PA Admits ‘Young Person’ Shot By Israel ‘Intended to Die as a Martyr’ and ‘Took Steps’ Toward Terror

PA forced to juggle its narratives simultaneously presenting terrorist as a victim and as a “resistance” member who intended to “die as a martyr” all along.

By Nan Jacques Zilberdik, The Algemeiner

“A young person died as a Martyr” and was “executed in cold blood” — that’s the way the Palestinian Authority (PA) routinely reports on dead terrorists who are killed while attacking Israelis.

Such a “young person” recently shot and wounded six Israelis outside a shopping mall in Ma’ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem. The attacker was 20-year-old terrorist Muhannad Al-Mazar’ah. An off-duty Israeli border police officer shot and killed him to end the attack.

Following his death, the PA had to juggle its narratives, simultaneously presenting him both as a victim whom Israel “claimed … shot at settlers,” yet also as a “resistance” member who had intended to carry out an attack and “die as a Martyr” all along.

While a newsreader on official PA TV described the terrorist as “a young person [who] was shot by the occupation and died as a Martyr,” a PA TV reporter colleague appearing in the same news broadcast explained that Al-Mazar’ah had stressed “his intention to die as a Martyr,” and had taken “a step towards the Palestinian resistance“ — a Palestinian euphemism for terror and violence against Israel.

In the recording left by terrorist Al-Mazar’ah, he praised “prayer and Jihad” — holy war — and expressed his wish to “meet Allah in Paradise.” He also stated that he would “die for Allah and become a Martyr.”

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.