PA boosts promotion of child Martyrs: " Child Martyrdom promotion clip returns to PA TV after year´s absence (PMW-PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH) by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook 09/05/04)
Source: http://www.pmw.org.il
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Clip was removed from PA TV after PMW exposed it at a US Senate
hearing in October 2003.
Clip brought outraged reaction from US senators, and extensive
media coverage, including CNN, FOX, BBC, MS NBC, and tens of European
stations.
Clip presents a child´s death in combat as "sweet," because it
was Death for Allah -Shahada.
Clip was broadcast at least three times in the last 2 weeks after
nearly a year´s absence.
At a US Senate Hearing in October 2003, PMW director Itamar Marcus
presented evidence of PA indoctrination of children to aspire to
heroic death as Shahids - Martyrs for Allah. Since then, many PA TV
clips that encouraged children to seek heroic Shahada (Death for
Allah) were removed, apparently due to the inability of the PA
representative at the Senate hearing to defend this PA practice,
together with widespread media condemnation both in print and on
television.
Now, after nearly a year, the PA has suddenly renewed the broadcast
of the "Farewell Letter" clip, in which a child writes a farewell
letter to his parents, glorifying his desire to die, and then goes
out to the combat zone, where he is shot and achieves his death wish.
As he falls in death, the words of his letter are sung twice: "How
sweet is Shahada [Death for Allah] when I embrace you my land."
The revival of this clip now may be an indication that the PA, after
having its image blackened due to its involvement in suicide terror,
wants to portray itself as the victim by having large numbers of dead
and injured children to report to the press.
Click here to see the clip on PMW´s web
site.
The following is the text of the farewell letter sung during the clip.
"Do not be sad, my dear,
And do not cry over my parting,
My dear father,
For my country, Shahada [Death for Allah].
Do not be sad, my dear
And do not cry over my parting,
My dear father,
For my country, I will sacrifice myself!"
[Scenes of children joining violence against soldiers, the boy
running with his friends, throwing stones ...]
The letter continues:
"With determination and desire
I long to approach...."
[The boy is shot in his chest and falls to the ground.]
The letter continues:
"How sweet is Shahada [death for Allah]
When I embrace you, my land!"
[Here the boy´s mother is seen crying.]
The letter continues:
"My beloved, my mother, My most dear,
Be joyous over my blood and do not cry for me."
[Aug. 23, 26, 31, 2004]
The message of this song to Palestinian children is clear: It
should be a child´s wish and goal to die in confrontations with
Israel, as this death is "sweet".
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