The new Palestinian unity government hosted a military funeral last week for a suicide bomber responsible for killing 15 innocent civilians, including two Americans.
The suicide attack took place at a Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem in 2001. Two United States citizens were killed: Malka Roth, a 15-year-old girl whose family was from New York, and Judith L. Greenbaum, 31 years old and pregnant, of New Jersey and California. Among the Americans severely wounded in the blast were David Danzig, 21, of Wynnewood, PA; Matthew P. Gordon, 25, of New York; Joanne (Chana) Nachenberg, 31; and Sara Shifra Nachenberg, 2.
The video of the funeral/parade, uncovered by Palestinian Media Watch, shows thousands marching in the streets celebrating their martyr.
The Palestinian Authority reporter covering the funeral said the terrorist “gave his soul for the struggle of a nation that strives for freedom.” He continued, “the flags of the political parties were raised in this national wedding [to the 72 virgins he will receive in heaven].”
The mayor of the parade’s host city said the event celebrating the suicide bomber’s actions showed an expression of “national unity” between the two newly unified governments.
An Hamas TV correspondent said of the suicide bomber and his parade, “Izz Al-Din Al-Masri ascended to Paradise in a Martyrdom-seeking operation (suicide terror attack) he carried out in the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, where he gave the Zionists a taste of humiliation after killing 19 Zionists and wounding dozens… The citizens expressed their pride in Izz Al-Din’s heroism, along with the thousands who gathered to accompany him on his final journey, and they did not forget all those who played a role in this operation.”
The terrorist’s mother had nothing but praise for her son’s actions: “I congratulate him: Congratulations, my son, on your Martyrdom, praise Allah.”
Malka Roth’s parents, who run the blog This Ongoing War, said of the Palestinian reaction to receiving Al-Masri’s body, “Stand by for more of the same as the Palestinian Authority, probably with its new business partner Hamas (who long ago claimed al-Masri as one of its heroes), prepares to celebrate the life and death of the human bomb who murdered 15 innocents. In fact, it’s begun.”
Hamas, the internationally designated terrorist group that is now part of the Palestinian unity government, claimed responsibility for the 2001 attack.
The Sbarro suicide bombing took place during a coordinated campaign of Palestinian terrorist attacks known as the Second Intifada. The series of offensive measures was attributed to the incitement of former PLO president Yasser Arafat.
Israel released the remains of Izz Al-Din Al-Masri to the Palestinian government on April 29, 2014.
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