17-year-old Ayyat al-Akras murdered two Israelis and injured 28 others when she blew herself up near a supermarket in Jerusalem on March 29, 2002. One of her victims was also a teenage girl and the other was a 55-year-old security guard who prevented al-Akras from entering the supermarket, saving many lives.
Her attack was part of the Second Intifada of 2000 - 2005 in which more than 1,100 Israelis were killed, including in a number of suicide bombings.
Now she has been commemorated as a role model for children at the Bethlehem High School for Girls, with a plaque in her honor placed at the entrance to the school, a recent Facebook post by the school has revealed.
According to Palestinian Media Watch, the text on the plaque reads: “This memorial was established in cooperation between the Education Directorate [a branch of the PA Ministry of Education] and the Fatah Shabiba [Youth Movement] organization, in order to commemorate the Martyrs of the Al-Aqsa Intifada at the Bethlehem High School for Girls for the anniversary of the outbreak of the Palestinian revolution
Jan. 1, 2003
Martyr Ayyat Al-Akhras
Martyr Nida Al-Izza"
Al-Izza was apparently accidentally shot by Israeli soldiers during the intifada.
The entrance on which the plaque is placed is flanked to the left by a drawing of Yasser Arafat, while to the right is the logo of the Fatah Shabiba Youth Movement, which includes a map of 'Palestine' covering the whole of what is currently Israel with the colors of the Palestinian flag.
Palestinian Media Watch, a non-profit Israeli research center which reports on Palestinian matters, noted that promoting violent jihad to children is not uncommon in Palestinian-authority run schools.
"Telling teenage girls that a suicide bomber of their age is an honored “Martyr” on a prominent plaque they see daily at the entrance to their school, sends two morally deplorable messages: First, that murdering Israelis is not only acceptable but honorable and second, that killing oneself in order to kill Israelis is likewise heroic," they commented.