CHEN: Can you pinpoint the moment you decided to volunteer for the mission?
HAMUR: I can give you many examples of the killing of [Palestinian] children for no reason. My own cousin was killed in the lounge of our house near Jenin by Israeli soldiers. The Israelis invaded my homeland and decided they weren’t going to be merciful, and they massacred my people. So I decided not to feel sorry or to be merciful with their people.
Men are promised they’ll become martyrs in paradise. As a woman, what were you promised?
According to the Qur’an, God promised the martyrs a reward of 70 virgins, and those who die a martyr’s death will be kept alive and sustained by God. Women martyrs are promised they will become the purest and most beautiful form of angel at the highest level possible in heaven.
Did you think that by succeeding in your mission you would bring honor to your family?
This is something that would bring honor to my family and to everyone. The simple fact that I am a security prisoner is something very honorable to my family.
What training did you undergo?
Basically it’s a belt with explosives. I didn’t need a lot of training. The training took place in an apartment in Nablus. They taught me to strap it around my body, but because it was too large they put it in a backpack that I was supposed to carry. They used a connecting button that they put on my right hip for me to push. I was to do this only when I could see a lot of people gathered together in a crowd and I had managed to get into the crowd. Then I was to push the button and explode myself. It was very easy training. It was only half an hour.
So your entire training to go and blow yourself up only took half an hour?
The training itself doesn’t demand much. As a martyr, you mostly need strength of will and character. The moment I made the decision to take the belt and use it, I was already prepared. Of course, I had to know where the target was, and I needed someone to take me there because I’m a woman and couldn’t go alone.
Where were you sent to?
Actually, I selected the target, which was in south Jerusalem. It was a pizza restaurant, but I can’t remember the name of the place. I decided to go and blow myself up in the evening hours, when people were going back home from work and there would be a big crowd of people around the target area.
Especially families with children at that time of day?
I don’t target women and children in particular. I’m not responsible for targeting a group or any person in particular. I just do it as it is. [The Israelis] didn’t care about killing children and women.
It must have been a pretty powerful feeling to have that belt strapped around you.
Of course it’s an unusual feeling. I was so thrilled to have this opportunity. I had waited so anxiously for this moment, to get to that moment, then to reach my target, to reach my prey. As a Palestinian woman, I knew I was going to satisfy and cure for a while the hearts of many Palestinians, many people, who had suffered, and I wasn’t at all afraid of doing this.
Did you tell anyone what you were about to do?
Of course not. I would never uncover this secret. It would have ruined everything, and my family wouldn’t have let me out of the house.
Maybe you’ve passed the point of no return.
My future doesn’t stop here. I intend to build up a different future for myself.
If you could, would you go into that crowd today and blow yourself up?
The way I see it is that the Jews weren’t merciful with my nation, with my people. They kill young children before even the elderly. They don’t think, they don’t look to see if that person, that boy, was carrying a gun. What could a child be carrying except a biscuit? I don’t have anything against Israeli children, but I know there is a possibility that this Israeli child will grow up and come to kill my son or my neighbor’s son. Therefore, I think he should be dead now.
