JERUSALEM – The anniversary of a 2002 suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian teenager was marked by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party in a special event on Thursday.
Ayyat Al-Akhras was a Fatah terrorist who blew herself up in a supermarket in the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood in Jerusalem in March 2002. Two people were killed in the attack and 28 were injured.
Israeli NGO Palestinian Media Watch translated the Fatah Movement’s post inviting Palestinians “to honor she who watered the land with her pure blood, the Shahida (martyr) Ayyat Al-Akhras … in an event to mark the anniversary of the death.”
At 17 years old, the Fatah member was also the youngest suicide bomber to date. Earlier this year, Fatah showered blessings of “glory and eternity” on al-Akhras, calling her a “Bride of Palestine.”
At the time of the attack, CBS’ 60 Minutes called Al-Akhras the “Bomber Next Door” and described how she was a straight “A” student who was popular and outgoing.
She was engaged to be married after high school but instead chose to be a “bride in the suit of blood.”
60 Minutes reported that Al-Akhras became an icon in Bethlehem and, for many Palestinian university students, an example to follow.
“Because she is doing this for us, and for our land, and for our mosques, our churches. Not because of her, because she wanted to die,” Ikram, a student at Al Quds University, told 60 Minutes.
The terrorist’s sister also vowed that her family will avenge her blood.
“And God willing, her sisters will take out 30 Israelis. God willing, I swear, I swear, I swear that my sister will be avenged by 30 people,” she said.
“She sacrificed her life so the people can live. We are alone … leave me alone, leave me alone!”
In 2014, Al-Akhras’ body was returned to the Palestinian Authority.