Mick Hartley

An inspiring little item from Al-Jadid/New TV, via MEMRI, on female Palestinian suicide bombers, and their burning desire to commit martyrdom:

Reporter: This elderly Palestinian woman, called Fatima Al-Najjar, used to lead women’s demonstrations at the entrance to the town of Beit Hanoun in the winter of 2006, calling upon the occupation to leave her town and stop the killing and destruction. But despite her advanced age, she decided to take a different path.

Fatima Al-Najjar: I sacrifice myself for the sake of Allah, the homeland, and Al-Aqsa. I ask Allah to accept my sacrifice.

We then see an explosion, which we are to presume is this Fatima Al-Najjar dutifully self-detonating, in accordance with the will of Allah.

Reporter: Fatima Al-Najjar blew herself up near several soldiers of the occupation, thus joining the many Palestinian women before her who chose martyrdom over a life of humiliation – Ayat Al-Akhras, Hanadi Jaradat, and Rim Al-Riyashi, who left her two children behind and decided to blow herself up at the Beit Hanoun crossing in northern Gaza. She left her two children an unforgettable lesson on the struggle.

So she stood near the Beit Hanoun crossing in northern Gaza, pressed the little button, and blew herself up, possibly – or possibly not - injuring some nearby soldiers. An unforgettable lesson indeed…

We then meet the self-styled “Lover of Al-Quds”:

This young woman, who calls herself the “lover of Al-Quds,” has set out more than once on combat operations, some of which were successful and others not. But she is determined to continue.

If some were successful, I think we're entitled to wonder why she's still around to tell us about it. Still, she talks the talk well enough:

Even if the Jews come on my wedding day, I will go out to confront them in my wedding gown. Nothing will stop me from committing martyrdom. I have given up all my dreams and aspirations, in order to become a martyrdom-seeker. I have lived an ordinary life. I have lots of free time, I go in and out, I draw – just like any other girl. But when it is the will of Allah that we become martyrs, I will cast all this aside.