Russian version
Paradise lost
- Информация о материале
- Автор: Michael Goodwin
Jewish World Review
Nov. 28, 2006 / 7 Kislev, 5767
It was only a matter of time. Depraved Palestinians first sent young
adult men wearing explosives to blow themselves up on Israeli buses and
in pizza parlors. Then came the phenomenon of young women doing the same.
Now a grandmother has chosen this fiendish way of death.
Fatma Omar An-Najar was a mother of nine and grandmother of more than
30. Her suicide in the Gaza Strip lightly injured three Israeli soldiers,
so she failed to take "infidels" with her. But that is of little comfort.
The use of a grandmother means more horror is coming.
With teenagers as young as 16 already blowing themselves up, children
are next in line to become "martyrs."
Terror masterminds are brainwashing a new generation in Muslim countries.
Everything from animated cartoons to educational programs to textbooks
urge young people to kill and die for Islam. Clerics preach that the fastest
way to get to Paradise is Shahada, or to die for Allah. Those who do are
called shahids and children as young as 8 are drinking this murderous Kool-Aid.
Newspapers, television, the Internet and even music videos routinely
extol the virtues of a violent death. A show on Palestinian TV involving
two 11-year-old girls offers a chilling example. According to a transcript
and video clip provided by an Israeli-based group called Palestinian Media
Watch, the show, which first aired in 2002, features an Interviewer talking
with the bright, normal-looking girls.
Interviewer: You described Shahada as something beautiful. Do you think
it is beautiful?
Walla: Shahada is a very beautiful thing. Everyone yearns for Shahada.
What could be better than going to Paradise?
Interviewer: What is better, peace and full rights for the Palestinian
people or Shahada?
Walla: Shahada. I will achieve my rights after becoming a shahid. We
won't stay children forever.
Interviewer: Okay, Yussra, would you agree with that?
Yussra: Of course. It is a good [sweet] thing. We don't want this world,
we want the afterlife. We benefit not from this life but from the afterlife
....
Interviewer: Do you actually love death?
Yussra: Death is not Shahada.
Interviewer: No, I mean the absence after death, the physical absence,
do you love death?
Yussra: No child loves death. The children of Palestine adopted the
concept that this is Shahada. They believe that Shahada is very good. Every
Palestinian child, say someone aged 12, says, O Lord, I would like to become
a shahid.
The spread of the culture of suicide — "martyrdom" to adherents — is
the most disturbing trend in the Muslim world. Starting with Hezbollah
in Lebanon in the early 1980s, it has been adopted as a legitimate weapon
by both Sunnis and Shiites in numerous nations, especially Iraq.
Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, recently gave a
lecture at Manhattan College to document how a celebration of suicide bombers
has taken root among Palestinians in everyday life. He told of how one
soccer league for 14-year-olds named its teams after suicide bombers. Wafa
Idris, the first female suicide bomber, became a heroine to many Palestinians
after she blew herself up and killed an 81-year-old Israeli man and wounded
100 others four years ago.
Marcus, citing a textbook for eighth-graders that says "your enemies
seek life and you seek death," called this sewer of propaganda "an impediment
to peace."
That's an understatement. For years, conservative Israeli politicians
were criticized when they claimed that "we don't have a partner for peace."
When grandmothers strap explosives to themselves, and when children are
taught to follow, the world must finally understand what they, and we,
are up against.
Michael Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York
Daily News. Comment by clicking here.
© 2006 NY Daily News Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services
Russian version
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a