[BruceZ]

Here's the text of the first memo, in case you can't open the pdf.

APRIL 9, 2002
The Support Network of Palestinian Suicide Bombers
“Those governments, like Iraq, that reward parents for the sacrifice of their children are guilty of soliciting
murder of the worst kind. I expect better leadership, and I expect results….They're not martyrs. They're
murderers. And they undermine the cause of the Palestinian people.”
President Bush, April 4, 2002
Israel's current military operation is aimed at uprooting the terrorist infrastructure operating from
Palestinian territory and reducing the Palestinians' ability to launch suicide attacks against Israelis.
Palestinian leaders, including Yasir Arafat, have been encouraging the use of suicide bombings against
Israeli civilians. The Palestinian Authority and Arab states have been providing financial incentives in
support of these and other terrorist attacks. Religious leaders and educational materials promote acts of
"martyrdom" against Israelis.
Palestinian Leadership Continuously Calls for Suicide Bombers
· “We are all potential martyrs, the whole Palestinian people.” Yasir Arafat said. Then, referring to the
Netanya suicide bomber, that killed 27 Israelis at a Passover Seder, Arafat added, “Oh God, give me
martyrdom like this.” (The Washington Post, March 30, 2002)
· It would be unfair to deprive a suicide bomber of the title of shahid, [a martyr who fell in the process of
fulfilling a religious command, the “Jihad” or “Holy war”] said Palestinian information minister Yaser
Abed Rabbo. (The New York Times, April 4, 2002)
· Friday mosque sermons broadcast on PA controlled TV have called on worshipers to arm themselves or
their children with explosives to pursue holy war against the Jews. (The New York Times, Apr. 2, 2002)
“They think that they scare our people. We tell them: in as much as you love life, the Muslim loves death
and martyrdom. There is a great difference between he who loves the hereafter and he who loves this
world. The Muslim loves death and [strives for] martyrdom. He does not fear the oppression of the
arrogant or the weapons of the blood-letters. The blessed and sacred soil of Palestine has vomited all the
invaders and all the colonialists throughout history and it will soon vomit, with Allah’s help, the [present]
occupiers.” --July 8, 2001, Sheikh ‘Ikrimeh Sabri, the highest-ranking cleric in the PA, in the Al-Aqsa
Mosque in Jerusalem.
PAGE TWO
Financial Incentives to Choose “Martyrdom”
· On March 28, leaders of the Arab League met for a summit in Beirut and pledged $330 million over six
months to support the Palestinian Authority, plus an additional $150 million to support the Palestinian
“uprising.” (The Washington Post, March 29, 2002)
· Iraq’s Saddam Hussein increased his financial pledge to Palestinian families of suicide bombers from
$10,000 to $25,000. (Associated Press, April 3, 2002)
· A quasi-governmental committee in Saudi Arabia last year pledged $5,333 to “each family that has
suffered from martyrdom.” (The Washington Post, April 9, 2002)
· The Israeli military finds a “terror invoice” signed by Chairman Yasir Arafat authorizing payment for
ceremonies honoring suicide bombers, as well as money to support families of the suicide bombers. (The
Washington Post, April 3, 2002; MSNBC, April 3, 2002)
Social Incentives to Choose “Martyrdom”
· Far from condemning the Palestinian suicide bombers, the Arab League summit’s final communiqué
praised Palestinian suicide bombers: “We address a greeting of pride and honor to the … valiant intifada,”
it said. “We greet with honor and pride the valiant martyrs of the intifada.” (The Washington Post, March
29, 20020)
· The suicide bomber improves his or her social status after death as well as that of his or her family. The
father of the suicide bomber who killed 21 Israeli teenagers at a Tel-Aviv discothèque said, “I am very
happy and proud of what my son did and, frankly, am a bit jealous.… I wish I had done it myself.” (The
Jerusalem Post, Aug. 15, 2001)
· Palestinian students at al-Najah University in the city of Nablus glorified suicide bombings in an
exhibition entitled The Sbarro Cafe Exhibition, celebrating the August 9, 2001, suicide bombing of the
Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, which killed 15 people and wounded dozens more. (Associated
Press, Sept. 23, 2001)
· Suicide bombers also become heroic figures once they have committed attacks. Their names and
faces appear on posters and in graffiti in the streets of major Palestinian cities. Calendars are
illustrated with the "martyr of the month," and paintings glorify the dead bombers in Paradise. A
recent invoice, found in Arafat’s headquarters, makes it apparent that in the case of the al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigade, the PA itself pays for this publicity. This publicity not only rewards suicide
bombers but it also encourages other men and women to carry out more attacks.
Children Learn to Laud Palestinian Suicide Bombers
· On the Children’s Club (a Sesame Street-like children's program broadcast on PA-controlled TV), a
young boy sings: “When I wander into Jerusalem, I will become a suicide bomber.” (The Jerusalem Post,
Aug. 15, 2001)
· Four summer camps are currently training eight to 12-year-olds for suicide bombings. (The Jerusalem
Post, Aug. 15, 2001)