Palestinian children compelled to participate in a Hamas military parade. Photo: Twitter.

Last month, 15-year-old Sadil Ghassan Naghnaghiya Turkeman –a female Palestinian terrorist and member of the Islamic Jihad terror organization – was killed during an Israeli counter-terror operation in Jenin.

Naghnaghiya was reportedly filming the exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian terrorists when she was shot. Israeli army officials said it was unlikely she was shot by Israeli forces.

Naghnaghiya’s Facebook profile picture showed her holding an M16 assault rifle, and one of her posts read:

“We do not love Martyrdom-death, rather Martyrdom-death loves us…
#Jenin_mother_of_the_Martyrs”

[Website of The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center,
Israeli research institute, June 27, 2023]

Two days later, her 8-year-old cousin Jana “congratulated her 1,000 times on her Martyrdom” on Fatah TV, and expressed how “happy” she is for her dead cousin:

Posted text on Telegram channel: “Jana Bilal Naghnaghiya, 8, speaks about her good friend and cousin Sadil [Naghnaghiya]”

Jana Bilal Naghnaghiya: “Sadil was very beloved by the people, very very much, by the children and adults … congratulations on the Martyrdom, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations. I want to tell you congratulations with my whole heart, 1,000 times congratulations …Today I was happy for her, I was very very happy. Congratulations on the Martyrdom.” [emphasis added]

[Fatah-run Awdah TV, Telegram channel, June 21, 2023]

The fact that 8-year-old and 15-year-old girls hold the view that “Martyrdom-death” is something to be happy about, is the result of decades of Palestinian Authority (PA) brainwashing of Palestinian children to seek death in violent confrontations against Israel.

In 2002 — over two decades ago — Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) exposed the shocking words of two 11-year-old girls, Walla and Yussra. They told official PA TV that “Martyrdom-death” is “a very, very beautiful thing” and “sweet,” and that what they desired was “not this world but the Afterlife”:

While optimists in 2002 might possibly have deluded themselves into thinking that this was a temporary educational product of the Second Intifada — the five year Palestinian terror campaign against Israel — 8-year-old Jana Naghnaghiya proves only too clearly that it is sadly still the norm and, as PMW has exposed, is one of the fundamental messages of PA children’s education in 2023.

Theoretically, Walla and Yussra, who would be around 32 years old today, could be the mothers of Sadil and Jana. And whether Walla and Yussra achieved “Martyrdom-death” or lived to have children, their statements in 2002 represent an entire generation of Palestinian kids who were taught by the PA that death for Allah and “Palestine” is a cherished value and worth more than life. The PA never stopped teaching this.

Sadil and Jana are the newest outcomes of the PA’s input: “1,000 times congratulations … on the Martyrdom.”

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.