A picture Nihad Ra'ed Waked posted on his Facebook page on September 29, 2015. The Arabic reads, "This is my childhood. Take it from me as a gift…only!! bring me a rifle."[1] He quoted the picture, repeating, "Take it [my childhood] from me as a gift." An M-16 assault rifle was used in the shooting attack Nihad Ra'ed Waked participated in.
Overview
1. On the morning of February 14, 2016, two young Palestinians went to the border security fence near the village of Hinanit in northern Samaria. They threw stones at the fence to attract an IDF force with the intention of launching a shooting attack at the force when it came to respond. The two were identified by IDF surveillance, and an IDF force was sent to the site. When the force arrived the Palestinians shot at the soldiers. The force returned fire, killing the two. One of the terrorists was armed with an M-16 assault rifle and the other with a knife.
The rifle used by one of the terrorists (Facebook page of Shihab, February 14, 2016).
The Two Terrorists Who Carried Out the Attack
2. The two Palestinian terrorists were Nihad Ra'ed Waked and Fuad Marwan Khaled Waked, cousins, both 15, students in the 10th grade from the village of A'raqa (west of Jenin, near the village of Hinanit). Hamas, Fatah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) all issued death notices for them, but according to their friends they did not belong to any organization. Nihad Ra'ed Waked wrote on his Facebook page that he often participated in violent clashes with IDF soldiers.
Left: The use Nihad Waked made of his Facebook page (Facebook page of Nihad Waked, February 1, 2016) Center: Fuad Waked (Facebook page of Shihab, February 14, 2016). Right: The M-16 found in the possession of one of the terrorists.
3. On February 14, 2016, a mass funeral was held in the village of A'raqa for the two terrorists. Their bodies were draped with yellow Fatah flags. Palestinians who attended the funeral waved Fatah flags and called for the "crimes of Israel" to be avenged and to "settle the score" (Dunia al-Watan and Ma'an, February 14, 2016). Young Palestinians also carried PIJ signs (see below).
Left: A'raqa villagers wave yellow Fatah flags at the funeral. Right: The funeral held in A'raqa for the two terrorists. Their bodies are draped with Fatah flags (Dunia al-Watan, February 14, 2016).
Left: The death notice issued by Fatah in Jenin for the two shaheeds (Facebook page created to commemorate Nihad and Fuad Waked, February 14, 2016) Right: The death notice issued by Hamas for the two "shaheeds of Palestine" (Facebook page of Hamas in Nablus, February 14, 2016).
Young Palestinians hold a PIJ sign commemorating Nihad and Fuad Waked (Dunia al-Watan, February 14, 2016).
Nihad Ra'ed Waked's Facebook Page
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4. Both terrorists had Facebook pages. Fuad Waked was not particularly active on Facebook, updating his page only every two or three weeks. Nihad Waked, on the other hand, had a very active Facebook page on which he posted support for the shaheeds, his desire to become a shaheed, a request of Allah to reach paradise and his desire to enter the pages of Palestinian history. |
5. Nihad Waked's Facebook page is another example of the role played by the social networks in the current terrorist campaign Facebook pages they serve as a platform for the terrorists' thoughts, desires and emotions and as a source of inspiration for terrorist attacks (especially for young Palestinians). A comparison of Nihad Waked's Facebook page with those of other terrorists during the terrorist campaign revealed several similar themes:
1) Expression of the desire to sacrifice life[for the sake of Allah]: The Facebook pages of Nihad Waked and other terrorists frequently mention the desire to sacrifice their lives as shaheeds. (Nihad Waked wrote, "…let the mother be ashamed…who does not have a son who is a shaheed," February 7, 2016).
2) Serial postings: Nihad Waked posted messages to his Facebook page which in retrospect show the maturing of the idea to carry out a terrorist attack and sacrifice his life. His messages were similar to those other terrorists posted in the weeks and sometimes months before they carried out attack (Nihad Waked wrote, "Rejoice aloud, gun, and wake the sleepers, tell them that without blood Palestine will not be restored," October 24, 2015).
3) Pictures and references to weapons: Nihad Waked and other terrorists posted pictures or mentioned rifles and other weapons (On August 16, 2015, he posted a picture, apparently of himself, holding a rifle. The Arabic read, "Raise your head…this is your weapon").
4) Terrorists who were killed as role models: Nihad Waked posted a picture of Fadi Alloun, who was killed on October 4, 2015 while carrying out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem. Other terrorists used their Facebook pages to identify with shaheeds who died during the current terrorist campaign, whom they regarded as role models and sources of inspiration.
5) Religious or semi-religious justification for death: Nihad Waked's Facebook page has a quotation from the Qur'an often used during the second intifada relating to the fate of the shaheeds after death ("…do not think of those who have been killed in Allah's way as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, well provided for" [3:169]). In previous instances terrorists used a saying popular on the Internet and the social networks, about "things that come from heaven…like the rain, like luck…like death."
Previous Bulletins and Appendix
6. For the maturing of the idea of carrying out a terrorist attack, as reflected on Nihad Waked's Facebook pages, see the Appendix.
7. For the maturing of the idea of carrying out a terrorist attack as reflected on the Facebook pages of Palestinians who carried out attack during the past weeks, see the following ITIC bulletins:
[1]The figure in the picture is similar to "Handala," the character drawn by cartoonist Ali Naji, who was assassinated in London. Handala is a Palestinian refugee child who became a symbol of the Palestinian struggle. However, the original figure holds the scales of justice, while this one holds a rifle in the air, the symbol of armed campaign.
