An April 7, 2022 article in the Qatari daily Al-Sharq glorifies Latifa Abu Hmeid, the mother of six Fatah and Hamas terrorists who were involved in deadly suicide and shooting attacks against Israelis.[1] In the article Abu Hmeid praises her sons and the path of terror they chose to follow, and says, for example, that "Palestine will only be liberated through resistance and defiance, for Palestine and Jerusalem are dear [to us] and we will redeem them with our souls."
As stated, Abu Hmeid's six sons were involved in terror activity. One of them, 'Abd Al-Mun'im, was active in the Hamas military wing, the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, and was killed by the Israeli armed forces. He assisted in the murder of three Israelis in the West Bank in 1990, and in the murder of another Israeli in 1994. Five other sons are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons: Nasser, one of the founders of Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, took an active part in the lynching of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah in October 2000. He was convicted of the murder of seven Israelis and the attempted murder of 12 others. Sharif was active in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and supplied weapons and assistance for the perpetration of terror attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in February and March 2002. Muhammad and Nasr, also active in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, were convicted of planning suicide attacks. The sixth son, Islam, is serving a life sentence for killing an Israeli soldier by dropping a marble slab on him from a building at the Al-'Am'ari refugee camp in May 2018. In 2004-2009 he served time for involvement in Hamas shooting attacks.
The article in the Qatari daily Al-Sharq
The following are translated excerpts from the article:[2]
"When the 75-year-old Latifa Abu Hmeid sits down to her iftar meal [the meal to break the daily Ramadan fast], she places the pictures of her five sons around her, on five chairs. She hears the mu'azin calling 'Allah akbar,' and echoes him, saying: 'Allah is greater than the Zionists, and greater than the occupation'...
"Latifa is a Palestinian who lives in the Al-'Am'ari refugee camp, near Al-Bireh in the Ramallah [area] in the occupied West Bank, and she is the mother of one martyr and five prisoners serving life sentences [in Israeli prisons]. The occupation has demolished her home five times, most recently in 2019.[3] She has been patiently bearing the pain of missing [her sons] for almost 35 years – so much so that she has been dubbed the Oak Tree of Palestine. She says: 'I am strong. Let them demolish [the house]; we will rebuild. We will fight the occupation until it disappears'…
"She adds: 'I hope and I am convinced that Allah will liberate them. The inconceivable sentences imposed [on them] by the occupation are just numbers. As time goes by, I grow more and more confident in Allah's salvation, not in the numbers of the occupation.'
"This Oak of Palestine explains that her eldest son Nasser was given seven life sentences plus 50 years… [Another son,] Nasr, was given five life sentences; Sharif was given four and Muhammad was given four plus 30 years. The heroic martyr 'Abd Al-Mun'im Abu Hmeid, dubbed 'the Hunter of Shabak [officers],'[4] was killed by a special unit of the Israeli [security forces] after a hunt that lasted several months in 1994…
"Despite all the pain suffered by Abu Hmeid, the mother of the prisoners and the martyr, she is proud of them and of their struggle against the occupation, and stresses: 'I support them, and I never opposed their struggle and resistance if that was the path they chose. The struggle brings honor to every Palestinian, and Palestine will only be liberated through resistance and defiance, for Palestine and Jerusalem are dear [to us] and we will redeem them with our souls."
[1] Abu Hmeid has been dubbed "The Khansa of Palestine," after the early Islamic poet Al-Khansa Bint 'Amr, who is called "the Mother of the Martyrs" because when her four sons died in the battle of Al-Qadisiyya (637) she did not mourn them but thanked Allah for honoring her with their deaths.
[2] Al-Sharq (Qatar), April 7, 2022.
[3] Abu Heid's house was demolished several times due to her sons' involvement in terror attacks.
[4] Shabak is the Hebrew acronym for Israel's internal security service, the Israel Security Agency.
