Hamas mother's glad sacrifice

GAZA - With a smile on her face and an assault rifle in her hand, Naima al-Abed bade farewell to her son before he joined a group of Palestinian gunmen out to ambush Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

In a chilling videotape filmed before Mahmoud al-Abed's mission on behalf of the militant Islamic group Hamas, mother and son sat side by side in plastic chairs, holding hands and exchanging smiles as they spoke of his likely death.

Shortly afterwards, Mahmoud and his comrades clashed with Israeli soldiers near the Jewish settlement of Dugit. They killed two soldiers before Mahmoud was shot dead.

"I am not losing you because you are going to paradise," al-Abed said to her 23-year-old son in the tape.

"Our message to the Israeli occupiers and killers is that this is our land ... and our sons that we love are no more dear to us than our land. Their blood will redeem it," said al-Abed, who has four other sons and five daughters.

Militant groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and an armed offshoot of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction regularly distribute videotapes of Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen after they have carried out attacks in the 20-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

But appearances by family members in the footage are rare. Often relatives say they had little or no inkling of the bomber's plans, but many express admiration after the assault, buoyed by a society that views the attackers as martyrs.

Israel says the popularity of Palestinian suicide bombers and gunmen is the product of local media incitement against it and cash compensation of up to US$25,000 ($51,884) paid to their families, many of them poverty-stricken, by Islamic charities and Iraq.

Hamas and other groups say the attackers are their most effective weapons against Israel's ultramodern Army and recruits are driven by their desperation under occupation.

At least 1398 Palestinians, including suicide attackers, and 511 Israelis have been killed since the start of the uprising after peace talks froze.

Mahmoud appeared calm in the video. Dressed in olive camouflage fatigues and brandishing an assault rifle, he read a statement describing his mission, then sat beside his mother.

"I am going on a very important operation and God will support me, as well as my mother and father, because we are defending our rights," he said.

Later, he rose and kissed his mother on her head, which was draped in a white headscarf. He placed his green militant's headband on her forehead and handed her a rifle. The two stood, holding hands and clutching rifles, for a final shot together.

After his death, Naima al-Abed was still smiling and wearing the headband her son gave her as she greeted fellow mourners at home in Gaza City's ramshackle Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, a stronghold of Islamic militant groups.

Thousands of mourners and Hamas militants in black masks thronged the streets of the neighbourhood for Mahmoud's funeral, where loudspeakers blared music more reminiscent of a wedding than a burial.

"I saw my son the day before yesterday and sat with him for hours," said al-Abed, surrounded by 50 women, some of whom had also lost sons in the uprising.

"I told him - don't tremble in front of our enemy, don't waste your bullets. My message to Israeli mothers is don't send your sons to their deaths for a losing battle."

- REUTERS

Feature: Middle East

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