by Nan Jacques Zilberdik
The dream of marrying the 72 Virgins in Paradise is real among Palestinian youth. Palestinian Media Watch has shown that young terrorists had this as their declared goal when they carried out terror attacks against Israelis.
Top Palestinian Authority official Laila Ghannam has expressed one of the core values of PA ideology—that death for Allah, by way of terror against Israelis, is one of the highest achievements in Palestinian society – higher than education, higher than life.
Using a disturbing wordplay on the Arabic word "shahada," which means both "certificate" and "Martyrdom," Ghannam, who is the district governor of Ramallah, congratulated families of dead "Martyr" students on their children's achievement of the "greater Shahada" – i.e., death for Allah, rather than their matriculation certificate:
Ramallah District Governor Laila Ghannam: "Good morning to the families of the Martyrs, whose children were supposed to celebrate their matriculationcertificate (shahada) and their success in matriculation exams, but they celebrated the greater Shahada, the [Martyrdom-death]Shahada… We always call such an event (i.e., a "Martyr's" funeral) a ‘wedding' (i.e., to the 72 Virgins in Paradise)."
[Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam,
Facebook page, July 27, 2025]
Ghannam also elevated their death and funeral to a "wedding" to the 72 Virgins in Paradise as per Islamic tradition, which is celebrated in the PA whenever a terrorist dies during a terror attack.
The dream of marrying the 72 Virgins in Paradise is real among Palestinian youth. Palestinian Media Watch has shown that young terrorists had this as their declared goal when they carried out terror attacks against Israelis. The entire PA society celebrates the death of young terrorists as "weddings," as seen in the funeral of 25-year-old terrorist Khaled Qar'an, who was killed while participating in violent confrontations with Israeli forces in Qalqilya:
Crowd: "Accompany the Martyr in a wedding procession while he is soaked in his blood. 1,000 blessings to his mother while the Martyr is soaked in his blood."
[Official PA TV, March 19, 2025]
Even parents celebrate their children's death as a wedding, as per the example of this mother of a teen terrorist who threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers:
Mother of terrorist Milad Al-Ra'i: "Be well, Milad… May Allah have mercy on him… My son is a Martyr, praise Allah. My son wanted Martyrdom and achieved it, praise Allah. My son wanted this, praise Allah. My son is a groom today. This is my son's wedding. Look at my son, this is what he wanted… Praise Allah for everything… May Allah be satisfied with him."
Text on screen and in post: "‘My son is a groom today – a moving farewell from the mother of young Milad Al-Ra'i in Hebron, who was shot by the occupation and ascended [to Heaven] in the Al-Aroub [refugee] camp north of Hebron"
[Shehab news agency, Telegram channel, Sept. 10, 2023]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA's fondness of the "shahada" wordplay before. In fact, the PA has used it as its message to students and their parents in the past. When Palestinian teen terrorists were killed while carrying out attacks during the PA's terror wave in 2015-16, the PA venerated them. Even though they did not get their graduation certificate (Shahada), their families were told they "succeeded" in achieving "Martyrdom (Shahada)."
The PA's message then as today was "death as a Martyr is the path to excellence and greatness":
"Sixteen [students] succeeded [in achieving] the Martyrdom (Shahada) of the homeland and withstanding its difficult tests, for death as a Martyr is the path to excellence and greatness, and the path of those who know how to reach the great victory..."
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July 11, 2016;
official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 12, 2016]
Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Source: https://palwatch.org/page/41404
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