Inquiry and Analysis - Jihad and Terrorism Studies
February 14, 2002                                    
No. 85                                              

Wafa Idris: The Celebration of the First Female Palestinian
Suicide Bomber - Part III

Wafa Idris: Representing Palestinian Womanhood
At the symbolic funeral for Idris held by Fatah, a
Revolutionary Council member eulogized her.  She said,
"Wafa's martyrdom restored honor to the national role of
the Palestinian woman, who sketched the most wonderful
pictures of heroism in the long battle for national
liberation. Wafa came today to complete the path of the
martyr Dalal Al-Maghribi and her comrades..."(1)
  
While the Iraqi media hastened to report that Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein had ordered a memorial erected in
Baghdad to honor Idris, Egyptian television producer Dr.
Amira Abu-Fatuh saw Idris memorialized in another way. In
her article "An Oscar-Winning Film," which appeared in the
Egyptian opposition daily Al-Wafd, she wrote: "This is not
a film like all other films. The heroine... is the
beautiful, pure Palestinian woman, Wafa Idris, full of
faith and willpower. I could find no one better than she,
and I could find no film more wonderful than this, that
shocked Israel's heart... From Paradise where she is now,
she shouts with all her strength: Enough glorification of
the dead; enough glorification of the victories of your
forefathers. They have played their part, and now it is
your turn."(2)
  
In general, the Arab media were excessive in their praise
for the "courageous Palestinian girl." An editorial in the
London Arabic-language daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi was the first
to acclaim her, even before her identity became known:
"This is the first time a young woman strapped a belt of
explosives and bits of metal around her waist and blew
herself up on Jaffa Road in the heart of the occupied city.
Thus, she joins the convoys of the martyrs and sets a
precedent [for women] to take pride in the history of the
Arab and Islamic woman..."(3)
  
Al-Wafd columnist Sa'id Sadeq wrote:  "Suddenly, out of the
darkness, came a spark of light and hope, in the person of
a Palestinian girl, courageous in deeds, not words..."(4)
Salah Muntasir wrote in the leading Egyptian government
daily Al-Ahram: "Wafa Idris has not faded from my [mind]
since I saw her picture for the first time... Her dreamy
eyes and the mysterious smile on her lips, that competes
with the famous smile some artist drew on the lips of Mona
Lisa - Wafa's smile is more beautiful. All of her is more
beautiful than any picture of a woman painted by any
artist..."(5)
 
Jordanian Islamist, Yasser Za'atrah, wrote in the Jordanian
daily Al-Dustour: "...Wafa carried her suitcase [of
explosives], which is... the most beautiful prize any woman
can possibly win. Her spirit was raging, her heart filled
with anger and her mind unconvinced by the calls for peace
and coexistence... Peace be upon Wafa and the martyrs, men
and women, before and after her..."(6)
  
Also in Al-Wafd, Muhammad Al-Amin depicted his perception
of Idris as she made the decision to carry out the attack.
He wrote: "She did not spare her soul... she quietly made
her decision, sought explosives, went to pray, and then
chose her target carefully. She went to a big restaurant
with dozens of customers. She asked Allah for a martyr's
death and victory. She did not forget to cast a goodbye
glance at her family and neighbors. She kissed the soil of
the homeland and went calmly to her fate. She inscribed her
name on the forehead of history..."
  
Ibrahim Nafi', editor-in-chief of the leading Egyptian
government daily Al-Ahram, wrote in a paean to Idris: "She
decided to end her fresh young life at a moment of a
profound sense of oppression such as no people had suffered
as the Palestinians do. But before that, she decided that
her death would reverberate so as to draw attention to the
tragedy created by the Israelis, with their airplanes and
tanks against a defenseless people. She blew herself up on
Haifa Road [sic], bustling with innocent people - like Wafa
herself... She left on a morning like every other morning.
No one noticed signs of tension. She smiled at the children
in the family, and continued on the path set for her to
blow herself up on Haifa Street. so as to tell the world
that the body itself would turn into a time bomb at any
moment and that the idea that one organization was a
terrorist organization and another was a peaceful
organization had no meaning. The inhuman Israeli policy has
made the entire [Palestinian] people into human
bombs..."(7) 
  
Also in Al-Wafd, Wagdi Zein Al-Din stressed Idris's
uniqueness among women: "The most beautiful of the
Palestinian beauties, a wonderful model of sacrifice, did
what the strong, proud men do. Wafa Idris, who had just
finished university, did not think like other members of
her sex; she donned the garments of the martyrs and carried
out an operation that was a response to the blood-shedder
Sharon. Like her name ['loyalty' in Arabic], in her
sacrifice she was loyal to the Palestinian nation. The
bride of Heaven preferred death to the pleasures of life,
so as to convey a powerful message to the Arab nation..."(8)
  
Abd Al-Wahab 'Adas, columnist for the government daily
Al-Gumhuriya, wrote: "She gave, for the first time, a
different example of women's heroism; she refreshed in our
minds the [picture] of the Algerian heroine Jamila
Boukhreid, who struggled with all her might against
France's occupation of her homeland. Although Jamila was
privileged to see the liberation of her land, Wafa's pure
spirit will join in waving the flag of Palestine above the
dome of Al-Aqsa. Wafa Idris engraved her name with pride,
with strength, and with honor... on the conscience of every
Muslim Arab."(9)
  
Al-Ahram columnist, Ahmad Bahgat, wrote: "Wafa revealed the
meaning of the Palestinian personality; she revealed the
heroism of the Palestinian woman and turned from a living
creature walking on the Earth to a symbol that went down in
history, the trace of which cannot be eradicated. As a
nurse, her work was like that of the merciful angels. She
cared for the sick and injured, and rescued the wounded.
And behold, she expanded the sphere of her work from saving
individuals to saving the Palestinian nation."(10)
  
'Adel Hammuda, editor of the Egyptian opposition weekly
Saut Al-Umma, wrote: "The most beautiful and proud picture
I saw this week is the picture of the bride of Heaven, Wafa
Idris, who turned herself into an explosive device and
exploded in Israel. Wafa Idris elevated the value of the
Arab woman and, in one moment, and with enviable courage,
put an end to the unending debate about equality between
men and women."(11)
  
In the Egyptian Nasserite weekly Al-Arabi, Ahmad Abu
Al-Ma'ati, wrote, "Wafa Idris did not sit in the coffee
shops of rage to which our intellectuals are addicted,
becoming procurers, and the writers who sell themselves for
a shekel or a dollar. She did not go out to
demonstrations... She did not sign petitions aimed at the
international community. All she did was don a belt of
explosives and talk to Israel, America, and the world in
the only language they understand."(12)
  
And, in an article in the Egyptian opposition weekly
Al-Usbu', Nagwa Tantawi compared Idris favorably with
President George W. Bush's daughters: "Bush, who leads an
oppressive campaign to educate the world, cannot even
educate his own daughters!! Note the difference between
Wafa, the daughter of Arabism and Islam, and Bush's
daughters. The difference is the same as the difference
between our culture, based on beautiful and noble values
and on the values of homeland and martyrdom, and the
materialistic [Western] culture. This proves that whatever
developments may be, victory will be ours - because we have
culture and values."(13)

Endnotes:

(1) Al-Ayyam (Palestinian Authority), February 1, 2002.
(2) Al-Wafd (Egypt), February 7, 2002, as cited in Al-Quds
Al-Arabi (London), February 8, 2002.
(3) Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), January 28, 2002.
(4) Al-Wafd (Egypt), February 3, 2002, as cited in Al-Quds
Al-Arabi (London), February 4, 2002.
(5) Al-Ahram (Egypt), February 10, 2002.
(6) Al-Dustour (Jordan), February 24, 2002.
(7) Al-Ahram (Egypt), February 5, 2002.
(8) Al-Wafd (Egypt), February 1, 2002, as cited in Al-Quds
Al-Arabi (London), February 2, 2002.
(9) Al-Gumhuriya (Egypt), January 31, 2002, as cited in
Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), February 2, 2002.
(10) Al-Ahram (Egypt), February 3, 2002.
(11) Saut Al-Umma (Egypt), February 3, 2002, as cited in
Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), February 4, 2002.
(12) Al-Arabi (Egypt), February 3, 2002, as cited in
Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), February 4, 2002.
(13) Al-Wafd (Egypt), February 3, 2002, as cited in Al-Quds
Al-Arabi (London), February 4, 2002.

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