Reply #36: Is encouraging your own children to die a martyr good for society? [View All]

[bling bling]

Apparently so, if you're a member of Hezbollah:

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Hizbullah Widows Enjoy Honor, Comforts in Lebanon
Run Date: 09/14/03


BEIRUT, Lebanon (WOMENSENEWS)--Like many Shiite Muslim girls in southern Lebanon, Rima Naji was married early, at the tender age of 13. By 15 she had delivered her first child--a healthy boy--and by 19 her husband Sheikh Fadi Abboud was dead.

"He was martyred on the 10th of February 1995. He was 21 years old," she says. "Thank God he died according to the objectives of Hizbullah."

A member of Hizbullah or "Party of God," the Shiite Islamic resistance group that controls southern Lebanon, Aboud died in a commando operation against the Israeli army, which occupied the south from 1982 to 2000. His death was not extraordinary. During the lengthy occupation, scores of Lebanese were displaced, maimed and killed in a bloody guerilla war. When the Israeli army withdrew in May 2000, grinding their tanks out from bunkers across the south, Hizbullah--which is listed as a terrorist organization by the Pentagon--emerged victorious.

No Regrets About Husband's Fate
A staunch, pious woman veiled completely in black, Naji shows little regret about her ultimately fateful marriage.

"When I married him, I knew he followed the party. I knew I had a martyr at home," she says. Leaning closer, she confesses her ambitions for her sons, the youngest of whom was a nursling when Aboud died.

"When my sons tell me: 'I hope to become a martyr one day,' I say: 'I hope so too. I hope God chooses you as a martyr.'

Alarmed by U.S. Calls to Dismantle Hizbullah
Completely dependent on Hizbullah, women such as Zoorgoof are directly threatened by the United States' recent calls for Hizbullah to dismantle. Visiting Beirut in May this year, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell demanded Hizbullah disarm and that the Lebanese army be deployed to the Israeli border.

Since 2000, Hizbullah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has controlled south Lebanon autonomously. This decision is ultimately condoned by Syria, which has occupied Lebanon since the end of its civil war, and views Hizbullah as a card to play in any future peace negotiations with Israel.

Dismantling the party that has a constituency of 500,000 supporters could only be done by force, says Hamzeh. "And this will mean a civil war. It doesn't seem that Hizbullah will just pack its bags and leave."

Hizbullah Budget Larger Than Government's
Hamzeh also estimates the budget of the group at over $1 billion a year, more than that of the Lebanese government. Fifty percent of this figure comes from Iran, says Hamzeh, which as a Shiite theocracy holds a spiritual veto over the party.

At present it appears the future of Hizbullah is ensured, not only financially but by the willingness of many of its women to offer up their offspring.

"God chose my husband to be a martyr and a Muslim, and that's a great honor," says Naji, enamored with the promises of glory outlined in the Koran. "I hope my children become martyrs and my father and brothers too. Inshallah," she says. God willing.

edited to add link: http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1527