A badly burned Palestinian woman was alternately defiant and tearful Monday after Israeli soldiers caught her trying to enter Israel with 22 pounds of explosives hidden on her body.
The woman, who suffered serious burns on her hands, feet and neck in a kitchen explosion five months ago, had been granted permission to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment when she raised the suspicion of soldiers at the Erez checkpoint.Video released by the military showed 21-year-old Wafa al-Biss taking off articles of clothing on the orders of soldiers searching for explosives, and rubbing her disfigured neck with her burned hands and screaming.
The military said she tried to blow up the explosives Monday but failed and was not injured.
At the Shikma Prison in Israel’s Negev Desert, where the Shin Bet security service allowed Israeli TV reporters to interview her, al-Biss said she was determined to carry out a suicide attack against Israel because of its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
“My dream was to be a martyr,” she said, adding that she was recruited by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement. “I believe in death.”
Words fail me.
docG
How incredibly sad. A note to “leaders” everywhere. When your people feel their only way to make a difference is to commit suicide, YOU have failed completely.
Jon H
I’m guessing Al Aqsa used her disfigurement as an aid in recruiting her, convincing her that her life was basically over anyway, nobody would marry her, etc.
Somebody in her situation would often be somewhat suicidal, or at least depressed, anyway.
Anderson
Sounds like a failed kamikaze pilot. I appreciate docG’s reaction, and shudder to think of the “these people are animals” comments no doubt springing up like fungi around the web.
Jon H
OT: By the way, John, remember the slanders cast at Michael Schiavo because he “wouldn’t tell the parents where he buried Terri”?
And how he was going to bury her in Pennsylvania, far away from the parents who wanter her in Florida?
Apparently, she was just buried. In Florida. Not far from the parents. And the parents were notified.
Jon H
I think there’s a rogue center-alignment tag up there that needs closing.
DecidedFenceSitter
OT: And now John they are bitching because of what’s on the gravestone, and the fact that they weren’t notified till after she was in the ground.
ppgaz
Oddly, when you listen to extemporaneous speech from both Israelis and Palestinians, they both say the same things: God intends for them to prevail.
Hmm, where have I heard that before??
Stormy70
I used to care about what happened to the Palestians, but they blew it all away. Now I just can’t summon the energy to care, anymore. Sad.
Anderson
OT: And now John they are bitching because of what’s on the gravestone, and the fact that they weren’t notified till after she was in the ground.
Well, I think, “Here lies Terri Schiavo, murdered by her bastard husband (whom we never trusted anyway), liberal activist judges, and whichever drunken staffer drafted that lame bill that Congress passed, despite the best efforts of her loving parents and the Republican Party to keep her around as an inert sack of protoplasm for the next 40 years” would be an awful lot to cram in, so I can see why the parents’ draft got rejected.
JG
Michael Sciavo’s parents weren’t married?
Stormy70
This is not a freaking Terry, thread, please don’t hijack it! Take the Cheese!
John Cole
Patterico and XRLQ are trying to bait me into talking about it, and I refuse. Suffice it to say that all the allegations of abuse have now devolved to bitching about the gravestone.
Cheese, please.
ppgaz
God wants them to take the cheese.
Darrell
How incredibly sad. A note to “leaders” everywhere. When your people feel their only way to make a difference is to commit suicide, YOU have failed completely.
Take a good look people. The mindset of the left is like a bizarre freak show. Of course, those poor terrorists who on 9/11 felt their only way “to make a difference” was to murder 3,000 innocent human beings.. that was simply the result of our ‘failed leadership’.. not that the terrorists were murderous vermin or anything. Same concept applies to those suicide scumbags who target innocent women and children in buses and pizza parlors. Not the fault of the terrorists, but of failed leadership, that’s all.
As usual, the left blames everyone except those who are actually responsible
whew
Interesting take, Darrell. “Obtuse” is all that comes to mind.
Defense Guy
At the end of the day, there is no excuse, no victim status that can excuse or forgive the cold calculated murder of innocents. Every single human being who participates, or aids terrorist activities is alone responsible for the outcome. No one gets a pass, and no one should be trying to give them one.
JG
Darrell,
Not our failed leadership. This is the same lack of reading comprehension skills that allows blowhards like Limbaugh and the jerks at FOX News to get away with telling people bullshit. People can’t understand what they read or choose not to read at all which I’ve noticed, then they turn to talk radio or FOX for the scoop on whats up. FOX then feeds them bullshit and they never learn the truth because the people speaking the truth are people they’ve been trained not to listen to. We’re totally screwed if people won’t listen to each other and only get more polarised. A friend of mine actually siad this weekend that Durbin should be tried for sedition. Civil War number 2 coming our way.
DecidedFenceSitter
“Every single human being who participates, or aids terrorist activities is alone responsible for the outcome. No one gets a pass, and no one should be trying to give them one.”
Including those people who provide the funding indirectly by driving gas-guzzling machines? (Funding higher oil and gas prices)
Or those who policies in the short term provided the funding, weapons, and training that are now being used by today’s enemies? (U.S. and Russia during the cold war)
Or to those unable to control their borders areas with a firm enough hand because it will cause civil war? (Pakistan)
Jaybird
In an attempt to find a middle ground:
Can we at least agree that if Terri Schiavo had died because she had a bomb strapped to her chest that that would have been inappropriate?
whew
JG,
Too many words. My hope was that he would scurry to a dictionary for the meaning of “obtuse.”
Of course hoping for the connection is sadly, a bit optimistic.
Dave Schuler
A new wrinkle. “Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled massese/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” And we’ll tie explosives to ’em and blow ’em up. Ain’t martyrdom wonderful?
Dave Schuler
A new wrinkle. “Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled massese/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” And we’ll tie explosives to ’em and blow ’em up. Ain’t martyrdom wonderful?
Darrell
Darrell,
Not our failed leadership. This is the same lack of reading comprehension skills that allows blowhards like Limbaugh and the jerks at FOX News to get away with telling people bullshit..
Good job wailing away on that straw man JG. I was criticizing docG’s claim, not mine, that suicide terrorism is simply a result of failed leadership.. But hey, don’t let that little detail stop you from going off on an incoherent rant about talk radio and Fox News.. blather on
Seems someone has fallen off the fence and hit their head:
Including those people who provide the funding indirectly by driving gas-guzzling machines? (Funding higher oil and gas prices)
I think this example of enlightened wisdom sums up much of the left: Suicide terrorist murderers are in the same general category as those driving cars and SUV’s.. there you have it
Andrei
“Good job wailing away on that straw man JG. I was criticizing docG’s claim, not mine, that suicide terrorism is simply a result of failed leadership…”
For crissake…
DocG was commenting that leaders of the world should consider that when their people committ suicide as a means to further their cause, it’s a good bet that those leaders have failed their people. That sounds to me like he’s criticizing leaders of the Palestinians and those in charge of terrorist organizations.
How on earth could you even possibly read anything else into it?
whew
JG,
What else can you do but shake your head and walk away?
Darrell
That sounds to me like he’s criticizing leaders of the Palestinians and those in charge of terrorist organizations. How on earth could you even possibly read anything else into it?
DocG, by any honest reading, was placing the blame for terrorist murder on the shoulders of their leaders rather than the terrorists themselves. His exact words:
A note to “leaders” everywhere. When your people feel their only way to make a difference is to commit suicide, YOU have failed completely.
Nope, no blame for the terrorists on that post. None whatsoever. The terrorists can’t help but blow up innocent women in pizza parlors and buses.. they are only reacting in (justifiable?) response to the failure of their leadership. Just like their claims that poverty causes crime, the left can’t help themselves.. they blame everyone and everything (SUV’s, political leaders, poverty) but the criminals and terrorists themselves. It’s who they are. It’s how the left really thinks
p.lukasiak
Words fail me.
Why? Because you can’t deal with the fact that a desperate woman would choose to be a suicide bomber?
One certainly can suspect that this woman’s physical deformities played a role in her decision to become a “suicidal terrorist.” And there is certainly a tragic irony in the fact that Israel was willing to allow this woman through their border to seek treatment for her burns, only to discover that their generosity was being betrayed.
But there is really nothing “special” about this case. Desperate people resort to extreme and desperate measures in desperate circumstances — and the key to fighting suicidal terrorism is in eliminating the perception that the circumstances are desperate enough to require desperate measures. Human being have the “unfortunate” tendency to want their lives to have meaning and significance — and when the only way that someone thinks their life can have meaning and significance is through martyrdom in pursuit of a larger goal, we wind up with suicidal terrorists.
ARROW
“How incredibly sad. A note to “leaders” everywhere. When your people feel their only way to make a difference is to commit suicide, YOU have failed completely.”
I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Palestinians have what most people in the “civilized world” would call leadership. In many cases, the leaders are the ones that are orchestrating these homicide bombers. Take the recently departed Yassar Arafat, for example. But how about the Politicians in this and other civilized countries that given him credibility and stood by why he pillaged aid to his people and played petty politics to the detriment of his “country.” Bush is the first President in a long time to not receive this terrorist as a head of state. So, it goes without saying that these so-called leaders are failed. And so are the “leaders,” mostly in Europe and the U.N., that have empowered or apologized for the deplorable acts that they have been authorized or condoned by leaders such as Yassar Arafat.
“Including those people who provide the funding indirectly by driving gas-guzzling machines? (Funding higher oil and gas prices)”
I assume the person that made this comment is riding a bike, or perhaps a donkey. If not, you are part of the problem. If all the environmentalists out there would just stop using the dreaded petroleum product, or any of its byproducts, our energy problems would be solved.
Rick
That Michael Schiavo: Totally no-class.
So, what’s serving? Stilton? Or maybe a nice Hvarti.
Cordially…
Andrei
“Nope, no blame for the terrorists on that post. None whatsoever.”
For fuck’s sake, Darrell.
DocG was making a comment on leadership, but to think he was then also dismissing accountability from the terrorists simply because he made no mention of their accountability on terrorists in his comment about leadership and leaders is disingenuous. DocG made no mutually exclusive remark.
IOW, just because he didn’t say terrorists are directly responsible for their acitons doesn’t mean he neccessarily thinks terrorists are resolved of responsiblity.
DocG made no explicit comment about terrorists themselves, so don’t claim he did. He made a comment about leadership and leaders only.
“It’s who they are. It’s how the left really thinks.”
Give us a fucking break already. Please buy yourself a clue.
Andrei
“I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Palestinians have what most people in the “civilized world” would call leadership.”
My God… are you people really that obtuse?
Explain the splitting hairs difference between what DocG said and your opinion of the situation.
***DocG even put quotes around the word leaders.***
Man. Now I need a smoke.
ARROW
Andrei:
If DocG and I are saying the same thing, and you agree with DocG, what’s your problem? I’m not your girlfriend / boyfriend… lose the hard on.
Rick
Arrow,
Too late; Andrei has announced his need to smoke. That’s usually done *after* the deed, y’know.
Cordially…
ARROW
Good point. Now I know why I feel violated. I just thought it was his high-and-mighty, mister-know-it-all, tone.
Andrei
“If DocG and I are saying the same thing, and you agree with DocG, what’s your problem?”
That you’re not contributing anything useful or productive to the commentary and that you don’t seem to read very well.
Case in point: where in these comments did I say I agreed with DocG?
ARROW
Andrei:
Well, okay, you got me. I just assumed that you agreed with DocG since you were defending his comment. Silly me.
So do you agree with DocG?
docG
Well, sorry I had to work all day and miss the fun. My initial reaction was sorrow for any suffering and the horrors of terrorism. The leader remark was anger at the Bin-Ladin’s of the world, who manipulate, bribe and otherwise induce people into suicide bombings while proving precious little useful leadership to those they wish to represent. Darrell did me a favor by pointing out that no comments were directed at the bombers themselves. Personally, I hope the 9/11 terrorists (and all other misguided killers) rot in hell for all eternity. We moderates look for useful information at all turns, even from those who step on their own dicks publicly. To see an attack on American leadership in my comments takes a special lens that I don’t own. Attempts to push everything to either the extreme left or the extreme right is a luxury this country can no longer afford. Thanks, John, for the story in the first place.
ARROW
Andrei:
Well, since docG has elaborated on his comment, it may be that I did add something to the blog. My criticism was for the other world leaders that that legitimize and apologize for the Bin Ladins of the world. Apparently that point wasn’t implied clearly enough in the “leader” thing.
How could a brilliant guy like you miss such a simple thing?
Andrei
“Well, okay, you got me. I just assumed that you agreed with DocG since you were defending his comment. Silly me. So do you agree with DocG?”
In point of fact, I do agree with DocG. The larger point is that you need to stop assuming. And maybe learn to read a little bit better, because in fact I wasn’t “defending” his argument. I was pointing how you and Darrell were not reading or comprehending his. Look where it got Darrell… he basically called DocG a commie liberal, when it’s clear DocG is anything but.
As for you…
“My criticism was for the other world leaders that that legitimize and apologize for the Bin Ladins of the world.”
I don’t know of any world leader not running a dictatorship that has done such a thing. So given that circumstance, I’d still say your contribution to disucssion so far has been negligable.
But even you can’t seem to keep your argument straight since you started your contribution referring to Arafat, and not Bin Laden.
Stormy70
Is the pissing contest over? I prefer a nice Raclette cheese, melted over toasted bread, sans Terry or Michael.
Terrorism is sure working out for those Palestians, let’s give them a state. That way, when they violate Israel’s borders, Israel can kick their ass.
ARROW
Andrei:
Mister implied meaning, why didn’t you get the picture sooner. Maybe it’s you that needs to work on comprehension.
“I don’t know of any world leader not running a dictatorship that has done such a thing.”
Where did I say anythimg about a divctatorship? I said: “So, it goes without saying that these so-called leaders are failed. And so are the “leaders,” MOSTLY IN EUROPE AND THE U.N. (EMPHASIS added), that have empowered or apologized for the deplorable acts that they have been authorized or condoned by leaders such as Yassar Arafat.” Could I recommend a good reading comprehension course?
“But even you can’t seem to keep your argument straight since you started your contribution referring to Arafat, and not Bin Laden.”
You really do need to learn to comprehend what you read. I said: “My criticism was for the OTHER WORLD LEADERS (EMPHASIS added)that that legitimize and apologize for the Bin Ladins of the world.”
Maybe you should go buy a clue.
ARROW
Stormy70
You get what you give. But then you know that.
Andrei started pissing on Darrell. I just thought they could use some company.
Stormy70
Company is always appreciated. ;)
Compuglobalhypermeganet
I blame Itchy and Scratchy cartoons for Palestininan suicide bombers. So much violence…
scs
I doubt suicide bombers are a result of failed leadership. Certainly poverty contributes to it but the rate of poverty and suicide bombing in a country has no direct relationship. It is not even religion as some studies I have seen have shown suicide bombers to not be particularly religious. But is is mostly the product of culture. Suicide bombing is glorified in some cultures traditionally and suicide bombers want to get the social glory for their legacy and their families that come with the suicide bombing. It is ultimately a selfish act of social mobility.
scs
And by the way, I tried to email John and make him post on Terri’s tombstone, but he wouldn’t. Now see what happened! Because he didn’t give the people an outlet, they are posting about Terri in a bit about Palestianian suicide bombing! Anyway, all you need to do is look at the tombstone – in huge letters ‘Schiavo’, and you should all agree that Michael is what I believe, a controlling jerk.
Even though she was contemplating a divorce when she was healthy, he’s going to make sure she is his possesion for all of eternity. The tombstone says it all.