A mother of five martyrs, Umm Nidal, says that when a child blows him or herself up, “he is not throwing himself to death or to perdition … it is called martyrdom.” Ms. Nidal has become a darling of the Arab press and a member of Palestinian Authority Legislative Council – during public appearances, she calls on other Muslim mothers to “sacrifice” their children for “jihad.” In a December 21interview aired by Dream TV, Ms. Nidal said the Koran supports her children’s quest for martyrdom, and said she would gladly “sacrifice” her five remaining sons.

Ms. Nidal’s views are shared by many who voted her and her party, Hamas, into the Palestinian government, and should be taken seriously.

Tomorrow on Capitol Hill, the Middle East Media Research Institute will hold a briefing titled, “Hamas: Its Ideology and Strategy For the Future,” sponsored by the House of Representatives International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation.

Translated remarks by Hamas leaders broadcasted on Arab TV, will be viewed and the terror organization’s publications including its covenant will be examined.

Hamas’s strategy to advance its culture of violence, which relies heavily on imposing its ideology on future generations through education and child-rearing, will also be examined. The following translations are examples of how Hamas leaders express the importance of including women and children in jihad:

* “Jihad becomes a personal duty of every Muslim … This requires the propagation of Islamic consciousness among the masses … The indoctrination campaign must involve ulama, educators, teachers … It is [also] necessary to introduce essential changes in the curricula, in order to eliminate the influences of the intellectual invasion which were inflicted upon them by the Orientalists and the missionaries.”

– Article 15 of the Hamas covenant

* “It is necessary to educate the next Islamic generations in our region in an Islamic way …” and all Muslims must participate in Jihad.

– Article 16 of the Hamas covenant

* “Our education system will not represent Palestine as a coastal strip stretching from Rafah to Beit Hanoun … Our ministry of culture will teach them how the martyr is turned into prose, literature, and poetry … Palestine means Palestine in its entirety – from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River…”

– Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar; from comments broadcast January 25 on Al-Manar

* “Hamas has tens of martyrs who are willing to carry out attacks … An operation of such martyrs exceeds that of Arab armies … The importance of the weapon of such martyrs is no less than the importance of nuclear weapons.”

– Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al; extracted from his speech to a Palestinian Arab high school students in June 2001

* “I thank Allah … for His support in the Jihad … and I ask him to help us to liberate Jerusalem … Acre, Haifa, Jaffa, Safed, Nazareth, Ashkelon, and all of Palestine … We remember the martyrs … Who will forget … the children that you sacrificed? … We saw our expectations [realized] … until [even] women urged their sons to commit martyrdom … and the fathers received the message of the sons’ martyrdom in praise and cries of ‘Allah Akbar.”

– Hamas military commander Muhammd Deif; from an audio cassette released August 27

* Palestinian Arab parents who encourage their children to become suicide bombers are “people [who] compete with one another for martyrdom, people who encourage their sons to die … A mother readies her son, and then receives the news of his martyrdom with cries of joy. A father receives the news of his son’s martyrdom with pride and honor. Our women push our children [towards martyrdom]…”

– Extracted from a September 16 Hamas sermon covered by Al-Jazeera

* “The role of the Muslim woman in the war of liberation is no less important than that of the man, for she is the maker of men. Her role in guiding and educating the next generation is very important…”

– Article 17 of the Hamas covenant, on women’s role in preparing children for Jihad

The event will also look at the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. As Umm Nidal told Dream TV on December 21: “Peace means the liberation of all of Palestine, from the [Jordan] to the [Mediterranean] Sea. When this is accomplished – if they want peace, we will be ready.”

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.