Abbas' newspaper devotes full op-ed to suicide bomber,
with sentimental recount of terrorist's last hours
before terror attack that wounded 20 in 2001
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
The
official Palestinian Authority daily chose to devote a full op-ed to a
long, romanticized description of the last hours in suicide bomber Raed
Barghouti's life. The terrorist's bombing in Jerusalem wounded dozens in
2001.
"Raed Barghouti... held the arm of his young brother, Rayyan,
and took him to the market to buy him school supplies for the new
school year. Later, he took him to a [photo] studio to have their
picture taken together. Rayyan didn't know that this was to be his
brother Raed's last picture, before he joined the procession of
Martyrdom (Shahada) and Martyrs (Shahids)."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 13, 2014]
These
were the opening lines of the op-ed, which went on to describe the
bomber's last kind deeds (paying another brother's university tuition)
and his mother's devastated reaction to the news of his "Martyrdom":
"A
mother's heart is her guide. She couldn't fall asleep until late, and
then dreamed a dream of truth. [In her dream,] she was standing in front
of Raed's house... when, suddenly, the house collapsed on its
foundations and its bricks turned to dust. The mother leaped out of bed,
horrified by what she'd seen... [The TV news] spoke of a
Martyrdom-seeking operation (i.e., suicide bombing) in Jerusalem and
broadcast images of the man who had carried out the operation - or what
was left of him. His mother cried out, 'Allah help his family' - without
realizing that she was praying for Allah to help her."
The
author describes how the suicide bomber "left behind testaments to his
people," one of which stated that "the night is darkest just before
dawn," and ends by asking Allah to "have mercy on our Martyrs, who fell
so that we might live."
As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, the PA honors terrorists in numerous ways, including paying them high salaries
while they are in prison and upon their release and glorifying them in
speeches at events. Suicide bombers and other terrorists who were killed
are honored by being called Shahids- Martyrs for Allah - one of the highest levels of Muslim religious achievement possible today, and streets, summer camps and sporting events are named after them.
The following is a longer excerpt of the op-ed romanticizing the suicide bomber:
Op-ed by Issa Abd Al-Hafiz
"He [Raed Barghouti] held the arm of his young brother, Rayyan,
and took him to the market to buy him school supplies for the new
school year. Later, he took him to a [photo] studio to have their
picture taken together. Rayyan didn't know that this was to be his
brother Raed's last picture, before he joined the procession of
Martyrdom (Shahada) and Martyrs (Shahids)...
He
[Raed Barghouti] implored his mother to be pleased with him and to pray
that Martyrdom be his lot. His mother's heart skipped a beat as she
begged him to change his mind...
Sept.
3, 2001. Raed donned new clothes, left for work at the school in
Qarawat Bani Zeid where he taught - or at least that's what his mother
thought until she received a surprise phone call from him from Ramallah,
during which he told her he had paid his brother's university tuition.
After [his] mother thanked him, he added that there was no reason to
worry, and that he would spend the night in Ramallah and leave for work
at the school the next morning...
A
mother's heart is her guide. She couldn't fall asleep until late, and
then dreamed a dream of truth. [In her dream,] she was standing in front
of Raed's house, which he had recently built, when, suddenly, the house
collapsed on its foundations and its bricks turned to dust. The mother
leaped out of bed, horrified by what she'd seen. [Later,] the mother of
Martyr (Shahid) Raed and her neighbor were baking bread
together. The moment the bread finished baking in the oven, she turned
on the TV; [the news] spoke of a Martyrdom-seeking operation (i.e.,
suicide bombing) in Jerusalem and broadcast images of the man who had
carried out the operation - or what was left of him. His
mother cried out, 'Allah help his family' - without realizing that she
was praying for Allah to help her.
His
brother was unable to tell [the truth] all at once to his mother, who
kept asking him insistently about Raed and whether he was at the school
in Qarawat Bani Zeid. The brother replied that
he had asked about him everywhere, but hadn't found him. After a
[moment of] silence mixed with tension, anticipation and worry, he
murmured: 'Mother, eternity belongs to Allah alone.' The mother could
not bear the shock. She started screaming, then fell down unconscious...
In
his will, Martyr Raed entrusted the care of his younger brothers to his
fiancée Amani; left behind testaments to his people, the first of which
[says] that 'the night is darkest just before dawn.' Allah have mercy
on our Martyrs (Shahids), who fell so that we might live. Allah
have mercy on the Martyrs of our Arab nation, from the [Atlantic] Ocean
to the [Persian] Gulf, who died for the glory of this nation, at a time
when defeat follows upon defeat."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 13, 2014]
Raed
Barghouti - a suicide bomber who blew himself up on the Street of the
Prophets in Jerusalem on Sept. 4, 2001, wounding about 20 people.
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