New York – A Palestinian college, the Gaza Center for Culture and the Arts, has just launched a popular folklore course for female students named in honor of Wafa Idris, the first Palestinian female suicide bomber who blew herself up in January 2002 on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem, killing an 81-year old man and wounding several others. The director of the center, Ashraf Sahwil, said the decision to name the course after Idris was aimed at “emphasizing the longstanding role of Palestinian women in the struggle [against Israel]” (Jerusalem Post, August 4).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “This is but the latest example of the Palestinian glorification of terrorism and the people who carry it out. Mahmoud Abbas is doing nothing to disarm any terror groups or stopping incitement against Jews and Israel in his media, schools, or mosques. He hasn’t changed the names of the schools, streets, and sports teams presently named after suicide bombers. Now on his watch, another Palestinian institution honors the terrorist Wafa Idris.

“Under a regime that glorifies the mass murder of Israelis, a terrorist like Wafa Idris is regarded as a role model, someone to be emulated and honored and not only by this Gaza college. The Union of Palestinian Women has presented Idris as a role model for Palestinian feminism, a parade for young girls was held in her honor and summer camps, university courses and Fatah programs have been named after her. A concert honoring Idris has even been broadcast numerous times on PA-controlled television.

“This is clearly not a Palestinian regime to which concessions should be offered. Only when the Palestinian Authority lives up to its obligations under numerous signed agreements and the Roadmap peace plan to dismantle the terrorist groups and end incitement can there any progress towards peace.”