The man in the image is Yahya ‘Ayyash, one of the main operational leaders of Hamas during the early-to-mid 1990s, who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces in 1996. The white light rays surrounding and emanating from the figure’s head suggest his death at the enemy’s hands. Intending to add an aura of divination, the image was created to evoke the memory of ‘Ayyash’s martyrdom, and it is grounded historically with the caption: “inna ‘ala darbika madun” (“indeed, on your path, we tread”). When taken as the sum of its elements—white light rays, green caption (with the dominant “path metaphor”), an image of ‘Ayyash donning a kafiyya (traditional Arab head gear, and in this context, specifically Palestinian), green missile, red flames or rivulets of blood and holy site—the image clearly expresses the group’s commitment to continued armed resistance, and to the memory and revenge of a dead leader.
