“The level of faith among a wide sector of the young believers instills in them the concept of Jihad, true Jihad in defense of the message, the homeland, the people, and the nation. They are committed even before they reach the fighting stage. They are committed to their cause and draw their belief in it from the mosque.” From MEMRI:
Al-Majd TV, a United Arab Emirates religious channel, hosted Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, and Faraj Shalhoub, an expert on Palestinian affairs, to discuss the recruitment and training of Palestinian suicide bombers. This episode was translated by the recently initiated MEMRI TV Monitor Project. The following are excerpts from the program, which can be viewed at www.memritv.org :(1)
Moderator: “How are the martyrdom bombers selected? How are they recruited and prepared mentally, and morally?”
Faraj Shalhoub: “I want to talk about recruiting, before I talk about the selection. The level of faith among a wide sector of the young believers instills in them the concept of Jihad, true Jihad in defense of the message, the homeland, the people, and the nation. They are committed even before they reach the fighting stage. They are committed to their cause and draw their belief in it from the mosque.
[…]
Faraj Shalhoub: “It also requires morale preparation and so, he spends some time in religious ritual and intensive spiritual preparation until he reaches a certain level of conviction that pushes him commit martyrdom, regardless of the fact that his mental readiness was high to begin with.”
Moderator: “Meaning, in the last stages before committing the martyrdom operation?”
Faraj Shalhoub: “This comes following his decision to commit martyrdom. The volunteers are those who initiate and accept upon themselves to commit a martyrdom operation. There is a widespread misconception, propagated by the Zionist enemy, that there are recruiters among the Palestinian fighters who look for martyrdom bombers. The opposite is true – the martyrdom bombers are the ones looking for the resistance factions in order to commit martyrdom operations.
“We are talking about hundreds of martyrdom bombers waiting in line to commit martyrdom operations. The factions’ inability to supply enough operations for all of them is the only obstacle preventing them all from committing martyrdom operations.”
Sami Abu Zuhri: “There are hundreds of female martyrdom bombers, who stream en masse and insist on participating in martyrdom operations. This is a unique phenomenon, reflecting the live spirit of Jihad among this people.
“This is our way of emphasizing… These are living examples of this people’s adherence to Jihad and resistance. We want to reassure our Arab and Islamic nation that there is no longer any danger for the path of resistance. …
Endnotes:
(1) Al-Majd TV (UAE), June 13, 2004. This is clip #117 and can be found at http://www.memritv.org/archives.asp?ACT=S9&P1=117.