Umm Nidal

Maryam Mohammad Yousif Farhat (Arabic: مريم محمد يوسف فرحات‎) (or Mariam Farahat; born in 1950), popularly known as Umm Nidal, "the mother of Nidal", is one of Hamas' most popular candidates elected in the Palestinian legislative election, 2006. She sent three of her six sons on Hamas suicide attacks against Israel. The word "Nidal" in Arabic language is a secular term, meaning "struggle", "effort" or "work".

Children

She attracted public attention after being filmed joyously preparing and advising her 17-year old son Muhammad Farhat for his March 2002 suicide attack against Israeli civilians. After infiltrating the Gaza Strip former Jewish settlement of Atzmona, opening fire on the students and throwing hand grenades at the school where they were studying, killing five teenagers and wounding 23 others, he was shot dead. Upon hearing of her son's death, she celebrated proclaiming "Allahu Akbar!" and giving out boxes of halva and chocolates.^[1] Her eldest son, Nidal, was killed in February 2003 as he was readying for his attack on Israelis. A third son, Rawad, died in 2005 in an Israeli airstrike on his car carrying Qassam rocket. Three other sons are still alive.^{[citation needed]}

Attitude toward martyrdom

In an interview published in both the Israeli Arab weekly Kul al-Arab and the London-based Arabic language daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, Umm Nidal reiterated that what she called "martyrdom" (shehada, the act of jihad) is the most supreme act, and one of the basic principles of Islam. In her December 2005 interview, Umm Nidal said that she has prepared all of her sons for jihad for the sake of Allah:

"I protect my sons from defying Allah, or from choosing a path that would not please Allah. This is what I fear, when it comes to my sons. But as for sacrifice, Jihad for the sake of Allah, or performing the duty they were charged with - this makes me happy."
"There is no difference [between operations against civilians and soldiers]. This is Islamic religious law. I don't invent anything. I follow Islamic religious law in this. A Muslim is very careful not to kill an innocent person, because he knows he would be destined to eternal Hell. So the issue is not at all simple. We rely on Islamic religious law when we say there is no prohibition on killing these people."
"The word 'peace' does not mean the kind of peace we are experiencing. This peace is, in fact, surrender and a shameful disgrace. Peace means the liberation of all of Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. When this is accomplished - if they want peace, we will be ready. They may live under the banner of the Islamic state. That is the future of Palestine that we are striving towards." ^[2]

Reactions

On June 29, 2002, Professor Sari Nusseibeh stated in an Al-Jazeera interview with Umm Nidal: "When I hear the words of Umm Nidal, I recall the hadith stating that 'Paradise lies under the feet of mothers.'"^[3]

References

1. ^ Palestinian Legislative Council Candidate and Mother of Three Hamas Terrorists Umm Nidal Farhat: Israelis are Not Civilians and There are No Prohibitions on Killing Them; I Am Willing to Sacrifice My Ten Sons Interview with Dream2 TV aired on December 21, 2005. MEMRI TV
2. ^ Interview aired by Dream2 TV on December 21, 2005
3. ^ Meet Candidate "Martyr Mom" by Andrew G. Bostom at FrontPageMagazine, January 5, 2006

External links

	Palestine portal
	Biography portal

• An Interview with the Mother of a Suicide Bomber June 19, 2002 interview at Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (MEMRI)

Persondata
Name	Farhat, Maryam
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Date of birth	1950
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