Jailed Palestinian schoolgirl seen as potential bomber

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- When Israeli troops stormed Bethlehem last week, they seized an unlikely suspect on Israel's most-wanted list: Jala Abu Ajamia, a 17-year-old schoolgirl with no record of violence or political activism.

At least a dozen soldiers entered her home in the Dheisheh refugee camp at 3 a.m. Friday. After capturing Abu Ajamia in her pajamas, they searched the house and questioned relatives for five hours, then handed her over to Israel's Shin Bet security service.

Abu Ajamia attracted Israeli scrutiny in a most unusual way -- by complaining about an arranged marriage to a 27-year-old cousin. The teenager, who was then 16, said she was too young to wed, wanted to continue her studies and didn't even like her cousin. And she said she intended to blow herself up inside Israel.

"Today is my wedding day and I want to die," she told an Associated Press reporter at the July 7 wedding ceremony.

Her comments were directed in part at the Israeli army, which had recently reoccupied Bethlehem, but also at her personal plight -- although she refrained from any direct criticism of the wedding for fear of offending her family.

Now, her fate hinges on whether Israel's security services see her as an exasperated teenager or a serious threat.

"This is a family problem, no more and no less," said her brother, Hussein Abu Ajamia. "She was very upset with her marriage, but I don't accept that she was going to carry out an attack."

Israel, which has been hit by 85 suicide bombings in two years, is not inclined to take chances.

Until about a year ago, suicide bombings were carried out almost exclusively by young men who had been hard-core activists. But in recent months, many bombers were teenagers with no record of political activism, including two carried out by young women from the Bethlehem area.

No political involvement

Kamal Abu Ajamia, another of Abu Ajamia's brothers, said no one in the family had ever been deeply involved in politics. But he conceded his sister might be susceptible to outside pressure.

The Palestinian security forces brought Abu Ajamia in for questioning six weeks ago. She told them her husband, Nader al-Masri, was beating her, according to a source in the Palestinian security services.

The Palestinian police ordered al-Masri to sign a document saying he wouldn't harm his wife, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Al-Masri declined to comment Tuesday.

Abu Ajamia was placed under informal house arrest, with the Palestinian security services telling her family to keep a close eye on her. She left her husband eventually moving in with her mother.

"She came to us filled with stress, but as the days went by, she became calmer," said Hussein Abu Ajamia, her brother.

But Israeli security forces also had heard of Abu Ajamia, and she was placed on the wanted list.

An Israeli security source acknowledged that Abu Ajamia's case was unusual. The key question, the source said, is whether she had any contact with militant groups that would want to use her as a bomber.

If she did, the Israelis would likely prosecute her. If she didn't, they would be inclined to let her go, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Abu Ajamia's July 7 wedding was repeatedly delayed by the presence of Israeli troops in the West Bank and by Israeli-imposed curfews. Most invited guests failed to show up. No food was served because shops were closed.

At the ceremony, Abu Ajamia made no attempt to hide her unhappiness.

"I don't know what will happen to me one day to the next," she said then. "God willing, life will return to normal and I will find my happiness, but I don't know. I don't know anything."