Fatah Central Committee Member to PA TV: Dalal Mughrabi, Female Suicide Bombers, Are Our Role Models

In an interview on the official Palestinian Authority TV channel to mark International Women's Day, Fatah Central Committee member Amal Hamad said that Dalal Mughrabi, who led the 1978 Coastal Road terrorist attack in Israel, and female suicide bombers Wafa Idris and Rim Al-Riyashi were "role models."

Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on March 8, 2015.

Interviewer: With regard to Palestinian women, the PLO Central Council, in its 27th session, emphasized the Palestinian women's right to equality with men. Is this part of a new strategy to give women their rights, in a way that suits their sacrifices in the many years of struggle?

Amal Hamad, Fatah Central Committee: Women constitute 12.8% of the members [of the PLO Central Council]. Let me tell you, this is a good percentage, because worldwide, the average representation of women is 13%.

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However, the representation of women is insufficient in light of the sacrifices they have made. We should be talking about 50% – complete equality. Take, for example, Dalal Al-Mughrabi. She led the men. She did not bring up the rear. She was the commander of fidayeen. She killed dozens of martyrs – I mean, dozens of our women were martyred. They killed dozens of officers and soldiers from among the Zionist enemy.

With regard to martyrdom-seekers, we have had Wafa Idris. She was the first of our female martyrdom-seekers to blow herself up in the midst of the Israeli occupation. We have other role models, like Rim Al-Riyashi. We must highlight these Palestinian role models, who were on the frontline of the confrontation with the Israeli occupation.

Interviewer: True.

Amal Hamad: They have been in the lead of our national struggle, and they are leading the social struggle as well.

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