PA honors murderers of 3 Israeli teens
PA honors murderers of 3 Israeli teens
PA calls the terrorists "Shahids,"
meaning they achieve highest status in Islam
meaning they achieve highest status in Islam
s
PA terms for Israel's killing of the murderers:
"Execution"
"Heinous 'Israeli' crime"
"Cowardly execution"
"Assassination"
"Execution crime"
"Premeditated crime'
"Cold-blooded execution"
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
In June 2014, Hamas terrorists kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers: Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16. One of the boys managed to call the police from the car immediately following the kidnapping. In the police recording of the phone call, shots are heard followed by the murderers, Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh, laughing and celebrating.
Last week, Israel discovered the hiding place of the murderers, and when Israel attempted an arrest, the terrorists opened fire and eventually were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. Even though Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has statedpublicly that Hamas members carried out the kidnapping and murder of the 3 Israeli teens, Palestinian Media Watchhas documented that PA sources nonetheless claim that Israel comitted the crimeas pretext for the Gaza war.
The official PA news agency WAFA is calling Israel's attempt to apprehend the terrorists and their eventual killing an "execution," while the terrorists themselves are being honored by the PA as "Martyrs" (Shahids) - a term indicating they are receiving sublime rewards from Allah. WAFA did not mention why Israel sought to arrest them:
"Israeli occupation forces executed citizens Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh today, Tuesday, in the early hours of the morning in a military operation in central Hebron... Security sources told WAFA that the occupation forces were still holding on to the bodies of the two Martyrs (Shahids)."
[WAFA (the official Palestinian Authority news agency), Sept. 23, 2014]
The PA Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ida'is also called the murderers "Martyrs" who were "assassinated" by Israel:"[PA] Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ida'is denounced the heinous 'Israeli' crime committed by the occupation forces in Hebron when they assassinated several of our people this morning. [The crime] took the lives of Martyrs (Shahids) Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh."
[Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Sept. 23, 2014]
Official PA TV news presented the killing of the terrorists as a "cold-blooded execution":Official PA TV newsreader: "Occupation forces executed the two citizens Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh in cold-blood in an operation carried out today at dawn in Hebron. The occupation authorities accuse Al-Qawasmi and Abu Aisheh of the kidnapping and murder of the three settlers this past June [2014] in Hebron."
[Official PA TV, Sept. 23, 2014]
Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement condemned Israel's killing of the murderers as a "cowardly execution":"Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf condemned the cowardly execution of Palestinian citizens Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh carried out by the Israeli occupation army this morning in Hebron. In statements to the press, Assaf called the execution crime a serious violation of international law."
[Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Sept. 23, 2014]
The Governor of Hebron Kamel Hamid said that "occupation forces had executed two citizens from Hebron this morning... Amer Abu Aisheh and Marwan Al-Qawasmi," and that "the occupation carried out a death sentence on two Hebron citizens, and this is a premeditated crime." [Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Sept. 23, 2014]
Some PA sources accused Israel of killing the terrorists to prevent them from speaking: "In the early hours of the morning... Israel assassinated the young men Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh... The two young men were Hamas members from Hebron who had been 'accused' of kidnapping and murdering three Israeli settlers on June 12 [2014]...
With the assassination of the young Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh, the kidnapping operation, which served as an excuse for the [Gaza] war (i.e., Israel's Operation Protective Edge, 2014) entered a new stage of obscurity... It is possible that, were they alive, they would tell us and the world that the operation of kidnapping and murder of the three settlers is unrelated to the official Israeli version. Therefore, the execution of the young men, Marwan and Amer, amounted to the murder of the truth."
[Op-ed by Yahya Rabah , columnist for the official PA daily
and member of the Fatah Leadership Committee in Gaza,
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2014]
The Palestinian delegation to the ceasefire talks in Cairo called it a "heinous crime":and member of the Fatah Leadership Committee in Gaza,
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2014]
"The Palestinian delegation to the ceasefire talks in Cairo condemned the heinous crime committed by the occupation forces in the early hours of yesterday morning in Hebron - the assassination of Martyrs (Shahids) Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh. The announcement read: 'The Palestinian delegation is absolutely convinced that the act committed by the occupation forces in Hebron was intended to conceal the truth behind the [occupation's] version of events since the disappearance of the three settlers in Hebron.'"
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2014]
The spokesman for PA Security Forces likewise accused Israel of assassinating the two men, saying their guilt was only an "Israeli version" of what happened:
"Yesterday [Sept. 23, 2014] thousands of citizens attended the funerals of Martyrs (Shahids) Marwan Al-Qawasmi and Amer Abu Aisheh, who were assassinated by occupation forces in the early hours of yesterday morning...
Israel accused the two Martyrs of kidnapping and murdering three settlers in Hebron three and a half months ago. However, PA Security Forces spokesman Adnan Al-Damiri said all details of the story about the young Abu Aisheh and Al-Qawasmi were 'an Israeli version from beginning to end.'"
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2014]
Click to see PA and Fatah statements about the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens.As stated above, the PA is calling the two terrorists "Shahids" - Martyrs. The significance of this honor bestowed on the killers by the PA can be understood when reading the following excerpts of two speeches by former PA Minister of Religious Affairs and current advisor to Abbas, in which he emphasizes the value of Martyrdom-death (cited above):
PA Minister of Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "After prophecy and righteousness there is no status Allah has exalted more than Shahada (Martyrdom)... ‘‘And think not of those who have been killed in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord.
Allah forbade us to consider them [the Shahids (Martyrs)] (as dead or to speak of them as being dead... They went smiling to their deaths... The Shahid has merit with Allah, a merit that no one else has... No one - not even the righteous - yearns to return to this world after death. Only Shahids. Why? Because they see the great honor Allah has prepared for them. One of them aspired to return to this world in order to be killed again, in order to die as a Shahid yet again... Allah spoke with one of them (a Shahid), Jabir ibn Abdullah... After all he saw in Paradise, he wanted to return and be killed [again] in order to taste the pain of death a second time. Abdullah said to Him: ‘Lord, then tell those who follow us about what we have found.’
Allah Himself is conveying to us the message from the Shahids. The prophets convey Allah’s message and Allah conveys the message of the Shahids. What kindness!
‘The Shahid - his sins are forgiven with the first gush of his blood from his wound... The Shahid advocates on behalf of 70 members of his family, and saves them all from hell. The Shahid lives together with the prophets and the righteous ones.’
When they threatened Yasser Arafat, [he said] ‘You threaten me with death? I yearn to die! I come only to it; I seek only it.’
We will never reach the level of the prophets. We won’t. So let us reach the level of the Shahids. I say to you, brothers, as the Prophet [Muhammad] said: ‘He who honestly seeks Shahada, Allah will give him the status of the Shahids, even if he dies in his bed.'"
[Official PA TV, Nov. 8, 2013]
PA Minister of Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "Brothers, Allah willing, only ‘one of the two best things’ (Quran) will happen to us - victory or Shahada (Martyrdom) - and what a great fate this is, what a great rank this is - victory or Shahada."
[Official PA TV, Dec. 20, 2013]