Three Lessons from a Woman Terrorist

Honest Reporting, Haaretz, AP ^ | 6/21/2005 | HonestReporting

[sofaman]

Three Lessons from a Woman Terrorist

A foiled suicide bombing brings out three media myths on Palestinian terror

Attempted suicide bomber Wafa al-Bas

Yesterday (June 20), a Palestinian woman took advantage of a humanitarian medical clearance to attempt a suicide bombing of an Israeli hospital. Israeli security caught Wafa al-Bas at a Gaza checkpoint and safely detonated the explosives that had been tied to her undergarments.

View AP news video of capture.

This episode highlights three important points that remain largely ignored or misrepresented in media coverage of the Mideast conflict:

1) SUICIDE TERROR: ASPIRATION, NOT DESPERATION

Al-Bas explained to reporters why she carried out the act:

I love Allah, I love the land of Palestine and I am a member of Al-Aksa Brigades... my dream was to be a martyr. I believe in death... Since I was a little girl I wanted to carry out an attack.

Though media outlets often rationalize Palestinian suicide terror as a 'desperate' response to Israeli wrongdoing, al-Bas' statement is the latest indication that the main motivation for the heinous crime is a twisted, lifelong aspiration to achieve 'greatness' via mass murder.

A primary source of this problem is incitement in Palestinian media and culture. On Sunday (June 19) PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and western reporters that official Palestinian media 'no longer incites against Israel'.

But very little has actually changed. As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, imagery promoting violence against 'illegitimate' Israelis and 'conspiratorial' Jews remains prominent in official Palestinian TV and newspapers. This is a direct violation of the PA's roadmap commitment for 'all official Palestinian institutions [to] end incitement against Israel', and it continues to fuel the ideology behind acts such as al-Bas'.

2) IMPORTANCE OF ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS

The latest Amnesty International report accused Israel of 'crimes against humanity and war crimes' that included 'obstruction of medical assistance'. Such reports invariably receive broad, uncritical media coverage that lacks appropriate context.

Al-Bas' act, however, clearly demonstrates the need for strict Israeli administration of checkpoints and medical permits. She is the latest in a long string of Palestinian terrorists who cynically used their status as medical patients or modest women to perpetrate terror attacks.

An important condemnation of al-Bas was carried only in the LA Times:

"We utterly condemn this action in every respect," said Shabtai Gold, a spokesman for Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which is often critical of Israeli authorities for impeding Palestinian access to medical care inside Israel.

IDF spokeswoman Sharon Finegold put the matter in perspective: 'These terror organizations are not only the enemies of the Israelis but also of the Palestinian people themselves, who suffer as a result of this abuse of the young, the sick, the wounded.'

3) PA EMBRACING, NOT STOPPING TERRORISTS

According to a Haaretz report, Israeli security received a tip on al-Bas' imminent attack, and gave the PA and Abbas detailed information regarding it, but the PA did not act.

Al-Bas' thwarted effort followed on the heels of a brutal ambush of an Israeli civilian car in the West Bank (pictured), which killed 28-year old Yigveny Rider.

The PA continues to do very little to fulfill its roadmap obligation to uproot terror groups, choosing instead to incorporate terrorist operatives into its political and security leadership.

Media outlets continue to ignore this violation of the signed agreement, describing it as a mere 'Israeli demand', as in this UPI report on yesterday's Palestinian violence:

These seemed to be "perfect" examples for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who Tuesday afternoon is to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his official residence in central Jerusalem... Sharon never seems to tire demanding a complete cessation of terrorism, violence and incitement, dismantling terrorist organizations and collecting their weapons.

UPI's jab at Sharon is both an unprofessional editorial comment inserted in a news article, and a complete misrepresentation of the PA's own commitment to the world community to uproot terrorism from its midst.

Comments to UPI: international_desk@upi.com

HonestReporting encourages subscribers to be on the lookout in your local media for these three ongoing misrepresentations of Palestinian terror.

Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.

HonestReporting

[sofaman]

Hope a didn't bungle anything...my first post. Mods, have moicy.

[cweese]

Good post! Thanks!

[Phantom Lord]

Three Lessons from a Woman Terrorist

1) Make him take you out for an expensive meal and entertainment

2) Go back to his place for more free food and drink

3) Leave without giving up the goods

[dirtboy]

It was already posted once - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1428003/posts. Be sure to do a quick search on a single relevant word from the title - in this case, "lessons" brough up the earlier post. And this is more analysis than news, so it probably doesn't belong in breaking news.

But don't sweat it. It takes a bit o' time to learn things here, and there will be many folks who will cheerfully point out if you've done something wrong...

[ILBBACH]

Very interesting - good post.

[Chuck54]

Excellent post.

One solution when blowing up the attached explosives would be to leave them attached to said person.

[Phantom Lord]

Regarding your tagline, Gitmo was around for decades prior to 9/11

[sofaman]

Okey dokey...thanks for the info..note taken with much appreciation.

[68skylark]

Usually a quick search is a good idea before posting, to avoid duplicate posts.

Three Lessons from a Woman Terrorist .

But don't sweat it ('cause we all make a duplicate post by accident from time to time) and please don't stop posting good articles here.

[inquest]

Not bad for a newbie ;-)

(great post, actually)

[Chuck54]

Regarding your tagline, Gitmo was around for decades prior to 9/11.

Not the Gitmo that Durbin and his ilk refer to. I don't think it housed terrorists either.

[LilDarlin]

1) SUICIDE TERROR: ASPIRATION, NOT DESPERATION

If I may be permitted to quote from Mr. Peters, "Identify the type of terrorists you face, and know your enemy as well as you possibly can. Apocalyptic terrorists, no matter their rhetoric, seek your destruction and must be killed to the last man. The apt metaphor is cancer: you cannot hope for success if you only cut out part of the tumor. For the apocalyptic terrorist, evading your efforts can easily be turned into a public triumph. Our bloodiest successes will create far fewer terrorists and sympathizers than our failures."

[Flint]

And all we need do is sit down and talk to these people. Understand their point of view, and all this will stop.

Wonder if we could come up with some program where we furnish the explosives? Wire up all the rag heads that want to go meet Allah, let them stand in a big circle and hold hands. Allow them a nice time for prayer and then let them all detonate at the same time. We could help all of them get to Heaven together as one big happy family. I'd donate to the cause, heck I'd buy them all Korans to hold on the journey.

[LilDarlin]

2) IMPORTANCE OF ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS

If I may quote from Mr. Peters (again), "Do not be drawn into a public dialog with terrorists, especially not with apocalyptic terrorists. You cannot win. You legitimize the terrorists by addressing them even through a third medium, and their extravagant claims will resound more successfully on their own home ground than anything you can say. Ignore absurd accusations, and never let the enemy's claims slow or sidetrack you. The terrorist wants you to react, and your best means of unbalancing him and his plan is to ignore his accusations."

[LilDarlin]

3) PA EMBRACING, NOT STOPPING TERRORISTS

Yet once more from Mr. Peters, ". Do not allow the terrorists sanctuary in any country, at any time, under any circumstances. Counter-terrorist operations must, above all, be relentless. This does not necessarily mean that military operations will be constantly underway sometimes it will be surveillance efforts, or deception plans, or operations by other agencies. But the overall effort must never pause for breath. We must be faster, more resolute, more resourceful and, ultimately, even more uncompromising than our enemies."

[sofaman]

Apparently the Israelis have developed a gizmo that would allow them to detonate the explosives by simply aiming the device in a specific direction. The frequency emitted would detonate the explosives.

Problem is, it can't be used when there is more than one person in the vicinity or they'll blow up the bomber and everyone around him/ her.

[lilylangtree]

Wonder how loud this murderer would scream if a suicide bomber was in the middle of a crowded pali event and martyred themselves. The bomber leaves a note to all the pali people with the thought that the suicide bomber didn't want his/her brothers and sisters to suffer but to meet their idol-worshipping god and live a long and happy life in the hereafter.

[Squantos]

I thought this was another Jeff Luers thread aka woman terrorist........:o)

[sofaman]

The problem is that we as a people don't have the stomach for it. The Ted Kennedys Dick Turbins Nancy Pelosis and John Kerrys would never allow that to go unnoticed. What an opportunity to accuse us and this admin of atrocities, war crimes, crimes against humanity, everything short of passing gas in public.