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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (3525)	2/7/2003 11:27:47 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15987

Why, zonder, do you think the Israeli papers just make this stuff up? The glorification of martyrdom in Palestinian schools and media has been often discussed. Palestinian TV ran an ad where the dead Mohammed al Dura told other kids to become martyrs and join him in heave. But it's not just Israeli papers that have covered the story; Arab media have also complained about the Palestinian use of child-soldiers. Often these papers are in London, as the Palestinian Journalist Association has published an official ban on showing pictures of kids with weapons as it "harms the cause". Excerpts: Arab Journalist Decries Palestinian Child-Soldiers. Huda Al-Husseini, journalist with the London based pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, wrote the following article which was published on October 27, 2000. "If what was included in the British Times' report the day before yesterday accurate - that Palestinian children undergo weeks of training stone-throwing in order to confront the Israeli military apparatus and that they are promised to go the heaven - if all this is accurate, it is frightening. Very frightening. While UN organizations act to save the child-soldiers, especially in Africa, from the control of militia leaders who hurl them into the furnace of gang-fighting, some Palestinian leaders show up and consciously issue orders which have the purpose of ending their childhood, even if it means their last breath." memri.org Palestinian Authority Columnist on the Causes of Child Suicide Attacks and How to Stop Them An article in the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Ayyam by columnist Ashraf Al-'Ajrami addressed the phenomenon of Palestinian children carrying out suicide attacks and the roots of this trend. Al-'Ajrami demanded that the PA take measures to stop this type of attack. The following are excerpts from the article: Why Palestinian Children Commit Suicide Attacks "The phenomenon of martyrdom [perpetrating suicide attacks] is on the increase, particularly among youth and minors. It seems that the Palestinians' distress from their lives of difficulty and degradation under the occupation pushes many to disdain life and seek the shortest way to the Hereafter, in order to free themselves of reality and reach Paradise." "The honor and esteem that the Palestinian people gives to the martyrs has, no doubt, had a crucial effect on the emergence of this phenomenon. Likewise, the funerals of the martyrs and the celebrations held in their honor have always been accompanied by talk of life everlasting and the eternal serenity [promised] in Paradise, making people think: 'Why wait and go on living a life of misery when Paradise can be reached by the mere press of a button or even by coming in range of Israeli shooting…'" "There is danger in exploiting the nationalist sentiments and enthusiasm among minors to encourage them to martyr themselves for nothing, as has happened in the Gaza Strip. There, children have recently risked their lives to be martyrs and to attain life everlasting, or at least a hero's funeral and festivities in their honor, as are held for martyrs." "Some Gaza children are influenced by the schools, the mosques, or the gatherings attended by many children at which praise for sacrifice and martyrdom is voiced." "Some are willing to arm them for money - with pistols, hand grenades, and readily available pipe bombs that cost only a few shekels. These brainwashed children are imbued with motivation to approach the nearest settlement, where they are shot dead by the soldiers of the occupation." "Our data indicates that a considerable number of the children who martyred themselves in the Gaza Strip went to the settlements in broad daylight, or in open areas; in 90% of the incidents, they faced danger, because they were armed with grenades, pipe bombs, and similar objects - in most cases purchased with their own money - and in all cases incapable of harming the occupiers." memri.org