| Indoctrinating
children to aspire Shahada, and to violence
PA
Uses Murderer of Infant as
Introduction All this was within the framework of a sports event for young people. The following is from the article in the PA daily Al Quds:
Introduction The
following is the translation of the family's complaints
in the PA daily.
"The Shahid's [Martyr's] family expressed its reservations
about what had happened to its son and described it as
a death in vain, which raises legitimate questions and
necessitates an investigation of what happened... The
family, which lost two of its sons within 11 days, doesn't
hide its reservations of what seems to be an exploitation
of the anger within the youth Iyaad al Masri after the
murder in cold blood of his little brother Amjad by the
occupation soldiers, and its disapproval of having sending
him [Amjad] to his certain death... The family said that
her son was sent to commit a Shahada-Seeking operation
[suicide bombing] "that had no chance of success
and that its outcome was obvious ", while mentioning
that the group which sent Iyad to commit the suicide attack
did not take into account the chances of his success or
failure though everyone knew that he was doomed to die.
The father, who emphasized his national affiliation, said
that he and every member of his family are proud of their
national affiliation, and that they are no different than
any Palestinian in supporting the uprising against the
occupation and opposition to its aggression. He noted
that the group that enlisted his son and sent him to commit
an attack of sacrifice under the conditions which existed,
exploited the circumstances that had been created as a
result of his brother becoming a Shahid [Martyr- his brother's
recent death], without taking into consideration the giving
of his [Iyad's] life for nothing... The family of the
Shahid is raising a number of question they want investigated...
The Shahid's father pointed out that his son was sent
to carry out the attack while Nablus was under curfew
and strict military closure, and his son had never left
the city [during a curfew] which made it impossible for
him to reach his target." [Al-Ayyam,
January 14, 2004]
Jerusalem Post Op-Ed, January 4, 2004: Pedagogy
of Hate If you want to know what's really at the heart of the Palestinian conflict with Israel, don't ask the politicians or the diplomats. Go to the new experts: Palestinian children. Unlike the rest of the world, they've been paying close attention to what their leaders and educators have been teaching them and they are ready to practice what they have been taught. For instance, children interviewed on PA TV last week state clearly and without reservation that Israel has no right to exist, and that their goals for which they're willing to sacrifice their lives is Israel's destruction and the expulsion of all Israelis. "They [the Jews] came to take Palestine, that is Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Acco, Ramle. All these cities belong to Palestine," one youth explains in the broadcast, echoing years of standard Palestinian Authority (PA) indoctrination. And because he is convinced that Israel has no right to exist: "We hope, hope, hope and I emphasize these things, that the Arab countries and the foreign countries, all the countries of the world, will support the Palestinians and will expel the Israelis." "We must expel all Israelis from Palestine. Because Israel - there is nothing called 'Israel' in the world. The Israelis [came] from Holland, America, Iran." The children are seen promising they will keep fighting, generation after generation, "until they liberate Palestine." Furthermore, they don't fear death in the struggle because it is Shahada - Death for Allah. "Even if all the Palestinian children, Palestinian youth, Palestinian women, and Palestinian men die, we will not surrender!" None of this is surprising to anyone who has been paying attention to what goes on in the PA educational system and its educational TV. Israel is erased from PA maps, schoolbooks and historians deny Israel's history and right to exist, and educators at all levels teach that Israel is a foreign colonial implant. Despite PA claims to the contrary, its textbooks continue to delegitimize Israel and dismiss it as a foreign occupier: "Palestine faced the British occupation after the First World War in 1917, and the Israeli occupation in 1948." [National Education, Sixth Grade, p. 16]. Children are taught that all of Israel is part of "Palestine". For example: "Among the famous rocks of southern Palestine are the rocks of Beersheba and the Negev." About "Palestine's" water sources children are taught: "The most important is the Sea of Galilee..." [Our Beautiful Language, Grade 6, Part A, p. 64; National Education, Sixth Grade, pp. 9-10]. Such messages of delegitimization have been affirmed by Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei. He is on record as rejecting the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. "President Bush said that Israel is a Jewish state, which is a cause for our concern. This should not have been said." [Al-Nahar-Lebanese and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 15, 2003]. PA affiliated historians frequently appear on educational TV to reinforce this message. Just last week historian and educational TV host Dr. Isam Sisalem reiterated what he has said on numerous broadcasts, that Jews " . . . have no history or connection to this land" iut and are nothing but a "cancer" planted by Britain to control the Middle East. In the same educational broadcast last week, another historian resurrected The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the infamous anti-Semitic forgery citing it as one of the foundations of the First Zionist Congress in 1897. "...The Zionist movement began at the Basel Congress to plan the exploitation of the powers struggle, and the struggle of Europe over the Middle East..." said Dr. Riad Al-Astal, a history lecturer at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. Consequently when we view children on PATV who say they want to destroy Israel, to liberate "Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Acco, and Ramle," and to expel the Jews, we are seeing children who are accurately regurgitating the sentiments inculcated and reinforced throughout PA society. Indeed, years of anti-Israel indoctrination have been alarmingly effective in teaching PA youth that the Jews have no link to Israel, that Israel has no right to exist and that the overriding goal of the next generation -- even at the cost of their lives -- should be to eliminate Israel. The essence of the conflict is Israel's very right to exist -- not the question of borders, territories or refugees`. Peace negotiations that do not address the PA's educational system and its indoctrination will be short-term paper agreements doomed to failure. Palestinian children have already figured this out. Perhaps the rest of us need to stay after school. Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Barbara Crook, a writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's North American representative.
“We
teach our children to reach Shahada”
by Itamar Marcus, May 6, 2003 Introduction Journalist
Samir Shahin: “The
children only wanted to leave [school] and throw stones at the Israeli
soldier, and to reach Shahada [Death for Allah]. They aspired to
Shahada as a first priority.
Moderator: Mrs. Firial, in your opinion, does the Palestinian child understand the concept of Shahada? Firial Hillis, C.E.O. of the Palestinian "Children’s Aid Association": “The concept of Shahada for him [the child] means belonging to the homeland, from a religious point of view. Sacrifice for his homeland. Achieving SHAHADA in order to reach Paradise and to meet his God. This is the best. We also teach our children to protect the homeland, belonging and to reach Shahada”. [PATV, May 4, 2003] To view this interview click below: 
Teaching
Palestinian Children
One of the most frequently shown Palestinian Music Videos, broadcast regularly for two years and a frequently in recent days, teaches young children that throwing stones at Israelis is a way to defend their mother's honor. In one scene young boys throw stones at a glass window with Jewish symbols: the word Israel in Hebrew, a star of David, an Israeli flag and an Israeli soldier. Immediately after the window and the Jewish symbols are smashed, all the flames on a Menorah [Jewish Traditional Candelabra] are extinguished. The message to Palestinian children is clear: their stones have the power to destroy Jewish symbols and extinguish the flames of Jewish tradition.
Palestinian
Hate-Filled Music Video
PMW has reported extensively on Palestinian education to hatred. One of the potent means used by the Palestinians to indoctrinate children to hate Israelis is the repeated broadcasting on Palestinian TV of Hate-filled Music Videos depicting Israelis as murderers, especially of children and the elderly. One of the new Palestinian Music Videos which has been broadcast regularly since January 2003 includes the following scenes, acted out by Palestinian actors: 1.
It opens with a laughing girl on a swing, which turns into a burning
swing and burning child’s rocking horse. The implication is
that Israelis attack children at play, leaving behind burning swings
and burning rocking horses.
2. A father reads his young son a section from the Koran calling to fight the enemies. 3. The father hands his young son a stone to throw at Israelis. 4. A bomb is hidden [by Israel] inside a soccer ball and blows up when a child kicks it. 5. Actors depict Israeli soldiers murdering an elderly man by shooting him in the head. 6. A mother and her infant are blown up by Israeli soldiers.
Palestinian
Authority renews efforts to have Palestinian children die in
confrontations Introduction A PMW bulletin last week noted the PA’s recent attempts to brings crowds of violent demonstrators into the streets, in an attempt to change the image of the terrorist war to that of a popular uprising. Now the PA has combined the two tactics, once again encouraging children to die as part of the “popular uprising”, as they have renewed the broadcasting of one of the most odious PA video clips, the “Farewell letter” clip. In the clip a child writes a farewell letter to his parents, glorifying his desire to die, and then places himself in front of Israeli soldiers during a violent riot where he is shot and dies, achieving his goal. As he falls his words are sung: “How sweet is Shahada [death for Allah] when I embrace you my land.” The renewal of this clip now is an indication that the PA, after having their image destroyed worldwide due to their backing of suicide bombers, wants to portray themselves and their children as victims, by having large numbers of dead children to report to the press. [As a post script it should be noted that the PA seems to be accomplishing its goal already, as in today’s papers the PA announced the death “as Shahids” of 2 children, aged 10 and 13, which they described as cold blooded intentional murder, as they always do in their PR conscious press releases.] 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 shall sacrifice myself!” [Scenes
of children rioting 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.” 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
PA:
Give Kids Guns -
|
[Palestinian
Authority TV, August 23, 2002]