Slain Hamas leader on suicide bombings

The Bush administration has expressed angst with Israel over its rocket attack earlier this week on a building that housed Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh, but a May interview with the slain militant goes a long way toward explaining why the Israeli military may have acted.

The White House said the July 23 attack utilized an inappropriate amount of force, while Israeli officials defended an F-16 missile strike that killed Shehadeh and 14 others – including nine children – as an act of war that likely saved "hundreds" of Israeli lives. The Hamas leader was targeted by Israel because of his suspected involvement in masterminding dozens of suicide bombing attacks that killed scores of Israelis.

Yet, according to a transcript of a May 29 interview with Shehadeh conducted by Islam Online and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Shehadeh appeared not only to condone earlier suicide attacks but appeared to encourage more.

He spoke of "four criteria" used to select participants in "martyrdom operations" – suicide bombing attacks.

"First, devout religious observance" to Islam is mandatory, he said. "Second, [Hamas will] verify that the young man complies with his parents' wishes and is loved by his family, and that his martyrdom will not [adversely] affect family life – that is, he is not the head of the family and he has siblings, as we will not take an only child.

"Third," he said, a bomber must have the "ability to carry out the task assigned [to] him, and to understand its gravity. Fourth, his martyrdom should encourage others to carry out martyrdom operations and encourage Jihad in the hearts of people."

Shehadeh said Hamas received a "steady stream" of volunteers who wanted to carry out suicide bombings and that "youths [who seek to] attain martyrdom show [mental] health and the awareness of Palestinian society."

Becoming involved in a martyrdom operation "is not a mistake or an escape from a situation of despair or frustration," he said. "Many people come to Jihad, and they are willing to lay down their souls – which is the most precious thing a man has.

"There is a vast difference between someone who sacrifices money or an offering and someone who sacrifices his soul for the sake of Allah to bring happiness to the nation and to remove its torment and distress," he said.

Shehadeh said Hamas could not provide "everyone" with a suicide bombing mission because "targets are limited," and Israeli military positions Hamas seeks to destroy are "highly fortified."

When asked about the procedure Hamas uses to choose its targets, the late chieftain said much of the decision is based on continuing surveillance operations.

"We have surveillance groups whose role is to monitor Israeli and settler patrols and the movement of the enemy on the border. We utilize every breach we find in the enemy's security fence," he explained. "Afterwards, we define the target and the nature of the assault on it, whether it is a settlement, a military post, a military vehicle or anything else. The target is filmed, and then [the video] is shown to a committee appointed by the General Staff of the Military Operations. After the target is approved, the martyrdom operation's perpetrator is trained. Then the operation is ready to go, after a group of experts approves the plan and determines the factors for its success or failure."

Shehadeh also said Hamas does not target "children, the elderly and places of worship."

"Similarly," he said, "we have not targeted schools, because we do not give orders to kill children. The same goes for hospitals, although this is easy for us, and attainable. We act according to the principles of Jihad to which we adhere."

The late Hamas leader told Islam Online that his organization is not "fighting the Jews because they are Jews, but because they occupy our land."

"We are not fighting them because of their religion but because they have usurped our land," he said. "If we kill a child, it is not intentional."

Israeli government and military officials said Wednesday that while the attack against Shehadeh was a planned operation, it was not the government's intention to target and kill Palestinian children. In response, Arab governments have called Israel's attack a war crime.

In the May interview, Shehadeh explained that attacks using automatic weapons cost the least – only the amount of the weapon, ammunition and "about 10 hand grenades" – while larger operations "cost much more and include transporting [the perpetrator] ... buying a car and bribing Jewish collaborators. …"

Hindering Hamas operations, Shehadeh said, was "the scarcity of good-quality weapons, such as anti-aircraft and long-range missiles." But he also blamed politics.

"Another significant obstacle is the haze obscuring the political position of the National [Palestinian] Authority" led by PA President Yasser Arafat, he said. "This causes confusion in the military wing [because] it does not set a [clear] position regarding the military operations."

Shehadeh said "bloodsucker arms dealers" have raised the prices of weapons most commonly used by Hamas. An American M-16 rifle, he said, now costs $5,000 apiece, with ammunition running $1.50 per round. Russian-designed AK-47s and other Kalashnikov models are cheaper – just $2,000 each – but ammunition is more expensive at $4 per round, he said.

"The military apparatus has managed to meet the challenge of weapons scarcities by collecting donations from people who love supporting the path of Jihad for the sake of Allah," he said. "Similarly, the movement has succeeded in manufacturing some of the intermediate weaponry, thus reducing costs."

Saudi Arabia has come under fire by Israel and the U.S. in recent months for its often generous support of the surviving families of suicide bombers. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has also offered payments to surviving families.

Indeed, support for the Palestinian cause is known to be widespread throughout the Mideast.

"...not 'fighting the Jews because they are Jews, but because they occupy our land.'"
"...someone who sacrifices his soul for the sake of Allah to bring happiness to the nation and to remove its torment and distress."

So it's Islamic to sacrifice someone's soul for land.

It's Islamic to commit suicide and murder in order to "bring happiness to the nation and to remove its torment and distress."

What kind of "god" would make such a bargain? What kind of "god" would reward such behavior?

Certainly not God. Certainly not The One True God. Certainly not the only God that exists.

What kind of "religion" would permit such as this?

Only Satanism.

"Second, [Hamas will] verify that the young man complies with his parents' wishes and is loved by his family, and that his martyrdom will not [adversely] affect family life

wasn't there one family who didn't know what their son was about to do? they said if they had known, they would have locked him up in his room to keep him from doing it?

"youths [who seek to] attain martyrdom show [mental] health and the awareness of Palestinian society."

I have to agree with him, the suicide killers show that the mental health of the Palestinian Society is pegged at the criminaly insane level and the awareness needle on the Moron-O-Meter is a bit lower than zero. The Palestinians are not even aware that their Egyptian Master is goading them to kill their own children for his own political goals, while his children live in a palace in Paris funded by their money.

Lemmings at the cliff of life, with Arafat standing safely to the side yelling "Jump, Jump"!

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