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On Women’s Day Fatah presented its heroic women - a child murderer, a plane hijacker, and other terrorists

Nan Jacques Zilberdik  |
  • PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh chose to highlight the PA’s terror mom, Um Nasser Abu Hmeid, whose “achievement” is being the mother of 6 terrorists responsible for at least 10 murders

  • PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas chose to stress Palestinian women’s “heroic role in the struggle,” addressing women in their roles as “mother, sister, daughter, wife, friend, prisoner, wounded, Martyr”

  • Fatah: “On March 8 the entire world, and particularly the Palestinian people... celebrate Women’s Day in appreciation for the effort and sacrifices Palestinian women have made. Martyr Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., led murder of 37) joined Fatah in 1973 and commanded the Kamal Adwan operation… in which over 30 Israelis were killed… Fighter Theresa Halsa (i.e., terrorist hijacker)… enlisted to [Fatah’s] Black September. She participated in the operation to hijack a Sabena plane carrying Israeli passengers… Fatima Barnawi (i.e., terrorist, placed bomb in movie theater)… participated in the movie theater operation in 1967”

  • “There were prominent names in the Palestinian struggle’s history such as female fighter Theresa Halsa, Rima Issa [Tannous] (i.e., terrorist plane hijackers), Shadia Abu Ghazaleh (i.e., terrorist bombmaker), Reem Riyashi (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 4), Fatima Al-Najjar (i.e., suicide bomber, wounded 3), Ayyat Al-Akhras (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 2), Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children), Laila Khaled (i.e., terrorist plane hijacker, involved in murder of 1), Martyr Zakiya Shammout (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1)” – article in official PA daily

On the recent occasion of International Women’s Day, Abbas’ Fatah Movement stressed that its heroic women remain murderers, hijackers, and other terrorists.

In a video posted by Fatah and produced by Fatah-run Awdah TV, photos of women terrorists appeared accompanied by text on screen praising their “accomplishments,” including how many Israelis were killed in one of the terrorists’ attack. The female role models chosen by Fatah are:

Dalal Mughrabi – led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, in which she and other Fatah terrorists murdered 37 civilians, 12 of them children, in 1978.

Theresa Halsa – was a member of the Black September terror organization and participated in the hijacking of Sabena flight 571 in 1972.

Fatima Barnawi – placed a bomb in a movie theater in Jerusalem in 1967.

Text on screen: “On March 8 the entire world, and particularly the Palestinian people... celebrate Women’s Day in appreciation for the effort and sacrifices Palestinian women have made.”

Martyr Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., led murder of 37) joined Fatah in 1973 and commanded the Kamal Adwan operation… in which over 30 Israelis were killed. She died as a Martyr in 1978 during the operation. She was called ‘The Bride of Jaffa.’”

Fighter Theresa Halsa (i.e., terrorist hijacker) joined Fatah in 1972 and enlisted to Black September. She participated in the operation to hijack a Sabena plane carrying Israeli passengers” ...

Fatima Barnawi (i.e., terrorist, placed bomb in movie theater)… joined Fatah in the mid-1960s. She participated in the movie theater operation in 1967. She is the first female Palestinian who was imprisoned in the Israeli prisons.”

[Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, March 8, 2022]

Fatah introduced the video glorifying these women terrorists with the following text on Facebook:

Posted text: “Palestinian women have led in all fields of the struggle, have made sacrifices, and with their greatness have written the letters of Palestine’s identity.
All the best to the Palestinian women every year.
#International_Women’s_Day”

[Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, March 8, 2022]

Another post on the same Fatah Facebook page included the image below of female terrorists Dalal Mughrabi, terrorist who led murder of 37, Theresa Halsa, terrorist hijacker, and Israa Ja’abis, a bomber who wounded 1. Text posted with the image linked the terrorists to the concepts of “pride and honor”:

Posted text: “Every year may the Palestinian women bring pride and honor to the homeland and provide it with freedom
#International_Women’s_Day
Which takes place tomorrow [March 8, 2022]”

Text on image: “International Women’s Day
March 8, 2022
The Palestinian women are the symbol of sacrifice and resolve
[Fatah radio station] Radio Mawtini”

[Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, March 7, 2022]

In a seemingly innocent TV report on Palestinian women’s successes in different fields, the PA followed suit, adding to its report a picture of terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi while the reporter said the following:

Official PA TV reporter: “You find them [Palestinian women] excelling in all fields: in politics, economy, society, culture, arts, and science. They preserve the spark as they are an icon of resolve and defiance, because they are creative and productive.”

Picture on screen of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi who led the murder of 37.

Text on screen: “The Palestinian women, a history full of sacrifice”

 [Official PA TV News, March 8, 2022]

On Women’s Day, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh chose to highlight the PA’s terror mom Um Nasser Abu Hmeid, who is the mother of 6 terrorists responsible for at least 10 murders. While he did mention that Palestinian women have excelled and “recorded many tangible achievements in the local and international arenas in the fields of medicine, engineering, agriculture, sport, music, and all fields of life,” Shtayyeh and the official PA daily mentioned only Abu Hmeid by name:

PM Shtayyeh: “[Palestinian women] are represented in the Palestinian institutions, in the [PA] government, in the [PA] Parliament (Legislative Council), in the [Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO), and in the [PLO] Central Council, and they are the mothers of the Martyrs and the prisoners. Um Nasser [Abu] Hmeid (i.e., mother of 6 terrorists responsible for at least 10 murders; see note below) is an example of a woman who is fighting and standing firm, and so are the mothers of the Martyrs, the prisoners, and the expelled.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 9, 2022]

PA Chairman Abbas similarly focused on Palestinian women’s role “in the struggle”:

Abbas: “My sisters and daughters, you who have recorded the most glorious achievements in all fields and proven to the men that you are worthy in the darkest circumstances and periods that have befallen and are still befalling the homeland. We are proud of your standing hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, fulfilling your heroic role in the struggle.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2022]

Abbas continued, like Shtayyeh, to highlight the “roles” of women terrorists: “prisoner, wounded, Martyr”, and only after that mentioned women’s careers in general in different professional fields:

Abbas: “O mother, sister, daughter, wife, friend, prisoner, wounded, Martyr, mother of the family! O you who work in the political, economic, social, communications, cultural, educational, and other fields – we salute you, send you greetings, and give you our thanks.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2022]

The PA also devoted several column inches to Deputy Chairman of the Retired Palestinian PA Army Personnel in Lebanon Organization, Faisal Abu Mustafa, who singled out several female terrorists as “role models,” including 3 suicide bombers:

“[Former PLO Chairman and PA] President Yasser Arafat strengthened the women’s role, and there were prominent names in the Palestinian struggle’s history such as female fighter Theresa Halsa, Rima Issa [Tannous] (i.e., terrorist plane hijackers), Shadia Abu Ghazaleh (i.e., terrorist bombmaker), Reem Riyashi (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 4), Fatima Al-Najjar (i.e., suicide bomber, wounded 3), Ayyat Al-Akhras (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 2), Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children), Laila Khaled (i.e., terrorist plane hijacker, involved in murder of 1), Martyr Zakiya Shammout (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1) who gave birth to her son in the occupation’s prison, and other women who sacrificed themselves to defend Palestine.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2022]

Significantly, the writer also chose to mention only women terrorists by name, before mentioning in passing that other women have made careers in regular professions without naming any of them:

“Currently the Palestinian women are in all fields of activity and are excelling in their work. Among them are doctors, engineers, and poets. They have reached important positions in many states and not just in Palestine. They have penetrated the gates of the American Congress, the Israeli Parliament, and many international organizations and institutions.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2022]

Senior PA official Jibril Rajoub also chose to highlight Palestinian women’s role in terror in his post on International Women’s Day, stressing their role as “Martyr, prisoner, fighter,” and posting a poster with an image of a woman throwing a rock

Posted text: “All the best to the women of Palestine and the world every year
#International_Women’s_Day”

Text on image: “March 8 [2022]
The Palestinian women
The mother, the sister, the Martyr, the prisoner, the fighter
All the best to the women of Palestine and the world every year”

[Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, March 8, 2022]

In the Jenin district, International Women’s Day was marked by the opening of the Prisoner Mothers Park, in which seedlings were named after imprisoned female terrorists:

Official PA TV newsreader: “The popular committee [to provide services in the Jenin refugee camp] and the civil society institutions in the Jenin district held a ceremony honoring a number of mothers of Martyrs and prisoners for March 8, International Women’s Day, and during the activity the Prisoner Mothers Park in the town of Ya’abad was inaugurated with the planting of flowers and a seedling named after each of these female prisoners.”

[Official PA TV News, March 7, 2022]

Among the female prisoners that the park honors are Iman Al-A’war from Jerusalem, who transferred money for the Hamas terror organization, and Attaf Jaradat from Jenin, who was arrested on Dec. 27, 2021 for knowingly not preventing her terrorist sons Omar and Ghaith Jaradat from taking part in the murder of one. Official PA TV showed pictures of the two female prisoners on the screen.

But it is not just on International Women’s Day that the PA emphasizes the worth of women who carried out acts of terror against Israel. While a PA TV narrator praised women terrorists and a murderer, a Fatah activist interviewed on the program glorified a suicide bomber as a “mighty woman”:

Official PA TV narrator: “The acts of heroism by the Palestinian women continued, especially after the launch of the modern Palestinian revolution at the start of 1965 (i.e., counted from Fatah’s first terror attack against Israel), through female Martyr Shadia Abu Ghazaleh (i.e., bombmaker), female fighter Fatima Barnawi (i.e., placed bomb in movie theater), self-sacrificing fighter Zakiya Shammout (i.e., involved in murder of 1), female Martyr Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., led murder of 37), female fighter Laila Khaled (i.e., hijacker, involved in murder of 1), and the list is long.” …

Fatah activist from Jerusalem Jihad Zneid: “The women are worthy of great honor. The women who defied the occupier… I’m speaking about Wafa Idris (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 1). When I speak about [myself and Palestinian female director] Terry Balata, when I speak about mighty women, I speak about the women who are active at all levels, women who lead, women who not only participated in political activity but also led political activity, women who fought, women who are full of initiative.”

[Official PA TV, Stories from Palestine, Jan. 22, 2022]

Palestinian Media Watch has exposed the PA and Fatah’s role modeling of female terrorists to the Palestinian public and especially to girls and women for decades. The most prominent role model is murderer Dalal Mughrabi. In fact, the PA’s Minister of Women’s Affairs has cited murderer Mughrabi and other “female Martyrs” as proof of gender equality in Palestinian society.

The following are more details on the terrorists mentioned above and longer excerpts of the statements cited:

Dalal Mughrabi

Theresa Halsa

Fatima Barnawi

Israa Ja’abis

Um Nasser Abu Hmeid

Muhammad, Mahmoud, Ghaith, and Omar Jaradat

Shadia Abu Ghazaleh

Zakiya Shammout

Laila Khaled

Wafa Idris

Jibril Rajoub

Headline: “Shtayyeh: We will advance towards ratifying all the legislation and laws that will do justice with the women and give them their rights”

“[PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said: ‘On the instructions of His Honor [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, we will advance towards ratifying all the legislation and laws that will do justice with the women and give them their rights.’

The prime minister added: ‘The Palestinian women are fighting to receive their rights, and this is something that we encourage and support, for after all they are represented in the Palestinian institutions, in the [PA] government, in the [PA] Parliament (Legislative Council), in the [Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO), and in the [PLO] Central Council, and they are the mothers of the Martyrs and the prisoners. Um Nasser [Abu] Hmeid (i.e., mother of terrorists responsible for at least 10 murders; see note below) is an example of a woman who is fighting and standing firm, and so are the mothers of the Martyrs, the prisoners, and the expelled.’

Shtayyeh said this during a speech at a ceremony honoring a number of Palestinian women who are leading and excelling in several fields. The ceremony was organized by the European Union (EU) to celebrate International Women’s Day yesterday [March 8, 2022] at the Ramallah Theater, in the presence of Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam and EU Representative in Palestine Sven Kuehn von Burgsdorff…

Shtayyeh congratulated the women, and particularly the Palestinian women, on their day. He thanked the EU for sponsoring the ceremony and all those who are taking care of the Palestinian women who have recorded many tangible achievements in the local and international arenas in the fields of medicine, engineering, agriculture, sport, music, and all fields of life.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 9, 2022]

Headline: “The [PA] president on International Women’s Day: We emphasize our commitment to providing women with their full rights in all fields”

The following is an excerpt of a speech given by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on International Women’s Day -Ed.

“We are happy today [March 8, 2022] to salute and express our appreciation for the lauded Palestinian women and all the women of the world for International Women’s Day, which was set by the UN as proof of their status and honor, and out of appreciation for their economic, political, social, and scientific achievements.

My sisters and daughters, you who have recorded the most glorious achievements in all fields and proven to the men that you are worthy in the darkest circumstances and periods that have befallen and are still befalling the homeland. We are proud of your standing hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, fulfilling your heroic role in the struggle.

O mother, sister, daughter, wife, friend, prisoner, wounded, Martyr, mother of the family! O you who work in the political, economic, social, communications, cultural, educational, and other fields – we salute you, send you greetings, and give you our thanks. Whoever said you are half of the society did not do justice with you, as without you the society would not be a good and healthy society…

We emphasize our commitment to providing women with their full rights in all fields, in a way that will enable them to receive opportunities, to realize themselves, to increase their participation in all fields including teaching, health, law, economy, politics, and also to participate in the decision-making process.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2022]

Headline: “The Palestinian women”

“Deputy Chairman of the Retired Palestinian [PA] Army Personnel in Lebanon [Organization] Faisal Abu Mustafa describes [the Palestinian women] as ‘a role model in all arenas and fields.’

Abu Mustafa commented on the status of women in Palestinian society historically and said: ‘This is documented in the archives. The gates of knowledge were open to them, especially in the cities. In Palestine there were private schools for young women and colleges that trained female teachers and educators. The Palestinian women integrated in the social, political, and economic affairs at an early stage. Even in the rural areas, the women and men went hand in hand.’

He noted: ‘This is the nature of the pluralist Palestinian society, which no one can deny… If we go back to the start of the struggle with the Zionist movement, the Palestinian women had a central and direct role. They carried weapons and dealt with transferring them, and also transferring messages between the battlefronts. They took care of the self-sacrificing fighters and even gave them medical treatment.’

Abu Mustafa continued: ‘[Former PLO Chairman and PA] President Yasser Arafat strengthened the women’s role, and there were prominent names in the Palestinian struggle’s history such as female fighter Theresa Halsa, Rima Issa [Tannous] (i.e., terrorist plane hijackers), Shadia Abu Ghazaleh (i.e., terrorist bombmaker), Reem Riyashi (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 4), Fatima Al-Najjar (i.e., suicide bomber, wounded 3), Ayyat Al-Akhras (i.e., suicide bomber, murdered 2), Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children), Laila Khaled (i.e., terrorist plane hijacker, involved in murder of 1), Martyr Zakiya Shammout (i.e., terrorist, murdered 1) who gave birth to her son in the occupation’s prison, and other women who sacrificed themselves to defend Palestine.’ …

He added: ‘Currently the Palestinian women are in all fields of activity and are excelling in their work. Among them are doctors, engineers, and poets. They have reached important positions in many states and not just in Palestine. They have penetrated the gates of the American Congress, the Israeli Parliament, and many international organizations and institutions.’”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2022]

Hijacking of Sabena Flight 571

Reem Riyashi

Fatima Al-Najjar

Ayyat Al-Akhras

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