Fatah’s heroes: Saddam Hussein, Dalal Mughrabi and the rifle by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik. January 1st is the date Fatah celebrates as the anniversary of its first terror attack, which it calls “Launch Day.” Palestinian Media Watch has examined how Fatah used its Facebook page to mark its 48th anniversary.
The page glorifies violence and terror as acts of heroism, and depicts a world without Israel. The Facebook page is filled with pictures of automatic rifles and slogans venerating arms. In some pictures, young children are carrying rifles.
Other pictures show maps of “Palestine” that include the PA areas as well as all of Israel. Fatah’s page glorifies Saddam Hussein and memorializes terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history: a bus hijacking attack that killed 37 civilians.
In addition to being PA Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas is Chairman of Fatah as well.
As part of its celebrations, Fatah posted two pictures showing young children holding automatic rifles that are almost as large as the children. One picture has the words: “The 48th anniversary of the Launch of the Palestinian revolution”
“My mother gave birth to me to fight,
and Fatah gave me the gun.”
Another picture shows a young girl marching with a rifle, and Fatah’s Facebook administrator chose to caption it as follows:
For several days, the cover picture on Fatah’s Facebook profile showed a masked man holding an automatic rifle, and three Palestinian flags flying over the Temple Mount. The picture was titled “48 [years] since the Launch of Fatah.”
The name of the page is “the Palestinian National Liberation Movement – Fatah/ The Central Page.” The description says that the profile is administered by the Enlistment and Organization Commission of Fatah, with a link to the Commission’s website: www.fatehorg.ps
Saddam Hussein and Dalal Mughrabi as role models
The page administrator posted two pictures of Saddam Hussein. One shows him laughing with the following text below the picture:
In the second picture, Saddam Hussein is shown in uniform, holding a rifle, with the following text glorifying him:
Female terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who led the Coastal Road terror attack in 1978 in which terrorists hijacked a bus and murdered 37 civilians, is also glorified with her picture and the words:…”On this day in 1959 Martyr (Shahida) Dalal Mughrabi was born, hero of the ‘Martyr Kamal Adwan’ mission, bride of Jaffa and the gentle energizing force of Fatah.”
The picture itself is inscribed with the words: “All songs call to you, Dalal… the path to the homeland.”
Many pictures added by the page administrator show a map of “Palestine” that erases and replaces all of Israel:
In this picture, the Palestinian flag flies over the entire area of the state of Israel symbolizing political sovereignty. The letter “h” in the word “Fatah” is wrapped around the map of “Palestine” that includes Israel.
In the next picture, a map painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag can be seen on the right. The map includes not only Palestinian cities, but also Israeli cities like Safed, Acre, Tiberias, Haifa, Beit Shean, Nazareth, Jaffa, Ramle, Be’er Sheva, and Jerusalem. In the upper left corner, there is a picture of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. The next picture shows Arafat with Abu Jihad, one of the founders of Fatah who was responsible for many terrorist attacks, among them the Coastal Road attack that Dalal Mughrabi led.
The Fatah logo, which includes a grenade and crossed rifles over the map of “Palestine” that erases Israel, appears in the center of the picture, and the text reads:
The rifle is drawn in the word “Fatah” and is also depicted on the map:
Arafat waves a rifle next to a map of “Palestine,” which is part of the number 48.
The text above the picture says:
Fatah’s logo and below it:
The next picture shows Yasser Arafat, Abu Jihad and other senior Fatah officials with a map of “Palestine” in the background.
The text of the picture opens with a verse from the Quran lauding death in battle:
Fatah is the eternal revolution and Al-Asifa is the torch of the armed struggle… Fatah… a journey of sacrifice and giving.”
The next picture includes a rifle and a key next to the same map that includes all of Israel. The key symbolizes Palestinian claims of ownership to the land of the State of Israel and the claim of a “right” for residents of refugee camps to “return.”
The text accompanying a picture of a pen dripping blood says:
These were the most successful operations, and they taught the Mossad a lesson in military activity.”
Rifle bullets spell out the words “Fatah 48.” Next to the picture appear the words:
Another picture glorifies violence:
In the following picture, Fatah glorifies rocket launches against Israel. The caption reads:
The next image again has the verse from the Quran glorifying death in battle:
[Quran:] ‘Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah. Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting; and they have not altered in the least – Surah Al-Azhab, 23’ [Quran, Sura 33:23, Pickthall translation]
The Martyrs of the leaders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the Al-Aqsa Intifada”
Next to the picture, the page administrator mentions a number of facts about Fatah that present murderous terror attacks as gloriously heroic. Here are a few of them:
The Al-Aqsa Brigades were the first to successfully attack the Israeli Ministry of Defense. It was done by Martyrdom-seeker Ali Al-Julani.”
The first retaliation for the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was done by Martyrdom-seeker Fadi Al-Amudi of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.”
Note: This refers to a suicide bombing at the Erez crossing point in 2004 that killed an Israeli soldier and wounded three.
The first explosive belt Martyrdom-seeking operation in the history of the Palestinian revolution was carried out by the first Martyrdom-seeker at the battle of Karameh, Martyr Abd Al-Mutalleb Al-Dmeik, known as “Phosphorous”, one of the most outstanding activists of Fatah.”
Note: This refers to an attack on a bus carrying workers to the nuclear research facility in Dimona in 1988, when three people were killed.
The first mission at sea in the history of the Palestinian revolution was carried out by Fatah heroes under the command of the hero Dalal Mughrabi.”
Note: In 1978 female terrorist Dalal Mughrabi led the most deadly attack against Israel when she and other terrorists landed on the Israeli coast, hijacked a bus, and murdered 37 civilians, 12 of whom were children.
The first female Martyrdom-seeker to carry out a military operation in the Palestinian Intifada functioned under the command of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. It was carried out by Wafa Idris, who was the first girl Martyrdom-seeker of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.”
Note: Wafa Idris carried out a suicide-bombing in Jerusalem in 2002, and thus became the first female suicide terrorist of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. One was killed and 150 were wounded in her attack. Idris worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Ramallah. She crossed the check post into Israel wearing a Red Crescent uniform and carrying the bomb with her in the ambulance.
The first mission against an Israeli target outside the occupied or Arab territory was the Munich operation carried out by Fatah under the command of Martyr Commander Salah Khalaf Abu Iyad, one of the outstanding Fatah commanders. It was carried out to sustain a Palestinian presence and representation in international forums.”
Note: 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich by members of the Palestinian Black September organization.
The first to change the Al-Aqsa Intifada into a military escalation were Fatah fighters who escalated the sniper operations against settlers in the West Bank and fired at settlements in [the] Gaza [Strip]…”
The first Martyrdom-seeking operation in the Gaza Strip was carried out by Martyrdom-seeker Bahaa Al-Din Said, of the preventive security forces and a Fatah hero in the central district. This was a turning point in the struggle for Palestinian territory in the Gaza Strip.”
The first to launch a rocket from the Gaza Strip at the Zionist enemy were the heroes of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Commanders Jihad Al-Amarin and Majdi Al-Khatib, to be exact.”
The mission with the most casualties was Fatah’s. Martyrs Abd Al-Rahman and Samer Imad carried it out in January 2003. It killed 30 and wounded more than 200.”
Note: This refers to a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv’s central bus station that killed 23 people (not 30 as written).
This is not the first time that Fatah has glorified terrorists and terror attacks on Facebook. Palestinian Media Watch has shown that the Fatah Facebook page featured a picture of the eight terrorists who attacked the Savoy Hotel in 1975, and that the Lebanese Fatah branch’s Facebook page showed a picture of a woman dressing her son in a suicide belt.
Nor is it the first time that Fatah has glorified Dalal Mughrabi on its Facebook page. Palestinian Media Watch exposed a poem praising Dalal that appeared on the page.
I loved the struggle with passion,
from the eyes of the young woman
I loved Palestine,
from the rifle of the young woman
I wished for Martyrdom,
along with the young woman
Dalal, my mysterious young woman
My revolutionary Jihadi inspiration
I loved her but knew only her name
Dalal Mughrabi
The legend of Mughrabi grew
spread within me, unparalleled
like the trees, she became a young woman
I learned in prison that the earth drew back
before Dalal, the sea raged and could not bear
that a self-sacrificing [Dalal] Mughrabi would arise from it
[She] remained days at sea, Allah’s eye
guards and protects the rifle.”
