During this year, amid the appalling Russian offensive against Ukraine and the political chaos of the UK, there has been little in our news regarding Israel and the Palestinians – indeed, the BBC’s senior reporters on the Middle East, Jeremy Bowen and Orla Guerin have been deployed to Ukraine. Meanwhile, however, Islamist terror continues to stalk Israel.
On October 8th Uday al-Tamimi shot and killed a female officer and injured an Israeli security guard at the Shuafat checkpoint north of Jerusalem. He escaped and later went on to shoot and injure an Israeli security guard east of Jerusalem (where some of the staff of the Garden Tomb live). Other guards on site shot and killed him. A Jenin-based spokesman for the Palestinian ruling party, Fatah, called it “an act of heroism which gained approval and support from members of the Palestinian people.”
On October 16th, during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), Yonatan Nizari, in Beit El (Bethel), was hit by terrorist fire from a distance of about 300m. Nizari described his family’s survival as “a definite miracle”.
Nizari described his family’s survival as “a definite miracle”.
On October 29th a Palestinian opened fire on an army checkpoint at the entrance to Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, hitting a nearby group of Israelis outside a Palestinian convenience store. 60-year-old Ronen Hanania succumbed to his injuries in a Jerusalem Medical Centre. Four other people were injured, one of them being Hanania’s son. The terrorist was shot and killed by a civilian guard. On the positive side, Hanania said that he was aided by local Palestinians: “Arabs bandaged my hand there. One took my sweater and put a tourniquet on me.” However, the tragedy continued, as the terrorist opened fire once again, shooting one of the paramedics.
The following week, on the morning of Thursday, November 3rd, at least three police officers were wounded in a Palestinian stabbing attack at the Iron Gate entrance to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter. The terrorist was later identified as a 20-year-old Arab resident of north-eastern Jerusalem.
Campaign of incitement
Behind these tragedies lies an unashamed Palestinian campaign of incitement. Even during the current wave of Palestinian attacks, a Fatah official has openly explained that Abbas’ movement’s “philosophy” is to “educate” its members to become terrorist murderers.
Even during the current wave of Palestinian attacks, a Fatah official has openly explained that Abbas’ movement’s “philosophy” is to “educate” its members to become terrorist murderers.
As an example of a Fatah role model, a member of its Revolutionary Council, Muhammad Al-Lahham, has highlighted Ra’ad Hazem, who murdered three when he opened fire on a crowded bar on Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv on April 7, 2022. Al-Lahham stressed that the murderer was “a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a Fatah member,” and underlined that the terrorist didn’t “wait for a decision by someone” to order him to attack because “The Palestinian national Fatah education that Fatah educated him on is what motivated him to carry out this operation.”
Celebrating martyrs
It’s vitally important for us to recognise the powerful Islamist motivation, signalled by the frequent ‘martyr’ theme – a clear sign of the spiritual dimension of the conflict. Regarding Uday Al-Tamimi, the first example cited above, his picture, was posted on the Facebook page of the Jerusalem Branch of the Fatah Movement. The accompanying text reads, “The National and Islamic Forces in the district of Jerusalem, Palestine’s eternal capital, eulogize heroic commander Martyr Uday Al-Tamimi, who ascended to Heaven as a Martyr while confronting the occupation soldiers and settler herds crouching on our land and our capital, who are harming its history and its holy sites, … and desecrating our holy sites and our villages…”.
Ahlam al-Tamimi, who was a participant in the August 2001 suicide bomb attack at the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem that killed 15 people and injured 122, when interviewed in 2021, was asked whether, if she could go back in time, she would carry out such an attack. “Of course. I do not regret what happened. Absolutely not. This is the path. I dedicated myself to Jihad for the sake of Allah, and Allah granted me success. You know how many casualties there were. This was made possible by Allah. …. I would do it again today, and in the same manner.” … “the martyrdom-seekers’ unit in Hamas managed to train those martyrdom-seekers in the spiritual aspect … severing any other connection to this material world? Only then are you worthy of being in the martyrdom-seekers’ unit, and sacrificing yourself for the sake of Allah.”
It’s vitally important for us to recognise the powerful Islamist motivation, signalled by the frequent ‘martyr’ theme – a clear sign of the spiritual dimension of the conflict.
The following appeared on the YouTube channel of Palestinian singer Abdallah SaaidehAbdallah Saaideh, from October 12th 2020, and by December 16th had attracted more than 2 million viewers:
“Target identified and the machine gun is ready
Prepare the shrouds, bring them to the funerals
And ask the battlefield about the people of miracles.
The time has come for a fierce war
When we enter it, we will teach them a lesson…
Declare readiness with the sound of rifles
… O my people of the tents, in war they are a troop of soldiers…"
Worse, On February 8th this year the official TV channel of the Palestinian Authority itself broadcast these songs:
“We will fill the world with revolution
The Martyrs are a people of their own…
In one place – take a million
We will fill the Arab cities
With revolutions, sun, and freedom
We will wake the sleeping rifle…
We are the revolution on every path…
The blood of the Martyrs is in the anemones…
We will water your plains and your hills
With freedom we will light your fire.”
Support for such actions also comes from Arab states such as Qatar, whence Al-Jazeera presenter Ahmad Mansour praised one of the above recent terrorists.
Support for such actions also comes from Arab states such as Qatar, whence Al-Jazeera presenter Ahmad Mansour praised one of the above recent terrorists, tweeting: “After 10 days in which the occupation army, with all its capabilities, could not capture him, the lion Uday Al-Tamimi emerged from his den, confronting the occupation with the utmost heroism. He continued to fight, attacking without fleeing - rare heroism. The Israelis released video of this to prove that they had killed him, but this only underlined and lionized his heroism, which will be forever immortalized in history.”
Pray for the Palestinian people
Such is the ongoing saga of the dominant element of Palestinian activism, fuelled as it is by Islamist invective – incitement that is tragically effective. How important it for us to be watchful and prayerful, not only for the peace of Jerusalem, but also for the spiritual liberation of Palestinian people, who are being educated to kill themselves for revolution and revenge.
