We love Martyrdom-death as we love life” – Fatah official
• “Mother of the Martyr, what joy you have merited” - Palestinians at funeral of
“Martyr”
• Terrorist who was “martyred” is “advocate with Allah” for his family
• Father of “Martyr” terrorist: “He wanted Martyrdom-death, he asked for it”
• “Fatah expressed its appreciation… for the souls of the heroic Martyrs who ascended to Heaven, and whose pure blood watered the precious soil of Palestine”
Speaking at the funeral of a Palestinian who was killed while participating in violent riots against Israeli security forces, Fatah Revolutionary Council member Bayan Al-Tabib stated – claiming to speak on behalf of all Palestinians – that they “love” dying as “Martyrs” just as much as they love life:
Fatah Revolutionary Council member Bayan Al-Tabib: “We love life, and we love Martyrdom-death as we love life, because we are truth seekers [and] freedom seekers. We seek our rights and the establishment of our independent Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem.”
[Official PA TV, April 30, 2022]
This encouragement of seeking a violent death as a “Martyr” in confrontations with Israel is consistent PA ideology. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed the PA Martyrdom cult for decades. PA and Fatah urge Palestinians to seek “Martyrdom-death,” praise whoever dies a “Martyr” during a terror attack against Israel, and rewards the remaining relatives with a lifetime monthly financial payment.
A significant part of the PA’s encouragement of continued violence and terror during the recent month of Ramadan was expressed in praise for the “Martyrs” and emphasizing the alleged joy by parents and other relatives when a child or family member becomes a “Martyr with Allah.” The PA’s many years of repeating these messages have become rooted among Palestinians and Palestinian teens actively seek death, as PMW has exposed.
At the same funeral in which Fatah official Al-Tabib spoke, the participants chanted “Mother of the Martyr, what joy you have merited, if only my mother was in your place”:
Crowd chanting: “Mother of the Martyr, what joy you have merited, if only my mother was in your place. Accompany the Martyr with his blood. A thousand blessings to his mother. The domes of the Al-Aqsa Mosque are iron domes, only the Martyr can open them.”
[Official PA TV, Reporters in the Field, April 30, 2022]
Fatah Revolutionary Council member Bayan Al-Tabib made his statement and the crowd chanted those words at the funeral of Yahya Adwan, who was killed while participating in violent riots against Israeli security forces in Azzoun, east of Qalqilya.
The brother of another Palestinian who was killed when he shot at Israeli forces “praised Allah” for now having “an advocate with Allah” for the family - namely their brother who became a “Martyr.” According to Islamic belief a Martyr will be able to intervene on behalf of 70 of his family members on Judgment Day, thereby ensuring them the reward of Afterlife:
Majed Kamamji, brother of terrorist prisoner Ayham Kamamji: “I want to convey a message to [my brother] Ayham that Almighty Allah be praised, we got an advocate with Allah, and we got a Martyr in our home, Almighty Allah be praised.”
Text on poster: “The heroic Martyr Shas Kamamji”
[Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, May 3, 2022]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented how relatives of “Martyrs” explain that the deceased actively set out to die and become a Martyr. The father of Yahya Adwan, whose funeral was mentioned above, stated that his son “asked for Martyrdom-death”:
Official PA TV newsreader: “Masses of our people in Qalqilya accompanied to burial Martyr Yahya Ali Adwan (i.e., killed while participating in violent riots against Israeli security forces), 28, who was shot by the occupation and ascended to Heaven in the early morning [April 30, 2022] in Azzoun.”
Ali Adwan, father of Yahya Adwan: “A shock, it’s a great shock. He wanted Martyrdom-death, he asked for it… May Allah have mercy on him.”
[Official PA TV News, April 30, 2022]
PA and Fatah also actively encourage Palestinians to seek “Martyrdom,” as Fatah did during Ramadan when it first praised the “heroic” terrorists and their “pure blood” that “watered Palestine,” and then went on to urge Palestinians to “continue on the path of the heroic Martyrs and prisoners” and carry out more terror :
“Fatah expressed its appreciation… for the souls of the heroic Martyrs who ascended to Heaven in recent hours, and whose pure blood watered the precious soil of Palestine (apparently refers to terrorists Maha Za’atari, Ghada Sabateen, and Muhammad Ghneim, in addition to Muhammad Zakarneh who was accidentally shot in a shootout during the attempted arrest of terrorist Ra’ad Hazem’s brother; see notes below -Ed.). It emphasized that the blood of the pure-hearted Martyrs has not been spilled in vain.
Fatah committed to the masses of our people to continue on the path of the heroic Martyrs and prisoners, the path of freedom, independence, and the right to self-determination on the land of our historical homeland, Palestine.”[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 12, 2022]
Likewise in this poster posted by the Fatah Movement’s Hebron Branch, which calls for “revenge,” Fatah stated “blood demands blood”:
Posted text: “Five Martyrs ascended to Heaven after being shot and wounded by the occupation in the West Bank within 24 hours.
Praise and eternity to our righteous Martyrs”
Text on image: “Blood demands blood
And the Martyr resurrects millions
#Revenge_is_a_duty”[Facebook page of the Fatah Movement – Hebron Branch, April 14, 2022]
The image shows pictures of terrorists Shas Kamamji and Mustafa Abu Al-Rub, who shot at Israeli security forces on April 14, 2022; Qusai Hamamreh, who was killed while throwing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli soldiers during violent riots near Bethlehem on April 13, 2022; Omar Alyan, who died while participating in violent riots in Silwan, Jerusalem, on April 13, 2022; and Muhammad Assaf who died during violent riots near Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus on April 13, 2022.
The following is additional information on the terrorists mentioned above and longer excerpts of statements cited:
“Martyr” Shas Kamamji shot at Israeli security forces and was killed on April 14, 2022. He is the “Martyr” who will be able to intervene on behalf of 70 of his family members on Judgment Day, thereby ensuring them the reward of Afterlife - according to Islamic belief. Shas Kamamji was the brother of terrorist prisoner Ayham Kamamji, who is being addressed by a third brother, Majed Kamamji in the PA TV program above.
Shas Kamamji and Mustafa Abu Al-Rub – Palestinian terrorists who shot at Israeli security forces conducting arrests near Jenin on April 14, 2022; the forces returned fire, killing Kamamji and Al-Rub. Kamamji was a member of the Islamic Jihad terror organization.
Ayham Kamamji - Islamic Jihad terrorist who participated in the murder of 18-year-old Eliyahu Asheri on June 25, 2006, and planned to blow up a bus using an exploding car. Kamamji was sentenced to 2 life sentences. Kamamji was one of 6 terrorist prisoners who escaped from Israel's Gilboa Prison on Sept. 6, 2021; he was rearrested on Sept. 18, 2021.
Headline: “Fatah: The occupation’s crimes will strengthen our resolve on the land and will increase our determination to expel it”
“The Fatah Movement held the occupation government responsible for the escalation and the systematic and deliberate crimes that have been committed as part of it. It emphasized that the blood of the pure-hearted Martyrs in Jenin, Bethlehem, Hebron, and all the cities, villages, and refugee camps in Palestine will only strengthen our resolve on the land and increase our determination to expel this hated occupation. It added that sooner or later we will settle accounts with the war criminals – Israeli political leaders, officers, and soldiers.
In a statement issued yesterday [April 11, 2022] by the [Fatah] Commission of Information and Culture, Fatah said that the claims of the occupation and terror state, according to which it is working for calm in the blessed [Muslim fasting] month of Ramadan, have been proven false. [Fatah added that] as per its criminal custom, when it speaks about calm, [Israel] is actually preparing for bloody and coarse aggression against the Palestinian people, and it attacks defenseless civilians, women, and children alike. It noted that if this dangerous escalation is not stopped immediately, it will certainly lead to a comprehensive deterioration of the situation.
It also said that the current government of Israel and the previous governments are responsible for the wave of escalation and its dangerous consequences. This is because of their deliberate ignoring of the national and legitimate Palestinian rights, and because of the fact that they have closed every opening to any true peace process, which would lead to the two-state solution – the solution that is likely to bring security and stability to the region and the world…
Fatah expressed its appreciation… for the souls of the heroic Martyrs who ascended to Heaven in recent hours, and whose pure blood watered the precious soil of Palestine (apparently refers to terrorists Maha Za’atari, Ghada Sabateen, and Muhammad Ghneim, in addition to Muhammad Zakarneh who was accidentally shot in a shootout during the attempted arrest of terrorist Ra’ad Hazem’s brother; see notes below -Ed.). It emphasized that the blood of the pure-hearted Martyrs has not been spilled in vain.
Fatah committed to the masses of our people to continue on the path of the heroic Martyrs and prisoners, the path of freedom, independence, and the right to self-determination on the land of our historical homeland, Palestine.”[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 12, 2022]
Maha Za’atari – 24-year-old female Palestinian terrorist who stabbed and wounded an Israeli border police officer at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron on April 10, 2022. Other officers shot and killed Za’atari, thereby ending her attack.
Ghada Sabateen – 40-year-old female Palestinian terrorist who threateningly approached Israeli security forces and ignored their calls to stop, causing the forces to open fire in the air and then eventually shoot and kill her in self-defense at Husan, west of Bethlehem, on April 10, 2022. Sabateen was found to be unarmed.
Ra'ad Hazem - 28-year-old Palestinian terrorist and PA Security Forces member who shot and murdered 3 Israeli civilians - 27-year-olds Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini and 35-year-old Barak Lufan - and wounded 14 others when he opened fire on a crowded bar on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv on April 7, 2022. Hazem escaped the scene of the attack and was found hiding near a mosque in Jaffa by Israeli security forces several hours later. He opened fire on them and was killed in the ensuing shootout.