[VIDEOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

“I brought them up to be martyrs. To become martyrs for the name of Allah. There wasn’t a definite time in which they told me that they wanted to become martyrs. I instilled this in them and they followed it… and the ones who just started – they are going to continue.”

– Umm Nidal (Mariam Farhat) in interview with National Geographic, 2009

Mariam Farhat, a former member of parliament for Hamas in Gaza, raised each of her six sons to commit terror attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. She hoped that each of them would die in the process – that each of them would become a ‘martyr’. Now, her young grandchildren are propagating the same message on Hamas TV.

In March 2002, Farhat’s 17-year-old son Muhammad entered an Israeli community, opened fire on school children and threw hand grenades at their school. He killed five students and wounded 23 others. When Farhat heard that her son was dead, she shouted in joy and handed out boxes of halva and chocolates to well-wishers. In a video released after the attack, Farhat stands next to Mohammad as he is about to depart on his suicide mission. “How do I feel, as I promise my son paradise?” she asks rhetorically. “By Allah, today is the best day of my life.”

Another son, Rawad, was killed when an IDF strike hit his car, in which he was carrying a Kassam rocket. Farhat’s eldest son, Nidal, manufactured rockets for Hamas – rockets that were later used to attack Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Farhat later become known as Umm Nidal – mother of Nidal. After Nidal was killed by Israeli security forces, Farhat told his 4-year-old son, Imad, that he would be reunited with his father. “You will be a martyr one day,” Farhat told him, “and then you will go and see your dad.” In 2009, she told National Geographic that she was pushing her other children to become ‘martyrs’:

Farhat passed away earlier this year, but she succeeded in passing on her message of hate to the next generation. A month after her death, Hamas’ Al Aqsa TV aired a children’s television program featuring a number of her grandchildren. When the child presenter of the show asks Nidal’s daughter whether she is proud of her father for producing missiles, her response is a simple “yes”. “Would you like to follow in his footsteps?” the presenter asks. “Yes,” she replies again.

Later in the episode, Farhat’s grandchildren join together in song: “Jihad bestows pride and glory upon you when you become a martyrdom-seeker,” they sing. “Oh explosive device of glory – with her blood she created freedom.”

At the end of the show, the presenter praises Farhat. “She raised her children from an early age on love of martyrdom for the sake of Allah, as well as on love of the homeland and its defense. We should learn from them. We should wage Jihad and persevere, in order to liberate this land.”

“The only reason he loved life was Jihad”

In an interview with London-based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published in 2002, Farhat explained the process of raising a child to become a suicide bomber. “Because I love my son, I encouraged him to die a martyr’s death for the sake of Allah,” she said. “This is the atmosphere in which the love of martyrdom developed in Muhammad’s soul. I, as a mother, naturally encouraged the love of Jihad in the soul of Muhammad and in the souls of all my sons, all of whom belong to the Al-Kassam Brigades.”

“Muhammad was willing to carry out any martyrdom operation… He swore to me that the only reason he loved life was Jihad,” she continued. “He would brandish his weapon and tell me: ‘Mom, this is my bride.’ He loved his gun so much.”

Farhat’s capacity for sacrificing her children and sending them to their deaths knew no bounds. “I wish I had 100 boys like Mohammad,” she said. “I’d sacrifice them for the sake of Allah.” Her grandchildren appear to have received that message loud and clear – and now, they’ve shared it with the tens of thousands of Gazan children who watch Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV.

See the videos:

“Son’s death was “best day of my life,” says Palestinian mother”

“Mother of a Martyr”

“Young Relatives of Deceased Hamas MP Umm Nidal, Wish to Follow in Her Footsteps”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)