On August 9, 2022, Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, a terrorist who was wanted for several shooting attacks in the West Bank, was killed by the Israeli security forces. Before his death, Al-Nabulsi, who was apparently active in the military wings of both Fatah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), recorded a message in which he declared he was about to be martyred and called on the young men of Palestine not to put down their guns. Al-Nabulsi's parents said they were proud of his martyrdom, and his father, 'Alaa 'Izzat Al-Nabulsi, a former officer in the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, said at his funeral that "Ibrahim was the one who pursued the occupation, not the other way around. He was serious about attaining martyrdom and he in fact attained it."[1] Photographs of his mother, Huda Al-Nabulsi, at the funeral showed her waving his rifle and smiling as she carried his bier. She said that her son had sacrificed his life for Palestine and Al-Aqsa and encouraged others to follow in his footsteps.[2]
Huda Al-Nabulsi at her son's funeral (Source: Alsiasi.com, August 12, 2022; palinfo.net, August 9, 2022).
The mother's statements in praise of her son's martyrdom and her demeanor at the funeral sparked admiring responses in the Palestinian and Arab media, which glorified her, as well as other mothers who had expressed joy over their sons' death, presenting them as exemplary models of Palestinian motherhood.
This report reviews some of the statements made by Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi's mother after his death, and the praise for her in the Arab and Palestinian media.
Huda Al-Nabulsi: We Will Never Stop Our Jihad; I Have Given My Free Son, Ibrahim, To Palestine
At her son's funeral, Huda Al-Nabulsi said: "They shot Ibrahim, but there are 100 [others] like him. They are all my sons. Praise Allah, Ibrahim has gone to his beloved Prophet Muhammad. Praise Allah, Ibrahim has triumphed. I have given my free [son] Ibrahim to Palestine, to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to Allah, the One and Only." The funeral goers responded with "O mother of the martyr, rejoice! We wish our mothers were in your place."[3]
Huda Al-Nabulsi made similar remarks to the Al-Jazeera channel: "We will never stop our jihad. The Al-Aqsa Mosque will return to us, and the place of Muhammad's ascension to heaven will return to us… Although Ibrahim has fallen as a martyr, there are 100,000 others like him, who will follow him on the path of jihad, Allah willing. Allah bless him for his last message. There is no doubt that people love him and will carry out his legacy [by continuing the jihad]. The Jews are the worst liars and hypocrites in history, while my son is a martyr. They think they killed him, but he is alive with his Lord. [As stated in Qur'an 3:169, the martyrs] 'are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and they receive good tidings about those [to be martyred] after them who have not yet joined them - that there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.'"
Below is a MEMRI TV clip of Huda Al-Nabulsi's statements to Al-Jazeera:
Front-Page Article In Palestinian Authority Daily: Umm Ibrahim Is A Paragon Of Palestinian Motherhood
On August 11, 2022 the Palestinian Authority (PA) daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida devoted its front-page article to Umm Ibrahim (Huda Al-Nabulsi) and to Umm Naif, the mother of Naif Abu Sharah, a commander of Fatah's military wing in Nablus who was responsible for many attacks within Israel during the Second Intifada and was killed by the Israeli forces in 2004. Titled "From Umm Naif to Umm Ibrahim: A Story of Sacred [Mother's] Milk," the article stated: "The legend of heroism in Nablus has been renewed. In 2004 the heroic fighter Naif Abu Sharah (Abu Fathi) was martyred in an assassination carried out by the occupation [forces] in the Old City of Nablus. And 18 years later, on Tuesday [August 9, 2022], this heroism was renewed by another Abu Fathi, namely the heroic martyr Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi. The demonstrations of heroism, in two [different] periods, are not confined to the two martyrs. They drew [their courage] from their persevering mothers, who redeemed the soil of the homeland with their sons…
"The mother of the martyr Naif Abu Sharah said to Al-Hayat Al-Jadida [about Huda Al-Nabulsi]: 'Umm Ibrahim is an example of a persevering mother, and Ibrahim is a true hero. When I saw her yesterday carrying the gun at the funeral, I longed to be at her side. She wept for Ibrahim as I wept for my son Naif. But, praise Allah, I came out of [this experience] it a very persevering mother. Oh Lord of the Worlds, grant perseverance to [Huda] and to every other Palestinian mother'…
"Umm Naif conveyed the following message to the mother of the martyr Al-Nabulsi: 'Hold your head high for Ibrahim. I congratulate you on his martyrdom. My son Naif was martyred 18 years ago, but I feel as though it was yesterday… Naif is a great legend. He died a martyr and I am pleased with him. Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi is like him and greatly resembles him. He too had a strong personality…'"[4]
The article on the front page of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
Fatah Official: Umm Ibrahim Is The Most Beautiful Of Mothers
The spokesman of Fatah's Recruitment and Organization Commission, Mounir Al-Jaghoub, praised Huda Al-Nabulsi in a series of tweets. In the first tweet, he shared the photos of her smiling and waving her son's gun at the funeral, and commented: "'Those who endure patiently will be given their reward without limit' [Quran 39:10]. Some mothers are pleased with their son's success [in life] or that he completed his studies. Some are pleased that their son has found a job and employment or has taken a wife. And then there is Umm Ibrahim, the tall mountain of Nablus [who rejoiced at her son's martyrdom]."[5]
Mounir Al-Jegou's tweet
In another tweet, Al-Jaghoub quoted a song by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife, "The Most Beautiful of Mothers," which glorifies the mothers of martyrs. He wrote: "As she attended his funeral, the mother of the martyr Ibrahim [Al-Nabulsi] was the most beautiful of mothers. She waited for her son… and he returned a martyr. 'She wept two tears and a flower, and did not isolate herself in mourning clothes'…"[6] In a third tweet he shared photos of Huda Al-Nabulsi and of the mother of Yasser Al-Hamdouni, a terrorist who murdered an Israeli in Jenin in 2003 and died of a heart attack in prison, and wrote: "The Khansaas[7] of Palestine – there are no words to describe them."[8]
Palestinian Columnist: Umm Ibrahim Represents The Entire Palestinian People And Expresses Its Aspirations
Praise for Huda Al-Nabulsi was also voiced in articles in the Palestinian press. Talal 'Okal, a columnist for the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, wrote under the title "Umm Ibrahim – The Best Representative of the Palestinian Narrative": "When the mother of the martyr Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi stood up to present her claims and statements to the world, she represented the entire Palestinian people and expressed its desires and aspirations. The smile seen on the face of the martyr's mother, and her loud cries of joy, drowned out the sound of the deadly Israeli bullets and missiles. She took the media and political arena by storm… and presented the Palestinian people with a narrative more glorious, convincing and effective than any political speech by any leader or faction. Where else has the world seen a mother like the Palestinian mother, who smiles has she carries the body of her son, a beautiful young boy, thus conveying a powerful message to hundreds and millions of young Palestinians all over the world? Her speech was more eloquent and powerful [than any other], and had a greater impact on the entire Palestinian people and later on the international community…
"The message, the narrative and the statements of Umm Ibrahim were and continue to be more powerful, significant and effective than the closed meeting convened on Monday [August 8] by the [UN] Security Council [to discuss the Middle East and the Palestinian issue], and more effective than the monthly meetings that the Security Council holds on the situation in Palestine, which always encounter a veto by America and sometimes also by Britain, and if not by them, then by other countries that guarantee Israel's security…"[9]
The August 11 editorial of the Palestinian daily Al-Quds likewise referred to Huda Al-Nabulsi, calling her "an exemplary model of a persevering Palestinian woman who makes sacrifices in the struggle against the occupation that pursues the young people in order to murder them…" The editorial added that "Umm Ibrahim's cries of joy represent the position of all the persevering Palestinian mothers, and are in honor of every martyr!"[10]
Pro-Hamas Journalist: We Love Our Children, But Love Palestine More
In an August 14 article in the London-based Qatari daily Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, Gazan journalist and political analyst Faiz Abu Shamala likewise praised Huda Al-Nabulsi and other parents who send their children to the battlefield in joy, such as Hamas activist Nizar Rayan, who helped his son put on an explosive belt and sent him to carry out a suicide bombing in an Israeli settlement in 2001. Abu Shamala ended the article by saying: "Some Zionist published the photo of Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi's mother carrying her son's bier [at the funeral], and commented: 'When I see this mother, who utters cries of joy over her son's death instead of wailing and weeping, I remember the remark of Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, who said, "We will have peace with the Arabs only when they love their children more than they hate us."' As the father of a martyr, I [Abu Shamala] say to the Zionists: We love our children very much. We weep when we lose them and shudder as we say their names – but we love our homeland Palestine [even] more."[11]
Palestinian Journalist In Qatari Daily: We Prepare Our Sons For Martyrdom; Bless The Mother Of The Martyr
Palestinian journalist Samir Al-Barghouti wrote in his August 11 column in the Qatari daily Al-Watan: "We prepare our sons for martyrdom. But it was Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi [himself] who announced at the age of 19 that he would become a martyr. His mother come forth bearing his machine gun, and said [to the young Palestinians]: 'You are all Ibrahim,' and the young Palestinians answered by crying out that they yearned for martyrdom, [saying], 'O mother of the martyr, rejoice! We wish our mothers were in your place.' Bless you, daughter of Palestine, Umm Ibrahim, for giving birth to him so he could become a martyr. He wrote his martyrdom with his own hands, seeing the procession of martyrs who preceded him on the path to eternal Paradise, and the procession of those awaiting martyrdom…"[12]
[1] Alaraby.co.uk, August 9, 2022.
[2] On martyrs' mothers expressing joy over their death, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No. 61, "The Joy of the Mothers of Palestinian 'Martyrs,'" June 27, 2001.
[3] Alaraby.co.uk, August 9, 2022.
[4] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), August 11, 2022.
[5] Twitter.com/MonirAljaghoub, August 9, 2022.
[6] Twitter.com/MonirAljaghoub, August 9, 2022.
[7] Al-Khansaa bint 'Amr was a pre-Islamic poet who converted to Islam during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. She is considered the "Mother of Martyrs" since, after her four children died in one of the battles of early Islam, she did not mourn them but rather thanked Allah for "honoring her with their death."
[8] Twitter.com/MonirAljaghoub, August 10, 2022.
[9] Al-Ayyam (PA), August 11, 2022.
[10] Al-Quds (East Jerusalem), August 11, 2022.
[11] Al-Arabi Al-Jadid (London), August 14, 2022.
[12] Al-Watan (Qatar), August 11, 2022.
