Monday, January 19, 2004

Hamas, the equal opportunity employer

Fearful of the competition from Islamic Jihad, Tanzim, Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, PFLP and other terrorist organizations, Hamas has decided to give women an opportunity as suicide bombers. Previously Hamas suicide bombers were all men, and when women tried to apply for a suicide bomber position Hamas referred them to Islamic Jihad or Tanzim.

From a Haaretz article :

"Hamas has now revised this position, and some of the organization's leaders condone the use of women in terror strikes, particularly in situations where a woman can carry out the assignment more easily (since she is likely to cause less suspicion at crossing points), and when the woman has transgressed moral norms. In such cases, a woman's "sacrifice" atones for the "stain" she has caused to her family for violating moral codes.

Reem Raiyshi, the woman who blew herself up last week at the Erez crossing, was the married mother of two. Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday that Raiyshi was compelled to perpetrate the terror strike to atone for having betrayed her husband. Relying on IDF sources, this report claimed that Raiyshi's husband, a Hamas operative, knew about his wife's plan in advance, and even encouraged her to carry it out. "

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