As Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas sits in Moscow chatting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin about the sincere desire for peace he represents, the leading Fatah faction that he also represents has just finished marking the anniversary of the death of a “heroic Martyr” and “giant” who blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem, murdering 11 Israelis and wounding at least 50 others, on Jan. 29, 2004.
The 24-year-old suicide bomber, Ali Munir Yusuf Ja’ara of Bethlehem, was a member of the military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and was also a member of the official Palestinian Authority police force. The blast tore apart Egged Bus No. 19, turning it into a twisted wreck. The back half of the roof was blown into the air and every window was blown out.
The Bethlehem branch of Fatah praised the murderer and celebrated his killing of “11 Zionists” in a poster on its Facebook page, translated by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) media watchdog organization.
(The image shows terrorist Ali Ja’ara holding a machine gun. On the left side of the image is a picture of former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, and beneath it is the Fatah logo that includes a grenade, crossed rifles, and the PA map of “Palestine” that presents all of Israel as “Palestine” together with the PA areas. Below the logo are pictures of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. On the right side of the image is a picture of Nidal Al-Amoudi, a former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing. Below it is the logo of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which features crossed assault rifles over the Dome of the Rock. On the logo is written: “Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Palestine, Martyr Commander Nidal Al-Amoudi Brigade.” At the bottom of the image appear silhouettes of armed men.)
The texts posted on the Facebook page read as follows:
“In the name of All Merciful Allah: ‘Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment’ [Quran, Sura 9:111, Sahih International translation].
Great truth of God: Today is the anniversary of the death of heroic Martyr (Shahid) Ali Munir Yusuf Ja’ara
Ali Munir Yusuf Ja’ara, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah Movement, and the quiet police officer whose family is known for its history of Jihad and its affiliation with the Fatah Movement.
This giant, who rose up, shattered the enemy’s myth, crossed its separation fence, its fortifications, and its feeble Israeli Security Agency forces, got on bus number 19, and blew his body up in exactly the same neighborhood where arch-murderer [then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon lived. Martyrdom-seeker Ali Munir Ja’ara from the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem blew himself up inside a Zionist bus next to the home of the terrorist Sharon in occupied Jerusalem, which led to the death of 11 Zionists and the wounding of approximately 53 others.
The operation came in response to a massacre in the Al-Zeitouna neighborhood in Gaza (sic., a day before the suicide bombing Israeli forces came under fire and killed 8, at least 3 of them Islamic Jihad terrorists). Today we in the Bethlehem branch of the Fatah Movement send a blessing of honor and admiration to the soul of heroic Martyr Ali Munir Ja’ara on the anniversary of his death as a Martyr, and we vow to Almighty Allah that we will continue to be loyal to the blood of all of the heroic Martyrs. The revolution is until victory or Martyrdom.”
The branch expressed “admiration” for the murderer and vowed to “keep loyal to the Martyrs’ blood.” Moreover, it advocated seeking death fighting Israel, urging Palestinian Authority citizens to engage in “revolution… until victory or Martyrdom”:
“We in the Bethlehem branch of the Fatah Movement send a blessing of honor and admiration to the soul of heroic Martyr Ali Munir Ja’ara on the anniversary of his death as a Martyr, and we vow to Almighty Allah that we will continue to be loyal to the blood of all of the heroic Martyrs.
The revolution is until victory or Martyrdom.”
Abbas is scheduled to address the United Nations Security Council next week in New York City.