JERUSALEM — The story of Amina Muna, 34, the infamous “internet assassin” released in the swap with Israeli soldier Gilat Shalit, has developed a new twist.
The convoluted final discussions between Israel and Hamas involved elaborate horse-trading about the geographic destiny of the prisoners who had committed the most egregious crimes. Israel wanted to banish as many of them as possible to foreign destinations, far away. The Hamas representatives, in part eager to highlight their achievement in bringing “home” martyrs who had killed Israelis, wanted them back in Gaza or the West Bank.
On the issue of two notorious female prisoners, Hamas won. Wafa el-Bass, the original underwear bomber, in 2005 filled her panties with explosives and took advantage of a special visa to receive medical care at an Israeli hospital, and decided to try blow the place up. Border police stopped her when they noticed her strange gait, and as they approached, her detonator failed.
Gilad Shalit: Two released Palestinian prisoners refuse to go back to Gaza
Amina Muna seduced a lovesick Israeli teenager, leading to his shooting death at the hands of her Fatah cohorts. Presenting herself as “Sally,” an American tourist, and offering “a good time,” she asked Ofir Rahum, 16, to bring condoms because “I don’t want to get pregnant.”
He was shot at close range, on his knees, begging for his life.
Muna subsequently became renowned for her cruelty toward fellow prisoners. In a book about female terrorists, Anat Berko, a researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, called “Bombshell: Women and Children as Suicide Bombers,” describes Muna as the “undisputed leader of her fellow female security prisoners.”
Berko depicts Muna taunting her wardens by mimicking Rahum's pleas, "Mommy, save me!" In addition, she is described abusing female prisoners who disobeyed her. She would instruct them as to what to eat and drink, and she pried into their private correspondence. One of her favorite punishments was to pour hot margarine on anyone who complained.
Amuna, a real looker, is a secular woman known for favoring skinny jeans and tight t-shirts. Hamas won her release into Gaza, but it is not difficult to understand her reluctance to adhere to Islamic codes of conduct and dress, or her fears of reencountering any of her former fellow prisoners.
Amuna threw a tantrum at the border crossing and demanded exile in Egypt. Refusing her fellow prisoner Wafa el-Bass, Egypt accepted Amuna.
So imagine the surprise of Ahmet Davotoğlu, Turkey’s foreign minister, as he greeted the 10 male newly released Palestinian prisoners he had agreed to take in at Ankara’s airport, when Amina Muna emerged.
“Amina Muna, known as the ‘Internet assassin,’ unexpectedly joined the group at the last minute after she refused to go to Gaza” wrote the Turkish Hürriyet Daily News.
No one seems to know why Musa is in Ankara and not in Cairo, but one thing is clear: life in Turkey is far more fun. She will be under significantly less surveillance. And with any luck, Musa could make her way to Turkish Cyprus, cross unnoticed into the Greek side of the island, and with relative ease embark upon a new life in the borderless EuroZone.
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