Hamas Official Ahmad Bahr: On Women's Day, We Salute Jihad-Fighting Palestinian Women Like (Suicide Bomber) Rim Al-Riyashi

Hamas official Ahmad Bahr, deputy chair of the Palestinian Legislative Committee, said that while Europe celebrates the woman on International Women's Day, its men sell their wives "like merchandise." He went on to say: "We salute the Jihad-fighting Palestinian woman, who tends to the martyr and tends to her husband, and perhaps will become a martyr herself," recalling Rim Al-Riyashi, who carried out a suicide attack against Israelis in 2004. Bahr's address was broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV on March 9.

Ahmad Bahr: "The Palestinian woman is held in esteem. She is a wife, a daughter, a sister, and a grandmother. The Palestinian woman is held in esteem in Islam - in our religion, our moral values, and our faith. Every year, on March 8, the world celebrates International Woman's Day, a holiday invented by Europe. Let me say, in a nutshell, that Europe celebrates the woman, but at the same time, it kills women. It celebrates the woman, but as you know, the (European) man sells his wife in front of the whole world, as if she is merchandise to be bought and sold. In the West, where they are celebrating the woman today, they want to present women naked in halls and stores, in order to attract customers. In Islam, in contrast, the woman is respected. As the Prophet Muhammad said, women are the sisters of men. Therefore, on Women's Day, we salute the Jihad-fighting Palestinian woman, who tends to the martyr and tends to her husband, and perhaps will become a martyr for the sake of Allah herself, like the Jihad-fighting sister (suicide bomber) Rim al-Riyashi, who sacrificed herself for the sake of Palestine. The woman, who is being honored today, serves, makes sacrifices, and maintains her ribat for the sake of Allah."