New York – A new interview broadcast on the official Palestinian Authority (PA) television shows the support of Palestinian mothers for suicide terrorism carried out by their children. The interview features the mother of Wafa Al-Bas, a 21-year-old Palestinian woman who was arrested at the Erez border crossing in June 2005 with a 20-pound bomb inside her underwear.

Her target was the outpatient clinic of Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where she had been receiving regular treatments for serious burns to 45 per cent of her body from a gas stove explosion in her home. Her greatest wish, she said later, was to kill 30 to 50 Israelis, including children. The hospital attack would likely have killed or maimed the Israeli doctor who had saved her life.

In the interview conducted with her parents, her mother stated that the issue was a hard one for her — not because her daughter had embarked on a mission to murder Jews, but because she had been arrested in the process. (Courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch, February 27).

Transcript of the interview, broadcast on PA Television, February 20 (translation courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch):

Interviewer: “How did you receive the news of Wafa’s arrest?”

Wafa’s mother: “When I received the news, it was hard for me. Hard.”

Interviewer: “Excuse me, was the hardship in that she failed in the martyrdom-seeking operation and was arrested, or in the arrest itself?”

Wafa’s mother: “The arrest itself. Her wish was martyrdom, Wafa, since she was a little girl.”

Interviewer: “Meaning, you hoped she would be a martyr?”

Wafa’s mother: “Her wish was to be a martyr.”

Interviewer: “Did you encourage her?”

Wafa’s mother: “To tell you the truth, I didn’t encourage her. I talked to Wafa about the issue, about not agreeing to it because she is a girl. Were it a boy, I would have supported, but since she is a girl, I discouraged.”

Interviews like these are not exceptional, but have occurred frequently on Palestinian television. Previous examples on PA Television:

• Mother of suicide terrorist: “My son’s martyrdom was as a wedding, a time of joy,” November 17, 2004.
  
• Mother of suicide terrorist: “Mothers make sounds of joy [on their son’s martyrdom] because she wants him to reach martyrdom… I wanted the best for him… [it was] honor for us,” November 28, 2003.
  
• Mother of suicide terrorist: “He told me to ‘pray for me that I will be a martyr,’” December 5, 2002.
  
• Mother of suicide terrorist: “All the martyrs are my sons,” September 24, 2002.