‘Bombs more precious than children’
A ‘music video‘ broadcast on a Palestinian Hamas TV station on Wednesday had a simple message for its viewers: Carrying out a suicide bomb attack is more important than raising one’s children.
The video, broadcast on al-Aqsa TV, was made available by Palestinian Media Watch and can be viewed on YouTube.
It features a young Palestinian girl singing to her mother who is preparing to carry out a suicide bomb attack.
“Duha, daughter of suicide bomber Reem Riyashi, sings to her mother,” the caption on the video read. In 2004, Riyashi killed four Israelis after blowing herself up on a border crossing between Israel and Gaza.
“Mommy, what are you carrying in your arms instead of me,” begins the song, while a little girl is seen looking at her mother hiding explosives.
“A toy or a present for me? Mommy Reem! Why did you put on your veil? Are you going out, mommy?” the song continues.
“Come back quickly mommy,” the girl sings, as she is seen waving her mother goodbye. “I can’t sleep without you, unless you tell me and Ubaydah a bedtime story,” the song says. The girl is then shown seeing a picture of her mother on the TV news.
‘I am following mommy in her steps’
She runs to her father, upset. “My mother! My mother! Me and Ubaydah are awake and waiting for you to come to put us to sleep€¦ still need you to wipe our tears,” she cries.
“Instead of me you carried a bomb in your hands,” the song goes, as the mother is seen blowing herself up.
“Only now, I know what was more precious than us,” it adds, as a picture of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is shown. “May your steps be blessed, and may you be flawless for Jerusalem. Send greetings to our messenger Muhammad.”
The little girl is then seen preparing herself to become a suicide bomber. “My love will not be (merely) words,” she sings, adding: “I am following mommy in her steps.” She repeats the lyric three times.
The girl is then seen opening a drawer containing explosives, picking them up, and looking at the camera.