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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
“Ask for death” is the message that the
Palestinian
Authority [PA] has been conveying to its children since the start of
violence in
October 2000. In June 2002, two articulate 11-year-old girls were
interviewed in
the studio of official Palestinian Authority TV. Among other topics,
they spoke
of their personal yearning to achieve death through Shahada – Death
for Allah –
and of a similar desire they said exists in “every Palestinian
child.” It is
striking that their desire for death was expressed as a personal
goal, not
related to the conflict with Israel. Having been convinced that dying
for Allah
is preferable to life, their goal in living is not to experience a
good life,
but to achieve the proper death – Shahada.
The following is a selection from their
remarks:
Host: “You described Shahada as something
beautiful.
Do you think it is beautiful?”
Walla: “Shahada is very, very beautiful.
Everyone
yearns for Shahada. What could be better than going to
paradise?”
Host: “What is better, peace and full
rights for the
Palestinian people, or Shahada?”
Walla: “Shahada. I will achieve my rights
after
becoming a Shahida.”
Yussra: “Of course Shahada is a good
thing. We don’t
want this world, we want the Afterlife. We benefit not from this
life, but from
the Afterlife... The children of Palestine have accepted the concept
that this
is Shahada, and that death by Shahada is very good. Every Palestinian
child
aged, say 12, says ’Oh Lord, I would like to become a Shahid.’”
[PATV, June 9,
2002]
To
see this
video click here:
What has caused this compelling desire for
death
among these children, a desire that conflicts with the basic survival
instinct
of every human being?
During the more than two and a half years
of armed
conflict, the Palestinian Authority [PA] has been making a paramount
effort to
convince their own children that there is no greater achievement than
to die for
Allah in battle, known as Shahada. This has been done via the many
mediums at
its disposal, including children’s TV broadcasting, the educational
system,
cultural programs, directives from political and religious leaders
and even
encouragement from within the family.
In November 2000, a mere six weeks after
the start of
violence, Palestinian Media Watch published a report documenting the
first
indications that this was a PA goal. The official PA daily, Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida,
glorified children who were killed in confrontations and described
their deaths
as personal achievements. It wrote of a 14-year-old: “He responded to
the call
of Allah and achieved the Shahada he yearned…. He reached the highest
levels
with Allah…” The paper reported with admiration that the dead
boy’s “classmates
swore they would continue on the path of Shahada…” [PA official
daily, Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida, November 9, 2000] Other children were said to have been
disappointed
at having merely been injured and not killed. An injured 13-year-
old: “My goal
is not to be injured, rather something loftier: Shahada.” [PA
official daily,
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 8, 2000] Since then, Palestinian Media
Watch has
published numerous reports on the progress of this PA indoctrination
of its
children and on the varying methods the PA employs to portray death
for Allah to
its children, not only as an ideal, but, as something that is
expected of
them.
The Results of the
Indoctrination
In recent months the success of the PA
indoctrination
efforts are apparent. The 11-year
olds quoted above defining death for Allah
as their
goal in life and public opinion polls confirm the widespread
acceptance of this
sentiment. These polls show 80% of Palestinian children seek death as
Shahids.
Still more grave are the cases in which 14
year-olds
have fulfilled this PA directive, writing farewell letters to their
parents
proudly describing their desire to be Shahids, and embarking on
suicide
terrorist missions hoping to die. It must be emphasized: the
children’s farewell
letters have included phrases identical to phrases from the
propaganda films
produced by the PA, such as “Mother, don’t cry for me,” showing a
direct link
between the PA propaganda and the children’s drive for heroic
death.
THE RESEARCH
This paper documents the PA’s
indoctrination of
Palestinian children to seek death, and its effects on the children.
With the
exception of statements made by parents, all the indoctrination cited
in this
report is directed by the Palestinian Authority.
PART I:
The Indoctrination of Children to Seek
Death
a. Short Propaganda Films for
Children
b. Schools and Textbooks
c. Culture
d. Political Leadership
e. Parents and the Palestinian
Public
f. Religious Leadership
PART II:
Results of the PA Shahada
Indoctrination
a. Ages 6-9: Playing Death Games
b. Ages 10-13: Expressing Desire to
Die
c. Ages 14-17: Shahada
Missions
Part I:
The Indoctrination of Palestinian Children
to Seek
Death for Allah – Shahada
a. Propaganda Films for
Children
Short propaganda film-clips for children,
teaching
them to see violence and Shahada – Death for Allah – as ideal values
that are
expected of them, are broadcast daily on PATV, often for several
hours a day.
The following are three examples from among hundreds:
- The “Farewell Letter”
- Film-Clip: “How Sweet is Shahada” for children
A propaganda film-clip designed to offset
a child’s
natural fear of death, portrays Shahada as both heroic and tranquil.
The film’s
hero, a nice looking schoolboy, leaves a farewell letter explaining
his choice
to achieve Shahada, describing the death he is seeking as
pleasurable: “How
sweet is Shahada.” It was broadcast repeatedly in 2001-02, even three
times a
day.
To view
click here:
The following are selections from the boy’s letter,
which are sung
accompanying scenes of the boy calmly heading toward his death:
“Do not be sad, my dear,
“And do not cry over my parting,
“Oh my dear father,
“For my country, Shahada…
“How sweet is Shahada
“When I embrace you, Oh my land!…“
“My beloved, my mother,
“My most dear,
“Be joyous over my blood
“And do not cry for me…”
The words “How sweet is Shahada when I embrace you, oh
my land!”
are sung as the child actor is seen in the above picture falling dead
and
“embracing” the land.
[PATV, hundreds of times since May 7, 2001. Recently
September 27,
2002]
2. The Film-Clip: “I am the Shahid, My Mother”
“I am the Shahid, oh my mother! I have inscribed my
name with my
blood…
“I have prayed for the land
“And I have responded to the promise
“And if I do not return, don’t cry for me my mother!
(3x)
“Sound a cry of joy, sound a cry of joy, my mother!…
“I am the Shahid, oh my mother! I have inscribed my
name with my
blood!”
[PATV, many times in 2001-2002, beginning May 16, 2001]
3. The Muhammad Al-Dura Clip: “Follow me” to a Child’s
Paradise
In a striking film-clip, the most famous child Shahid,
Muhammad
Al-Dura, whose death in a crossfire was captured by a cameraman and
broadcast on
television, calls to Palestinian children: “follow me” to paradise.
Al-Dura,
played in the clip by a child actor, is portrayed in paradise, going
to an
amusement park, flying a kite and frolicking on the beach. The aim of
the
soothing words and scenes is to eliminate a child’s natural fear of
death: “How
sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids… I go with no fear, no
tears…”
The film-clip opens with the following invitation from
Al-Dura
displayed on the full screen:
“I am waving to you not to part, but to say ’follow
me’”
[signed] “Muhammad Al-Dura”
To
view click
here:
The following calming words are from the film-clip:
Narrator: “How sweeis the fragrance of the Shahids,
“How sweet is the scent of the earth,
“Its thirst by the gush of blood
“Flowing from the youthful body.”
Vocalist: “Oh father ’til we meet, Oh father, ’til we
meet! “I
shall go with no fear, no tears,
“How sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids!
“I shall go to my place in heaven,
“How sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids!”
Choir: “How sweet is the fragrance of the Shahids!”
Vocalist: “Oh father ’til we meet, Oh father, ’til we
meet!”
[PATV December 25, 2000, and many times since]
- Schools and Textbooks
The PA Ministry of Education’s textbooks portray
Shahada as an
ideal. For example, “The Poem of the Shahid” extols yearning for
death, and
includes the words: “I see my death, but I hasten my steps towards
it…” It
appears in schoolbooks for grades 5, 6, 7, and 12. The illustration
below of a
dead child appearing in a textbook published in September 2001,
teaches the
children to identify a child as the one who is yearning death.
1. “The Shahid” in Four Different Grades’
Curricula
“I shall carry my soul in my palm
And toss it into the abyss of destruction...
And then, either life, gladdening friends,
Or death, enraging the enemies.
By your life! I see my death,
But I hasten my steps towards it...
By your life! This is the death of men
And who asks for a noble death – here it is…”
[Our Arabic Language for 5th grade, p. 60, Our
Beautiful
Language for 6th grade, section 1, p. 47, Our Beautiful Language
for 7th
grade, section 1, p. 97, Arabic Language Improvement Guide for 12th
grade, p.
84]
2. Textbooks Educate for Shahada
“The Moslem sacrifices himself for his belief, and
wages Jihad
[Holy War] for Allah. He is not swayed, for he knows that the date
of his
death has been predetermined and that his death as a Shahid on the
field of
battle is preferable to death in his bed…”
[Islamic Education, for 8th grade, page 176, by the
PA Ministry
of Education, based on a Jordanian book, CMIP Report]
3. In School
The following, one example among many from the PA
official
newspaper, shows a teacher’s supportive attitude toward his
student’s seeking
Shahada:
“The Shahid Wajdi Al-Hattab [9th grade] responded to
the call of
Allah and achieved the Shahada he yearned for... He would always
say to his
friends: ‘When I become a Shahid, give out cake... he attained what
he
yearned. He reached the highest levels with Allah… [Wajdi’s gym
teacher said:]
’Wajdi asked me to give out cake if he becomes a Shahid…’ His
classmates swore
that they would continue in the path of Shahada…”
[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 9, 2000]
4. Higher Education: “We do not Love Life!”
Professor Issam Sissalem, Chairman of the History
Department in
the Islamic University of Gaza and host of an educational program
on PA TV:
“…Allah rewards those who offer Shahids for the sake of heroism and
honor with
great compensation. We are not afraid to die, and do not love life.
…”
b. Culture
Many cultural programs idolize Shahada and the
Shahids – those
who died for Allah. The regular PA TV programming includes song and
dance
accompanying scenes of violence and words glorifying willingness to
die for
Allah. The following are some examples of cultural PA TV broadcasts
glorifying
Shahda:
1. A Song of Praise to Wafa Idris, the First Woman
Suicide
Terrorist
A song honoring Wafa Idris, the first woman suicide
terrorist,
who blew herself up in the center of Jerusalem, was broadcast on PA
TV three
times in two weeks. The song extols and praises both Idris and her
act of
suicide terrorism. It calls her a “blossom” and a “heartbeat of
pride” and
applauds her choice of death: “You chose Shahada, in death you have
brought
life to our will.”
To view
click
here.
The lyrics:
Vocalist: “My sister, Wafa,
“My sister, Wafa,
“Oh, the heartbeat of pride,
“Oh, blossom who was on the Earth and is now in
heaven, (2x)
“My sister, Wafa, My sister, Wafa,
“Oh, the heartbeat of pride,
“Oh, blossom who was on the Earth and is now in
heaven, (2x)
“My sister, Wafa…”
Choir: “Allah Akbar! Oh Palestine of the Arabs
“Allah Akbar, Oh Wafa!”
Vocalist: “But you chose Shahada,
“In death you have brought life to our will.
“But you chose Shahada,
“In death you have brought life to our will.”
[PATV, May 12, 2002 and others]
2. Dancing and Singing: “I will Even Fall as a
Shahid”
This song calls upon children to attack Israel with
stones: “You
will not be saved, Oh Zionist, from the volcano of my county’s
stones.” It
reiterates the preparedness to die: “I will even willingly fall as
a Shahid!,”
is sung to scenes of children throwing stones and participating in
a frenzied
“war dance.” [See picture]
“Allah Akbar! [Allah is Great]
“Oh, the young ones…
“Shake the earth, raise the stones
“You will not be saved, Oh Zionist,
“From the volcano of my county’s stones. (2x)
“You are the target of my eyes
“I will even willingly fall as a Shahid!
“Allah Akbar! Oh, the young ones.”
- Political Leadership
The Shahada mandate to children comes from the
Palestinian
political leadership. Arafat presents the actions of children who
intentionally
died as Shahids as model behavior. 14-year-old Faris Ouda died a week
after
having been broadcast on TV hurling stones at an Israeli tank. The
story of his
successfully achieving death was glorified in the PA official
press: “On the day
of his death Faris Ouda left his home with a slingshot, after having
made
himself a wreath decorated with photos of himself and having written
on it ’The
Brave Shahid Faris Ouda’…” He said to his mother: “Don’t worry,
mother, Shahada
is sweet…” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2000,
Feb. 3,
2001]
Yasser Arafat has singled out Ouda as a role model for
children.
Addressing an assembly of summer camp children, he praised Ouda’s
action, and
called the children there “peers of Faris Ouda.” Asked in a TV
interview what
was his message to Palestinian children, he cited Ouda’s suicide act,
saying
dead Palestinian children Shahids are “the greatest message to the
world.”
1. Arafat: Displaying Dead Palestinian Children to the
World is
“The Greatest Message.”
Question: “Mr. President, what message would you like
to send to
the Palestinian people, in general, and, in particular, to the
Palestinian
children?”
Arafat: “…This child, who is grasping the stone, facing
the tank,
is it not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a
Shahid? We
are proud of them…” [PATV Jan. 15, 2002]
2. Yasser Arafat: Palestinian Children are “Peers” of
Faris Ouda.
The Children: “Millions of Shahid’s Marching to Jerusalem!”
Newscaster: “The president said in his address to these
boys and
girls [in summer camp] that the [14-year-old] Shahid Faris Ouda and
all the
Shahids of our people constitute the fundamental and victorious
power, Allah
willing!”
Arafat to the children: “Oh, children of Palestine! The
peers,
friends, brothers and sisters of Faris Ouda. The peers of this hero
represent
this immense and fundamental power that is within, and it shall be
victorious,
Allah willing!... Onward together to Jerusalem! Onward together to
Jerusalem!“
The children respond, cheering and chanting: “Millions
of Shahids
marching to Jerusalem!”
[PATV Aug. 18, 2002]
3. Arafat’s Fatah Organizes Young Girls to Celebrate a
Woman
Suicide Terrorist.
In a Fatah demonstration, young girls were given
posters of the
first woman suicide terrorist, Wafa Idris, portraying the terrorist
as a hero.
The poster’s text:
“The Fatah Movement... eulogizes with great pride its
heroine
Shahida... the Shahida Wafa
opular and broad based phenomenon, the Palestinian
Authority gives
significant media exposure to parents who praise their children’s
choice to die,
and express gratification and joy with their Shahada. The PA media
also
highlights praise offered anonymously by the “man on the street” for
acts of
Shahada. The following are a number of examples.
1. Mother of a Shahid and the Palestinian Public
Express
Satisfaction with Shahada
To
view click
here:
The mother of Ashraf Zwayed: “Praise to Allah... I hold
my head
high. The honor is mine; the pride is mine. I have a son who is a
Shahid. And
not only is my son a Shahid, but all the Shahids amy children, Praise
Allah....
The honor is mine; the pride is mine.”
Man on the street #1: “Their death as Shahids is a
source of great
joy for us. They responded to the call of the country. May Allah’s
mercy be upon
all of them. They are Shahids, close to Allah, in a position of the
highest
status.”
Man on the street #2: “Praise Allah for giving us the
Shahada. We
are a people who love the Shahada and love defending our country...”
[PATV,
September 24, 2002]
2. A Child’s Death – a Mother’s Day Present
The Mother of Abbas Al Awiwi: “The best Mother’s Day
present I got
this year was the death as a Shahid of Abbas.’ The mother of the
Shahid Munib
says to the mothers of Shahids on Mother’s Day: ’A blessed day and a
blessed
Shahada’.” [PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 21, 2001]
3. A Mother Encourages Her Son to Shahada
“She is interested in nothing, other than to encourage
her sons to
sacrifice and to die as Shahids for the sake of the land of
Palestine.”
[Al-Ayyam, November 1, 2000]
4. “Praise Allah, I Gave Birth to Heroes”– Mother of
Dead
Boys.
“After Fatma read this passage [her son’s desire for
Shahada]
aloud, her expression took on a look of pride and honor at her sons’
sacrifice,
and her own sacrifice. Then she said: ’Praise to Allah, I gave birth
to
heroes’…”
[’Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, February 28, 2002]
5. For the TV camera, a Mother Sends her Son to be
Killed
Some of the suicide terror attacks were preceded by a
parting
ceremony of the terrorist from his mother. One such ceremony was
filmed of a
17-year-old terrorist, who later killed 5 Israeli teenagers before he
was shot
dead. The following are the TV narrator’s description of her hugs and
kisses,
and an interview after the attack, in which she explains her sending
him to his
death:
To view
click
here
Narrator: “In a silence filled with tears, with a
mother’s warm
longing, his mother embraced him good-bye, planting kisses on his
cheeks before
the moment of parting. She ordered him not to come back to her except
as a
Shahid.”
The mother [after he was killed]: “I give my son to
Jihad for
Allah. This is a religious obligation for us. If I were to have
compassion for
him, or allow him to change his mind it would not be right. I do not
want to
follow my heart, a mother’s feelings. I mean: I sacrificed him for
something
greater. Even something like this is connected to motherhood. How?
Because I
love my son and I want to choose the best for him…”
[Arab News Network TV]
In Islam, religious teaching is not limited to the
realm of
worship, as social and military activities are considered within
Islam’s
jurisdiction. Palestinian religious leaders have been a driving
force, through
their religion classes and their televised sermons, in calling for
Palestinians
to kill Jews, especially through suicide bombings. They teach that
seeking death
for Allah as a Shahid is every Moslem’s duty, and direct these
messages to
children as well. Religious rulings [Fatwas] have also established
that children
are obligated to participate in these activities. The following are a
number of
examples:
1. Children are Obligated to Shahada: Ruling of a
Senior Religious
Leader
Interview with Sheikh Hamed Al-Bitawi, Head of the
Council of
Sages of Religion of Palestine and Preacher in the Al-Aqsa mosque:
Question: “Is children’s participation in Shahada-
Seeking missions
permitted?”
Al Bitawi: “The sages say: ’They should go [on Jihad],
the men and
the women, and even the children’. In the time of the Prophet
[Muhammad] it was
shown that children, who had not reached maturity, participated in
Jihad… We in
Palestine have a great love of Jihad and Shahada, and that makes many
children
compete among themselves in carrying out Jihad and Shahada-seeking
missions.”
Question: “What is the obligation to be obedient to
parents in
cases where they insist their child not participate in the
confrontations with
the enemy?”
Al Bitawi: “…if the enemy conquers a portion of Moslem
land, Jihad
becomes a personal obligation on every Moslem man and woman… and as
the Prophet
said: ’One must not obey a creation [the objecting parent] and
disobey the
Creator [Who demands Jihad].’
The principle is that this son and others like him will
take part
in Jihad against the enemy.”[www.islamonline.net, September 28, 2002]
2. “The Moslem was Created to Die for Allah”
“The believer was created to know his Lord and to
uphold Islam… to
be a Shahid, or intend to be a Shahid. If the Moslem does not yearn
Shahada, he
will die as in the Jahiliya [pre-Islam faith]. We must yearn Shahada
and request
it from Allah. If we truthfully request it of Allah, He will grant us
its
rewards even if we die in bed… [Allah] has planted within our youth
the love of
Jihad, the love of Shahada. Our youth have turned into bombs, they
blow
themselves up among them [Israelis] day and night.”
[Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Razek, PATV March 22, 2002]
3. Religious Leader: Fathers Should Send Sons on
Suicide Terror
Attacks
“Shame upon he who does not educate his children the
education of
Jihad…blessings upon he who dons a vest of explosives on himself or
on his
children and goes in to the midst of the Jews and says: Allah Akbar
[Allah is
Great]...”
[Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Madi, Friday sermon, PA
television, June 8,
2001]
4. Preaching Suicide Terror Attacks to 14-Year-
Olds
To view
click
here.
“I was uplifted when a youth said: ’Oh, Sheikh, I am 14
years old.
I have 4 more years and then I will blow myself up among Allah’s
enemies, I will
blow myself up among the Jews.’ I said to him, ’Oh young child, may
Allah let
you merit Shahada and let me merit Shahada...‘ All the weapons must
be aimed at
the Jews, Allah’s enemies, the cursed nation in the Koran, whom Allah
describes
as monkeys and pigs, worshippers of the calf and idol worshippers…
Nothing will
deter them except the color of blood in their filthy nation… unless
we blow
ourselves up, willingly and as our duty, in their midst…’ May Allah
make the
Moslem rule over the Jew. We will blow them up in Hadera, we will
blow them up
in Tel-Aviv and in Netanya so that Allah will make us masters over
this
riff-raff. We will fight against them and rule over them until the
Jew will hide
behind the trees and stones and the tree and stone will say: ’Moslem!
Servant of
Allah, there is a Jew behind me, kill him.’ We shall enter Jerusalem
as
conquerors, and Jaffa as conquerors, and Haifa as conquerors and
Ashkelon as
conquerors.… Blessings upon he who educates his sons in the path of
Jihad and
Shahada!”
[Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Madi, Friday sermon, PATV, August
3,
2001]
PART II:
Results of the Shahada Indoctrination
Palestinian polls show that 72% - 80% of Palestinian
children
desire death as Shahids. In games and in conversation, the yearning
to die for
Allah is an integral component of the Palestinian child’s worldview.
Children
are already acting on the indoctrination – a 17-year old girl has
blown herself
up in a terrorist attack in a Jerusalem supermarket. 14-year-old
children have
written “farewell letters” to their parents, incorporating
expressions from PA
propaganda film-clips. In the letters they took pride in their
eagerness to die
as Shahids and then set out on attacks in which they did, in fact,
die.
Following are some examples, listed by age groups.
Ages 6-9:
Playing Death Games
Palestinian children have embraced honoring Shahada
from an early age, as expressed in the “Shahid Game,” in which
children act out a Shahid’s funeral. An interesting note on this
game: the children argue who will have the honor of playing the dead
child. “I am younger than you. I should be the one to die!” is the 6-
year-old’s assertion. Even at this young age, they have already
internalized the message that thonorable role is the Shahid.
The “Shahid Game” as described in the PA media:
“Nada, a seven year old girl, says to her
friends: ’Let’s play the Shahid Game!’ The children fetch an old
sheet that they spread on the ground, and then they argue who will
play the Shahid. Fa’iz, 6 years old, says: ’You were the Shahid
yesterday, today it’s my turn! I’m younger than you. I will be the
one to die!’
“Then he lies down on the sheet. Nada, playing the
role of ’mother of the Shahid’ cries and yells as the rest of the
children lift Fa’iz up, wrapped in his ’shrouds’. The children walk,
chanting ’Allah Akbar! Make way for the Shahid!’ As they brandish
plastic toy Kalatchnikov [AK-47] rifles…”
[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 26, 2001]
Children Play the Shahid Game
Ages 10-13:
Expressing the Wish to Die
1. 11 Year-Olds: Shahada is Preferable to Peace
In July 2002, two articulate 11-year-old girls were
interviewed in the studio of official Palestinian Authority TV. Among
other topics, they spoke of their personal yearning to achieve death
through Shahada – Death for Allah – and of a similar desire they said
exists in “every Palestinian child.” It is striking that their desire
for death was expressed as a personal goal, not related to the
conflict with Israel, having been convinced that dying for Allah is
preferable to life. Their goal in living is not to experience a good
life, but to achieve the proper death – Shahada.
The following are portions from the TV discussion:
Host: “You described Shahada as something beautiful.
Do you think it is beautiful?”
Walla: “Shahada is very, very beautiful. Everyone
yearns for Shahada. What could be better than going to Paradise?”
Host: “What is better, peace and full rights for the
Palestinian people, or Shahada?”
Walla: “Shahada. I will achieve my rights after
becoming a Shahida. We won’t stay children forever.”
Host: “OK. Yussra, would you agree with that?”
Yussra: “Of course Shahada is a good thing. We don’t
want this world, we want the Afterlife. We benefit not from this
life, but from the Afterlife. And so all young Palestinians are not
like other youth, they are hot tempered. Of course they prefer
Shahada; since they are Palestinian.”
Host: “I want to ask you, do you actually love
death?”
Yussra: “There’s a difference between death and
Shahada.”
Host: “No, I mean the absence that is in death, the
physical absence. Do you love death?”
Yussra: “No child loves death. The children of
Palestine have accepted the concept that this is Shahada, and that
death by Shahada is very good. Every Palestinian child aged, say 12,
says ’Oh Lord, I would like to become a Shahid.”
[’Letter of the People’, PA TV, June 9, 2002]
2. Public Opinion Polls
“72% of the children sampled from all the districts
of Gaza expressed the hope of becoming Shahids in the
confrontations...”
[’Sout Al-Nissa’-Voice of the Women, Al-Ayyam,
January. 24, 2002]
“…79-80% of the children expressed willingness to be
Shahids.”
[PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 18, 2002]
3. Children’s Poetry
“I swear to you by all that I hold dear that I will
purify your land… For your land we will die, we shall advance to
Shahada in groups!” [10th grade boy reads a poem, PATV, August 23,
2002]
4. Three Girls go to Seek Shahada
“The residents of the village Yassid…found the 3
girls who had disappeared two days ago, following a full day of
extensive, strenuous searching. Yassid residents said that the three
girls, aged 10,11 and 12, packed clothes, food and some money, and
left eastward, looking for the way to Jerusalem, in order to achieve
Shahada there. The girls got as far as a PA checkpoint, and there the
officer on duty convinced them to go back. The children said they had
wanted to get weapons and to go to Jerusalem in order to achieve
Shahada there, and that the Israeli Army checkpoint would not have
prevented them from their aspiration to achieve Shahada.”
Ages 14-17:
Embarking on Suicide Attacks
The PA indoctrination has already led to the death of
Palestinian children. Young chlidren have written “farewell letters”
to their parents in which they express pride in their desire to die,
and have set out on suicide terrorist attacks. These children’s
farewell letters included phrases identical to “farewell” phrases
from the propaganda films produced by the PA: “Mother, don’t cry for
me,” indicating a direct link between the PA propaganda and the
children’s desire for heroic death.
In addition, a 17-year-old girl blew herself up in a
suicide terrorist attack in Jerusalem.
Following are the stories from the press:
1. Leaving Farewell Letters: “Do Not Cry for Me”
Three 14-year old boys set out to attack an Israeli
village, hoping to be killed. They left farewell letters which
included phrases from the TV clip “Farewell Letter” which was
broadcast hundreds of times on PA TV: “The child Yussouf Zaakut
wrote: ’…Don’t cry for me. Bury me with my brothers and with the
Shahids…’”
[The New York Times, April 25, 2002]
2. Brothers Leave Farewell Letters: “Don’t Cry for
Me, My Mother”
Two brothers who took part in the confrontations left
farewell letters to their parents expressing their hope of being
killed:
“He wrote phrases of love of the counrty and love of
Al-Aqsa and becoming a Shahid, for liberty and independence. He
referred to himself as a Shahid. On one of his notebooks he
wrote: ’The hero Shahid, Yasser Sami Al-Koussba died as a Shahid on
the land of Palestine…’”
“Sammer wrote the following phrase on one of his
notebooks, a few days before he became a Shahid: ’Mother! Don’t cry
over me if I am killed. Death does not scare me, my aspiration is to
be a Shahid’”
[’Sout Al-Nissa-Voice of the Women’, Al-Ayyam, Feb.
28, 2002]
3. 17-year-old Girl commits Suicide Terrorist Bombing
in Jerusalem
Ayyat Al Achris, wearing a belt of explosives, walked
into a supermarket in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Yovel neighborhood, on March
29, 2002. She was 17 years old. The security guard at the door,
suspecting she was a terrorist, pushed her outside, and she detonated
her explosives, killing the security guard and a 17-year-old Israeli
girl.
PART III:
Findings and Conclusions
The Palestinian Authority has created a violent,
death seeking reality for their young children, having taught them to
see death for Allah – Shahada – as an ideal, which they are expected
to achieve. As Arafat said in his message to children: “Is it not the
greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a Shahid?”
The examples presented in this report are a
representative selection, demonstrating the comprehensive campaign
waged by the Palestinian Authority. If just 1% of the children
attempt to fulfill their “duty” and seek Shahada through suicide
terrorism, the ramifications will be cataclysmic. The targets of the
future Palestinian terror wave will be Israel, and in all likelihood,
other Western democracies, as well.
Today an entire generation of Palestinian children,
victims of the PA’s indoctrination and propaganda, believe that their
death for Allah in war is the highest achievement attainable in life.
This education is an indelible stain on Palestinian society, and
places the Palestinian Authority among the greatest child abusers in
history.
