is happy to announce [the death of] the heroic Martyrdom-seeker, Darin Muhammad Tawfiq Abu Aisheh Member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades"
The mother spoke with pride of how she received the news of her daughter's death, seeing it as her wedding:
"I didn't scream, even my scarf stayed on my head. Everyone came.
Everyone heard what happened... I was sitting and started to sing to her.
I said, 'It's the night before your wedding, Darin, and we won't see you anymore, my daughter.' People around me said, 'Allah be with you.'
I said, 'I haven't gone mad, I'm not crazy. I want to sing, Darin is a bride.'"
Everyone heard what happened... I was sitting and started to sing to her.
I said, 'It's the night before your wedding, Darin, and we won't see you anymore, my daughter.' People around me said, 'Allah be with you.'
I said, 'I haven't gone mad, I'm not crazy. I want to sing, Darin is a bride.'"
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 3, 2011]
Headline: "District Governor of Hebron awards a gift from the president to family of prisoner Al-Sharbati and visits released prisoners"
"District Governor of Hebron, Kamel Hamid, awarded a gift from the president to the Al-Sharbati family, four of whose members are prisoners in the occupation's (i.e., Israel's) prisons. This was while he participated in a meal, breaking the [Ramadan] fast with the family of prisoner Yasser Al-Sharbati, in the presence of the Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake... During his meeting with the prisoner's family, the district governor emphasized that the issue of the prisoners is a central one, and one of the fundamental principles, and that it is a priority for the Palestinian leadership. He conveyed greetings from President Mahmoud Abbas."
"District Governor of Hebron, Kamel Hamid, awarded a gift from the president to the Al-Sharbati family, four of whose members are prisoners in the occupation's (i.e., Israel's) prisons. This was while he participated in a meal, breaking the [Ramadan] fast with the family of prisoner Yasser Al-Sharbati, in the presence of the Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake... During his meeting with the prisoner's family, the district governor emphasized that the issue of the prisoners is a central one, and one of the fundamental principles, and that it is a priority for the Palestinian leadership. He conveyed greetings from President Mahmoud Abbas."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 8, 2011]
Al-Sharbati was a senior member of Tanzim, a military wing of Fatah, and was involved in planning a suicide bombing in Jerusalem.PA TV program In a Fighter's Home also honored terrorist prisoner Yasser Al-Sharbati by visiting his family together with the PA Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake, and District Governor of Hebron, Kamel Hamid.
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 15, 2011]
PA TV program In a Fighter's Home decided to honor two terrorists serving multiple life sentences for murder while visiting the family home of one of them:
Terrorist Ahlam Tamimi led a suicide bomber to his attack at the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem in August 2001. 15 people were murdered in the attack, 7 of them children. She is serving 16 life sentences.
Muhammad Wael Daghlas planned the attack and sent the suicide bomber, and is serving 15 life sentences.
During the visit, the PA TV host decided to send special greetings and praise to Ahlam Tamimi:
"We, [at] the program In a Fighter's Home, send best wishes of loyalty to Ahlam Tamimi. We wish her freedom - she and [the rest of] our glorious female prisoners. Special wishes to you, Ahlam, from the program In a Fighter's Home and from the program team, from the home of the heroic fighter prisoner, Muhammad [Wael Daghlas]. You both belong to the same group."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 10, 2011]
PA TV program For You honored terrorist prisoner Salim Hajja, by visiting his family. Salim Hajja is serving 16 life sentences for involvement in three suicide bombings; the bombing of a night club, the Dolphinarium, in June 2001 in which 21 killed and 120 wounded; the Sbarro restaurant bombing in Aug. 2001 in which 15 people were killed and over 100 wounded; and a suicide bombing of a bus in Haifa in Dec. 2001 in which 15 were killed and 40 wounded.
PA TV host: "Well, come along with us, our prisoner brothers, for a visit to the family of the heroic fighter prisoner, of course - Salim Hajja, and I want to greet his father, his mother Taibe, his brother Mustafa, the whole family, his wife and his son, and of course you, Mustafa (i.e., she means Salim). Allah willing you will live a free life - you, your son, your wife and your family, in a normal way, like the other families in the world and in this country. Allah willing."
Prisoner's mother-in-law: "Praise to Allah... Omar [son of Salim] will follow in your (Salim's) footsteps, and praise to Allah he will be a hero like you, Allah willing. As Allah lives, I am proud of you, that you are the husband of my daughter. I swear to Allah - I am proud of you. My daughter's husband. I hold my head up high when someone says to me that my son-in-law is a prisoner. ... Inside, I am proud of him, that he is my son-in-law."
Prisoner's son: "Daddy is a hero. I am very proud of him."
Prisoner's mother-in-law: "Praise to Allah... Omar [son of Salim] will follow in your (Salim's) footsteps, and praise to Allah he will be a hero like you, Allah willing. As Allah lives, I am proud of you, that you are the husband of my daughter. I swear to Allah - I am proud of you. My daughter's husband. I hold my head up high when someone says to me that my son-in-law is a prisoner. ... Inside, I am proud of him, that he is my son-in-law."
Prisoner's son: "Daddy is a hero. I am very proud of him."
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 11, 2011]
PA TV program In a Fighter's Home honored terrorist prisoner Rima Daraghmeh by visiting her family together with the PA Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Karake. Rima Daraghmeh intended to carry out a suicide bombing and was caught with the explosives at home. She was also involved in enlisting the woman who carried out a suicide bombing in Afula in 2003.[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 16, 2011]
"Abdallah Al-Ifranji, special representative of President Mahmoud Abbas, laid a wreath yesterday on the grave of Amin Al-Hindi, 'Abu Fawzi', former commander of the General Intelligence Services, on the first anniversary of his death... He said, 'Al-Hindi left us early. From the time he joined the ranks of the Palestinian revolution in 1962, he was a pinnacle of giving: he was the head of the executive body of the Student Union in Germany, and thereafter the deputy of Shahid Abu Iyad (i.e., one of the founders of Fatah and Head of the Black September terror group. Planned the murder of 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympics in 1972 and the murder of two American diplomats.).' He added, 'We shall not forget him; we had hoped that he would be at our side on our difficult path...' Al-Hindi was born in Gaza in 1940. He worked in Fatah from the time of its establishment, within its security service, and he was directly connected to the Munich operation of 1972. He served as the first head of the PA security services."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 18, 2011]
Amin Al-Hindi was one of the senior planners of the murders of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
PA TV program For You honored prisoners Abd Al-Rahman and Abdallah Al-Wahsh, by visiting their family's home in Jenin.
Abdallah Al-Wahsh was active in Islamic Jihad, which sent a suicide bomber to Karkur junction in 2002. His attack killed 14 Israeli civilians.
Abd Al-Rahman sentenced to 18 years as a leader of the Jerusalem Brigades, military wing of Islamic Jihad, involved in military operations.
[PA TV (Fatah), Aug. 18, 2011]