Hamas leader visits Jewish mother and her kids

On Tuesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh visited and congratulated Mrs. Shahira Zinedine on accomplishing the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

Zinedine was born Jewish but converted to Islam and moved to Gaza.

Haniyeh posed for photos with her and her children, who are - according to Jewish law - full-fledged Jews.

In a 2003 interview, Zinedine said that her original name was Esther Mordechai Machima, that she was born in Morocco in 1953 and move to Israel in 1955. She was working at a factory in Ashdod when she fell in love with an Arab truck driver, so she married him. In that same interview she said that she felt that suicide bombing was a natural reaction to Israeli crimes. She had five full-grown children at that time - three sons and two daughters - so the children here must be her grandchildren.

Haniyeh seems to be getting a little grabby with her granddaughter. Then again, she might be old enough to marry him.

 (Yeah,  I know, it's a cheap shot.)

UPDATE: Lots of comment about my cheap jab. I was honestly bothered by how Haniyeh was holding the girl who is not his relative. I shouldn't have mentioned the kiddie marriage part - that generally happens in Gulf countries but not by Palestinian Arabs - but still, yecch.