PA Sees Dimona Terrorist Murderers as Holy Martyrs

PA Sees Dimona Terrorist Murderers as Holy Martyrs
by Hillel Fendel
1 Adar 5768, February 7, '08
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125177

(IsraelNN.com) Newspapers of the Palestinian Authority, led by whom
the world perceives as a "moderate," Mahmoud Abbas, say the Dimona
murderers were "holy martyrs."

A 73-year-old new immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lyubov
Razdolskaya, was murdered in the suicide attack this Monday, and her
husband was critically wounded and is still fighting for his life.
Over 20 others were also wounded.

The descriptions by the PA's official newspapers starkly contrast with
official statements by PA leaders that condemned the Dimona attack.
Abbas condemned the attack on Monday afternoon, hours after the
attack, but linked his opposition to the attack with his opposition to
IDF counter-terrorism actions.

However, Palestinian Media Watch reports on a number of quotes in
official PA organs showing that in actuality, the terrorists are
glorified in PA culture and government. The official news report in
Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda read, "The executors of the operation died as
martyrs... An Israeli was killed and 11 were wounded in the operation
in the Dimona commercial center."

The headline in Al-Ayam read, "Dimona: An Israeli Woman was Killed in
a Bomb Operation in the Commercial Center; the Two Perpetrators Died
as Martyrs." Similarly, Al-Quds ran the story as, "Two Martyrs and a
Killed Israeli Woman in a Bomb Operation in Dimona."

PMW notes that the term "martyr" places the terrorists on the highest
level in Islam - a far cry from the formal criticism expressed by
Abbas. A "martyr" is also looked upon as a hero and a model to
imitate, especially among the youth.

Just recently, after the murder of off-duty soldiers David Rubin and
Achikam Amichai as they were hiking near Telem in the Hevron region -
one terrorist was killed and another was wounded - Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda
reported in a headline, "A Youngster Became a Martyr, Another Was
Seriously Wounded, and two Israeli Soldiers were Killed Near Hevron"
(Dec. 29, 2007).

The paper also referred to the terrorists who were killed while trying
to carry out a massacre in Kfar Etzion two weeks ago as martyrs.

PMW concludes, "It is true that terrorists have always been called
martyrs, but the significance of the latest reports is that in the
midst of the renewal of a peace process, the terrorists continue to
receive the supreme badge of honor by the Palestinian Authority itself."