Shlomi Eldar, a documentary reporter for Israeli's Channel 10 describes this woman's love for her child:

Elder of Ziyon, Mother of baby saved by Israelis

"I had seen her standing for hours, caressing him, warming him up, kissing him...

"The whole time I accompanied her, I saw a caring mother who was at her baby's bedside night and day. She didn't eat, she lost weight and she cried. I myself saw to it that she ate. I saw her faint when she was informed there was a small chance her son would get well. I saw her when she was told there was no longer a chance, and she stood there and caressed Mohammed, with tears, as though parting from him."

I have to stop for a moment - just the thought - a small child's life saved by a man whose son died fighting these very same people - I must tell you, it brought tears to my eyes and hope to my heart: perhaps Israelis could one day make peace with the Arabs. Could I have been so wrong all along about the Palestinians?

The story continues:

From an innocent conversation about religious holidays, Raida Abu Mustafa launched into a painful monologue about the culture of the shahids - the martyrs - and admitted, during the complex transplant process, that she would like to see her son perpetrate a suicide bombing attack in Jerusalem.

"Jerusalem is ours," she declared. "We are all for Jerusalem, the whole nation, not just a million, all of us. Do you understand what that means - all of us?"

She also explained to Eldar exactly what she had in mind. "For us, death is a natural thing. We are not frightened of death. From the smallest infant, even smaller than Mohammed, to the oldest person, we will all sacrifice ourselves for the sake of Jerusalem. We feel we have the right to it.

Whoa! Where did this come from? I don't understand, why would she be fighting so hard to save her son's life when all she wants is for him to die as a suicide bomber? She explains:

"Life is not precious. Life is precious, but not for us. For us, life is nothing, not worth a thing. That is why we have so many suicide bombers. They are not afraid of death. None of us, not even the children, are afraid of death. It is natural for us. After Mohammed gets well, I will certainly want him to be a shahid. If it's for Jerusalem, then there's no problem. For you it is hard, I know; with us, there are cries of rejoicing and happiness when someone falls as a shahid. For us a shahid is a tremendous thing."

And then it became clear to me. The child was like an empty rifle magazine and the tears were merely for the sorrow a soldier feels when he runs out of bullets to kill the enemy.

I feel like such a fool. Yes, I Was Mistaken About Palestinians - quite mistaken. They do care about their children, the same way a soldier cares about his store of ammunition.

The difference between Palestinians and civilized peoples is that we do not bury our spent rifle rounds.

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