Mother of Suicide Bomber: "I'm Proud of My Son"

IDF Spokesperson March 7th, 2003

On March 5, 2003, Mahmoud Hamdan Kwasma detonated the explosive belt he was
wearing inside an Israeli bus, in the city of Haifa.Fifteen Israelis were
murdered, and scores more were wounded, many of them school children and
students. Many of the injured remain in critical condition.

The suicide bomber was 20 years old, a student of the Hebron Polytechnic
University (from which a large number of suicide bombers have emerged) and a
member of the Hamas terrorist organization.

The mother of the suicide bomber "Um Shadi", praised her son's deeds, and
refused to act as if in mourning. The following is a translation of an
article published on the Islamic Jihad's official website on March 6, 2003:

"The women swarmed around the Um Shadi, mother of Mahmoud Hamdan Kwasma, who
carried out the suicide bombing on Wednesday in Haifa.They had come in order
to praise her for the death of her son in the service of Allah.

Source
http://www.qudsway.com/akhbar/arshiv/2003/3-2003/report-03&06&12170.htm

In the Kwasma household, situated on the first floor of a building in the
Alsheikh neighborhood in the city of Hebron, the Um Shadi served sweet
coffee and 'Knaffe' (a sweet pastry eaten at celebrations)The Um Shadi was
not dressed in the ritual black dress of mourning, and did not serve bitter
coffee as is customary on solemn occasions. She received the guests who had
come to "mourn" holding, with a mixture of pride and matriarchal pain, the
picture of her son clad in a red head dress. The Um Shadi addressed the
journalists and quoted a passage from the Koran: 'Do not treat those who
have died for the path of Allah as dead, but rather as living with Allah and
being fed by his hand. She added 'my son is a Shahid (martyr), my son is
alive and being nurtured [by Allah] and he is not dead'. The Um Shadi went
on to say 'I am proud of my son's deed, we must fight for our faith and not
for our nation (the Palestinian nation)."

A senior Israeli security source emphasized that in the overwhelming
majority of cases, parents of suicide bombers are supportive of the decision
by their children to take part in suicide attacks. Mothers who send their
sons off to perpetrate such acts gain recognition from organizations like
Hamas, who give them the title "Hanas" - women who have attained a sacred
level in Islam after (in the time of Mohammad the prophet) having sent four
children to fight the infidels until death.

The Hamas uses these women in television interviews and in internet
discussion forums to encourage other mothers to send their sons to
perpetrate suicide attacks.

The following is the original article as published on the Islamic Jihad
website:
http://www.idf.il/newsite/images/0307-5p1.gif