Are suicide terrorists \"depressed?\" British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today, \"We can all feel a degree of compassion for those youngsters\" who kill themselves and others, but added, \"they must be so misguided and depressed to do\" what he called \"despicable\" attacks. His remarks came a day after Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister, implied that the terrorists\' despair and \"lack of hope\" was what drove them to commit murder.
Interestingly, Mohammed al-Ghoul, a 22-year-old in the first semester of a master\'s degree program in Islamic studies at A-Najah University, did not quite fit the above characterization when he flipped the switch yesterday that killed himself and 19 others in the bus from Gilo. \"I am happy that my body will be the response for the attacks conducted by the Israelis and that my body will turn into an explosive shred mill against the Israelis,\" his father quoted al-Ghoul\'s suicide note as saying. \"How beautiful it is to make my bomb shrapnel kill the enemy. How beautiful it is to kill and to be killed... for the lives of the coming generation.\"
Similarly, the mother of Muhammad Farhat, who murdered five Israeli boys in the Atzmonah pre-military academy in March of this year, did not speak of sadness or despair in an interview with a London Arabic-language newspaper. She did say,
\"Because I love my son, I encouraged him to die a martyr\'s death for the sake of Allah... Muhammad was seven when the martyr \'Imad \'Aql lived with us at home, [and] despite his young age, he was [an] assistant to \'Imad \'Aql... \'Imad lived with us for 14 months, and he had a room in our house from which he would plan the operations. The mujahideen would come to him and plan and sketch everything out, and little Muhammad would be with them, thinking and planning. This was the source of Muhammad\'s love of martyrdom. This is the atmosphere in which the love of martyrdom developed in Muhammad\'s soul. I, as a mother, naturally encouraged the love of Jihad in the soul of Muhammad and in the souls of all my sons, all of whom belong to the Al-Qassam Brigades. My eldest son, Nidal (31), is wanted now by the Israelis. My second son set out on a martyrdom operation, but was discovered, arrested, and sentenced to 11 years\' imprisonment. I have another son who is the escort of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The atmosphere to which Muhammad was exposed was full of faith and love of martyrdom... He would brandish his weapon and tell me: \'Mom, this is my bride.\' He loved his gun so much.\"
Extensive excerpts from the above interview, translated by MEMRI, can be seen at memri.org.
MK Michael Eitan (Likud), speaking with Arutz-7 this morning, says that the public must exert pressure on the government to force the Prime Minister and Defense Minister to finally solve the problem of the ongoing terrorism.
Interestingly, Mohammed al-Ghoul, a 22-year-old in the first semester of a master\'s degree program in Islamic studies at A-Najah University, did not quite fit the above characterization when he flipped the switch yesterday that killed himself and 19 others in the bus from Gilo. \"I am happy that my body will be the response for the attacks conducted by the Israelis and that my body will turn into an explosive shred mill against the Israelis,\" his father quoted al-Ghoul\'s suicide note as saying. \"How beautiful it is to make my bomb shrapnel kill the enemy. How beautiful it is to kill and to be killed... for the lives of the coming generation.\"
Similarly, the mother of Muhammad Farhat, who murdered five Israeli boys in the Atzmonah pre-military academy in March of this year, did not speak of sadness or despair in an interview with a London Arabic-language newspaper. She did say,
\"Because I love my son, I encouraged him to die a martyr\'s death for the sake of Allah... Muhammad was seven when the martyr \'Imad \'Aql lived with us at home, [and] despite his young age, he was [an] assistant to \'Imad \'Aql... \'Imad lived with us for 14 months, and he had a room in our house from which he would plan the operations. The mujahideen would come to him and plan and sketch everything out, and little Muhammad would be with them, thinking and planning. This was the source of Muhammad\'s love of martyrdom. This is the atmosphere in which the love of martyrdom developed in Muhammad\'s soul. I, as a mother, naturally encouraged the love of Jihad in the soul of Muhammad and in the souls of all my sons, all of whom belong to the Al-Qassam Brigades. My eldest son, Nidal (31), is wanted now by the Israelis. My second son set out on a martyrdom operation, but was discovered, arrested, and sentenced to 11 years\' imprisonment. I have another son who is the escort of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The atmosphere to which Muhammad was exposed was full of faith and love of martyrdom... He would brandish his weapon and tell me: \'Mom, this is my bride.\' He loved his gun so much.\"
Extensive excerpts from the above interview, translated by MEMRI, can be seen at memri.org.
MK Michael Eitan (Likud), speaking with Arutz-7 this morning, says that the public must exert pressure on the government to force the Prime Minister and Defense Minister to finally solve the problem of the ongoing terrorism.