Palestinian scout instructor praised murderer of 3: Follow his path
Palestinian scout instructor glorified murderer of 3
at course named after murderer Baha Alyan,
held by the Palestinian Scout Association:
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“Baha remains among us, he remains in our hearts,
and emphasizes to you that 250,000 scouts and guides
in the Palestinian Scout Association are Baha!
And if Allah wills it, they are following Baha’s path”
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“Symbolic funerals” held for the murderer
by two commissions
of the Palestinian Scout Association
of the Palestinian Scout Association
Palestinian scouts held a symbolic funeral for terrorist Alyan in Gaza
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
As Palestinian Media Watch has documented, the Jerusalem Scout Commission of the Palestinian Scouts and Guides Association (English - Palestinian Scout Association - PSA), which is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), recently held a course named after terrorist Baha Alyan who murdered 3 Israelis on a bus in Jerusalem in October last year.
A 30-minute long video from the closing ceremony of the “Martyr Baha Alyan Course” posted on the Jerusalem District Scout Commission’s Facebook page shows course instructor Muhammad Al-Dahdar glorifying murderer Baha Alyan, and expressing the hope that all the 250,000 scouts in the Palestinian Scout Association “are following Baha’s path.” After this statement, Al-Dahdar explicitly says he is speaking “in the name of the Palestinian Scouts and Guides Association”:
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Baha Alyan Course instructor Muhammad Al-Dahdar: “Baha remains among us, he remains in our hearts, and emphasizes to you that 250,000 scouts and guides in the Palestinian Scout Association are Baha! And if Allah wills it, they are following Baha’s path.
In the name of the Palestinian Scouts and Guides Association and the Jerusalem District Scouts and Guides Commission, I am happy [inaudible]...”
[Jerusalem District Scout Commission Facebook page, Aug. 29, 2016]
Baha Alyan may have been an outstanding and inspiring scout, but his final choice was to become a murderer. Regardless of prior good deeds, murdering 3 innocent people on a bus remains Alyan’s legacy and the reason he is well-known in Palestinian society. A murderer should not be made into the role model for children and youth.
However, this is the message the Palestinian Scout Association course leaders chose to transmit to Palestinian scouts. In the video posted by the commission that organized the course, none of the speakers dissociated themselves from Alyan’s terror attack or condemned his murders.
The young scouts in the course clearly adopted Alyan as a role model, because they shouted:
“Ya Baha, ya Alyan! You are a symbol to the Martyrs (Shahids)! We salute you in the Jerusalem scouts! Palestine! Jerusalem! Ours, ours, ours!”
A banner at the ceremony also praised murderer Alyan as a “Shahid” - an Islamic Martyr. Becoming a Shahid, dying for Allah, represents the highest religious achievement that can be attained by a Muslim.
Later in the ceremony, course instructor Muhammad Al-Dahdar called Baha Alyan a “heroic Martyr.” He also referred to other “Martyrs” who “sacrificed the most precious thing... for Palestine.” These words can only be understood as a reference to and praise of the many young Palestinian terrorists who, like Baha Alyan, attacked and injured and/or murdered Israelis during the recent terror wave:
“You (i.e., Baha’s parents) [are the ones] who gave birth to this good and living role model for the young people of Palestine, to whom [we] tip [our] hats... thanks to what they [the youth] gave for Palestine, and because they sacrificed the most precious thing to them of all - which is life. They hated [and gave up] life for Palestine. They hated [and gave up] life because they wanted freedom and independence. I am happy to be with you at this moment in order to together commemorate our heroic Martyr, brother Baha Alyan.”
[Jerusalem District Scout Commission Facebook page, Aug. 29, 2016]
Furthermore, two commissions of the WOSM-recognized PSA located in the Gaza Strip have held symbolic funerals for terrorist Alyan. At these “funeral” ceremonies young scouts carried coffins and pictures of murderer Alyan. The funerals were described in an article on PSA’s website, which also showed photos from the events:
The first picture above shows the symbolic funeral for terrorist Baha Alyan that was held in northern Gaza.
Text under Baha Alyan’s picture: “#Wedding_procession_of_Baha”
The second and third pictures show the symbolic funeral held for terrorist Baha Alyan in Gaza City.
Text on coffin: “The symbolic funeral of Martyr and scout leader Baha Alyan”
[Palestinian Scout Association website (scout-ps.net), Sept. 3, 2016]
Following PMW's report on the course honoring the terrorist, and the PSA’s connection to it, the article and photos have been taken down from the PSA’s website.
The article referred to Alyan as “he who gave the ten commandments” - a reference to a post Baha Alyan put on his Facebook page. His “commandments” were instructions on how to react to his “Martyrdom-death” (see below). The PSA article thereby first and foremost identified Alyan by his Martyrdom, which was brought about by his last deed: his murder of three people. The article described the murderer romantically, stating that his “spirit... is wandering throughout the homeland,” and called his funeral “a wedding” as a “Martyr’s” funeral is considered his wedding to the 72 Virgins in Paradise in Islam. The article further stated that organizers of the “funerals” had said they were “part of the loyalty and the oath to the blood of #Baha_Alyan, the Martyr”:
“The spirit of he who gave the ten commandments, leader in the Palestinian scouts Baha Alyan, is wandering throughout the homeland... the message from Rafah to Jerusalem was #Wedding_procession_of_Baha...
The Crescent of Palestine scout troop in the Gaza [Scout] Commission held a symbolic funeral in the streets of Gaza City [and participants] carried pictures of Baha. In a different funeral in the Northern Gaza [Scout] Commission, a coffin was carried with pictures of Martyr Baha on it... Those responsible for all of the activities emphasized that these activities are only a part of the loyalty and the oath to the blood of #Baha_Alyan, the Martyr, the man, and the knight of the media of the scout [movement], who was always [active] in the arenas of volunteer activity.”
[Palestinian Scout Association website (scout-ps.net), Sept. 3, 2016]
The article also mentioned that chains of readers had been organized to commemorate Alyan, as he once organized such a chain of readers in Jerusalem. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that several Palestinian universities have commemorated the murderer with such chains.
The following are longer excerpts of the 30-minute video from the PSA scouts’ course named after murderer Alyan, and the report on the symbolic funerals held for him by the PSA scout commissions in Gaza:
Palestinian Scout Association names course after murderer of 3: “Martyr Baha Alyan Course”
Instructor: “250,000 scouts... in the Palestinian Scout Association are Baha! If Allah wills it, they are following Baha’s path”
Scouts: “Ya Baha, ya Alyan! You are a symbol to the Martyrs! We salute you!”
Closing ceremony of PSA scout course Martyr Baha Alyan Course, posted on the Jerusalem District Scout Commission Facebook page, Aug. 29, 2016
The scout leaders and the father of the terrorist stand for the playing of the Palestinian anthem: Muhammad Alyan, Maher Muhaisen, Mufid Al-Barq, Muhammad Al-Dahdar, Sa’id Atoun, and Ahmed Mashahreh
Text on banner with picture of terrorist Baha Alyan:
“Palestinian Scouts and Guides Association (i.e., PSA)
Preparatory studies - Jerusalem
The Committee for Developing Leadership
Aug. 24-28, 2016
Martyr Baha Alyan Course”
Chairman of the Jerusalem Scout Commission Maher Muhaisen: “We thank our brothers in the Shabab Al-Eizariya Club for letting us use their clubhouse...”
Terrorist Baha Alyan’s father, Muhammad Alyan: “The scouts are the leaders of society, they are the leaders of the people, they are the symbol of giving, they are the symbol of sacrifice. I think - no, I am certain - that Baha, while it is true that he died as a Martyr (Shahid), there are thousands of Bahas in Baha’s place. Now Baha is a soul in Heaven, but his body is in a [morgue] refrigerator...”
Baha Alyan Course instructor, Muhammad Al-Dahdar: “Baha remains among us, he remains in our hearts, and emphasizes to you that 250,000 scouts and guides in the Palestinian Scout Association are Baha. And if Allah wills it, they are following Baha’s path. In the name of the Palestinian Scouts and Guides Association and the Jerusalem District Scouts and Guides Commission, I am happy [inaudible]...”
Terrorist’s father is given a scouts’ scarf
The audience shouts: “Ya Baha, ya Alyan! You are a symbol to the Martyrs (Shahids)! We salute you in the Jerusalem scouts! Palestine! Jerusalem! Ours, ours, ours!”
Baha Alyan Course instructor, Muhammad Al-Dahdar: “You (i.e., Baha’s parents) [are the ones] who gave birth to this good and living role model for the young people of Palestine, to whom [we] tip [our] hats... thanks to what they [the youth] gave for Palestine, and because they sacrificed the most precious thing to them of all - which is life. They hated [and gave up] life for Palestine. They hated [and gave up] life because they wanted freedom and independence. I am happy to be with you at this moment in order to together commemorate our heroic Martyr, brother Baha Alyan.”
[Closing ceremony of PSA scout course Martyr Baha Alyan Course,
Jerusalem District Scout Commission Facebook page, Aug. 29, 2016]
Baha Alyan and Bilal Ghanem - 22 and 23-year-old Palestinian terrorists who on Oct. 13, 2015, boarded a bus in Jerusalem's Armon Hanatziv neighborhood with a gun and a knife and attacked passengers, killing Israelis Haviv Haim (78) and Alon Govberg (51), and Richard Lakin (76), and wounding 3 Israelis. Alyan was shot and killed by an Israeli security guard at the scene and Ghanem, a Hamas terrorist who served time in Israeli prison in 2013-2014, was wounded. Ghanem is serving 3 life sentences and an additional 60 years for these murders.
Among the men standing in front of the banner at the ceremony are:
Muhammad Alyan - father of terrorist murderer Baha Alyan
Maher Muhaisen - Chairman of the Jerusalem Scout Commission
Mufid Al-Barq, Muhammad Al-Dahdar, and Sa’id Atoun - Martyr Baha Alyan Course instructors
Ahmed Mashahreh - Author of article on the course published on PSA’s website on Aug. 25, 2016, and in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
on Aug. 27, 2016
For more explanations about the people involved in the course, see PMW's initial exposure here, and a more detailed exposure here
PMW is in possession of the full 30-minute video from the course.
Text and pictures posted on the website of the Palestinian Scout Association (PSA - literally in Arabic: Palestinian Scouts and Guides Association):
Headline: “Two symbolic funerals and an activity to encourage reading as a sign of loyalty to the soul of Martyr and scout leader Baha Alyan”
“The spirit of he who gave the ten commandments (referring to a post by Baha Alyan on his Facebook page before he carried out his terror attack in which he murdered 3, see below -Ed.), leader in the Palestinian scouts Baha Alyan, is wandering throughout the homeland; from Rafah, the citadel of the south, through Hashem’s (i.e., Prophet Muhammad’s grandfather) Gaza, to the northernmost point, the message from Rafah to Jerusalem was #Wedding_procession_of_Baha (i.e., a Martyr's funeral is considered wedding to the 72 Virgins in Paradise in Islam).
The Martyr (Shahid) Ziyad Abu Ein [scout] troop in the Rafah [Scout] Commission participated in a chain of readers around the Al-Najma Square in the city, under the title #Palestinian_youth_read. [This activity] was similar to the longest chain [of readers] in Jerusalem, which was led by Baha Alyan.
The Crescent of Palestine scout troop in the Gaza [Scout] Commission held a symbolic funeral in the streets of Gaza City [and participants] carried pictures of Baha. In a different funeral in the Northern Gaza [Scout] Commission, a coffin was carried with pictures of Martyr Baha on it. It was held by a scout troop named after Baha Alyan, Future of the Homeland. Those responsible for all of the activities emphasized that these activities are only a part of the loyalty and the oath to the blood of #Baha_Alyan, the Martyr, the man, and the knight of the media of the scout [movement], who was always [active] in the arenas of volunteer activity.”
[Palestinian Scout Association website (scout-ps.net), Sept. 3, 2016]
Baha Alyan's "10 commandments of every Martyr," which he posted on his Facebook page:
“1. I instruct the factions not to take responsibility for my Martyrdom-death, for my death was for the homeland and not for you.
2. I do not want any posters or T-shirts, as my memory will not only be a poster hanging on the walls.
3. I instruct you not to exhaust my mother with questions meant to win over the sentiments of the spectators and nothing more.
4. Do not sow hatred in my son’s heart. Let him discover his homeland and die for his homeland, and not in order to avenge my death.
5. If they [Israel] wish to demolish my home, let them do so, since the stone is not more precious than the soul created by my God.
6. Do not grieve over my Martyrdom-death, grieve over what will happen to you after I am gone.
7. Do not look for what I had written before my Martyrdom-death, look for what is the reason behind my Martyrdom-death.
8. Do not cry out in my funeral procession or push each other, but be only pure during the funeral prayer, nothing more.
9. Do not turn me into another number you count today and forget tomorrow.
10. I will see you in Paradise.”
[Facebook page of Baha Alyan, Dec. 12. 2014]